Calgary International Airport II

Originally Posted by casper

Surprised they are not timed for a mid-day arrival.

They took the slot they could get. It's a — slot, but you take a — slot vs not operating.

Originally Posted by Zmonkey

I am actually surprised its not Dubai.

Realistically, there was zero chance of it being Dubai and everyone here at the airport knew that. It's been a while since I've seen what was essentially fake news result in mainstream media running with a route-related aviation story.

Originally Posted by People_talking

AMS appears to be gone after the spring?

100% gone, as the now-announced sked requires all 7 frames leaving nothing for AMS.

[MalcolmTucker]

WestJet announces it's adding new 787 services between Calgary and Tokyo, Barcelona and Edinburgh. It's also going to increase frequencies between Calgary and Dublin, London, Paris and Rome. Changes take effect next April/May.
https://twitter.com/CBCScott/status/1599791536224358400

[Calfan12]

Originally Posted by YYCFlier

NRT or ICN would be the logical markets, but one 789 goes mechanical and they're screwed. Would make more sense to keep one 789 on domestic ops as a spare!

True. Also WestJet has shown they will cut back on route frequencies (if need be) operated on its 787.

As during pandemic summer season 2020 Calgary YYC - Paris CDG on the WS 787 Dreamliner when it resumed was announced to be operating 2x weekly in late August. They eventually reduced to 1x weekly to end of October.

Previously WS has reduced the YYC - London LGW &
during Summer 2022 season they shortened the Vancouver YVR - LGW to early October.

And WS will find the time to do maintenance on the Boeing 787's just like they do for the 737's & Q400's.

[YYCFlier]

Originally Posted by People_talking

AMS appears to be gone after the spring? that'll help them with scheduling, but it'll still be tight. I wonder if they acquire any more frames, they may need them especially if they want to expand TC out of YYC further.

They won't. If it were up to Alexis he'd have never bought the 789s. To him TATL is an "opportunistic" business and he's focusing on narrowbody. It's too bad the 789s were delayed as Sims would have taken all of them.

[loonytoon44]

It would be nice to see how WestJet's arrival into EDI aligns with Logan Air. They feed into a lot of regional airports. Currently there is no interline agreement or codeshare in place but it would be a beauty...

[Calfan12]

Originally Posted by hollywoodcory

Theres one more, which will get a bit more attention:
NRT!

effective April 30th:
WS080 YYC1855 – 2000+1NRT 789 357
WS081 NRT2200 – 1600YYC 789 146

That's great for Alberta & Western Canada.

Hopefully WestJet does alright on these flight routes from Calgary YYC.

[hehehe]

Originally Posted by hollywoodcory

Theres one more, which will get a bit more attention:
NRT!

effective April 30th:
WS080 YYC1855 – 2000+1NRT 789 357
WS081 NRT2200 – 1600YYC 789 146

Wow, I can't believe it's actually happening. I always thought it was sort of a pipe dream...

Originally Posted by ace.yyc

YYC will be too busy celebrating new Japan, Scotland and Spain service all on the same day to really care.

Ouch... but it's true

Originally Posted by loonytoon44

It would be nice to see how WestJet's arrival into EDI aligns with Logan Air. They feed into a lot of regional airports. Currently there is no interline agreement or codeshare in place but it would be a beauty...

At the presser they estimate 50% of pax will be connecting onward from EDI. Either some agreement is coming or they're on crack.

[Calfan12]

Originally Posted by YYCFlier

Alexis says: Starting with the expansion of our intercontinental routes, future announcements will focus on domestic and North American additions that will bring even more affordable travel options to our guests in the new year

Does this mean more NA increases in the new year?

During Spring & Summer, yes.

Most airlines usually increase it's flights during these 2 seasons it every year.

[peytol]

Originally Posted by casper

I have always flow through Narita during the day time. Are there are a lot of flights after 9:00 pm to connect onto?

Surprised they are not timed for a mid-day arrival.

Just a real quick look at NRT departures, it looks like most flights leave around 1800 that WS would want to connect onto, like BKK and MNL. I would imagine they will hope to get an earlier slot at some point.

I feel like this is also the case with AMS, they take the slot they can get and hope it becomes permanent, which clearly has not worked out yet, but they did manage to get a good LHR slot for free, so if they keep trying eventually Im sure NRT and AMS will work out. I really hope NRT goes well and they can build up the frequency and maybe eventually year around service.

[hollywoodcory]

Originally Posted by ace.yyc

You know some dude over at WS HQ is frantically on the phone trying to re-acquire the Dreamliners they deferred when one breaks in July and they have to nuke half the sked.

YYC-BCN/EDI/NRT/LGW/LHR/CDG/FCO/DUB and YVR-LGW with 7 frames... my popcorn is COOKING.
.

I suspect YVR-LGW will end up being cut. Makes the most sense as they can feed that traffic into one of the two daily LON.

Kinda wild WS went from “we’re gonna pause 787 expansion” to adding Japan within 6 months.

There's a somewhat decent chance YVR-LGW ends up getting cut altogether.

[LO 044]

Originally Posted by casper

I have always flow through Narita during the day time. Are there are a lot of flights after 9:00 pm to connect onto?

Surprised they are not timed for a mid-day arrival.

The possibility of connections at NRT may not be there but the connection times at YYC are very good. Even the 8pm arrival into NRT allows you to overnight it in Tokyo and connect the next day which isn't the end of the world. The return flight obviously has all sorts of connection possibilities.

One positive thing will be pricing to Japan as AC will for sure undercut WS via YVR. I mean this is no different than WS undercutting Flair where they can but just sayin.

[casper]

Originally Posted by ace.yyc

There's a somewhat decent chance YVR-LGW ends up getting cut altogether.

With both BA and AC having two flights a day to London there is a lot of capacity. However there has always been a lot of capacity. With AirTransit not flying the route anymore there should be room for WestJet.

It is also during cruise ship season in Vancouver so there should be lot of demand. A friend that use to work for the cruise ship industry once told me historically the Alaska cruise runs out of Seattle have a high concentration of Americans, while the runs out of Vancouver are more popular with the Europeans. Seattle is typically a 7 day round trip, while Vancouver is usually a 14 day round trip or 7 day one way trip.

[casper]

Originally Posted by LO 044

The possibility of connections at NRT may not be there but the connection times at YYC are very good. Even the 8pm arrival into NRT allows you to overnight it in Tokyo and connect the next day which isn't the end of the world. The return flight obviously has all sorts of connection possibilities.

One positive thing will be pricing to Japan as AC will for sure undercut WS via YVR. I mean this is no different than WS undercutting Flair where they can but just sayin.

WS will undercut AC and ANA on Vancouver to Japan via Calgary. Applies the principle that the non-stop is usually more expensive.

[nname]

Originally Posted by peytol

Just a real quick look at NRT departures, it looks like most flights leave around 1800 that WS would want to connect onto, like BKK and MNL. I would imagine they will hope to get an earlier slot at some point.

Early slot do not work well for the WS schedule at YYC though, as all flight leaves YYC early evening, and it may not fit their schedule to have something departing late afternoon? The European flights have not arrived yet.

As mentioned in the other thread, the 2200 departure slot is really bad though as it leave little margin of error. The WS plane better be on time or it will miss the 2300 curfew. I think they will allow take off as late as 2330 but definitely no later than that.

[casper]

Originally Posted by nname

Early slot do not work well for the WS schedule at YYC though, as all flight leaves YYC early evening, and it may not fit their schedule to have something departing late afternoon? The European flights have not arrived yet.

As mentioned in the other thread, the 2200 departure slot is really bad though as it leave little margin of error. The WS plane better be on time or it will miss the 2300 curfew. I think they will allow take off as late as 2330 but definitely no later than that.

If it looks like they will hit the curfew they may have to do a last minute swap of aircraft with one that was planned to fly to Europe. Take the delay on the European flight.

[Calfan12]

Originally Posted by casper

With both BA and AC having two flights a day to London there is a lot of capacity. However there has always been a lot of capacity. With AirTransit not flying the route anymore there should be room for WestJet.

It is also during cruise ship season in Vancouver so there should be lot of demand. A friend that use to work for the cruise ship industry once told me historically the Alaska cruise runs out of Seattle have a high concentration of Americans, while the runs out of Vancouver are more popular with the Europeans. Seattle is typically a 7 day round trip, while Vancouver is usually a 14 day round trip or 7 day one way trip.

Good points. Yes there is definitely room for WestJet on Vancouver YVR - London LGW!!

As WS 7 787 planes will be flying quite frequently & plus tight turn arounds & the time to do maintenance checks. There's not much slack left.

That's why YVR-LGW on WS might get cut or operate at reduced frequencies in Summer 2023. But will see.

[hehehe]

Originally Posted by casper

With both BA and AC having two flights a day to London there is a lot of capacity. However there has always been a lot of capacity. With AirTransit not flying the route anymore there should be room for WestJet.

It is also during cruise ship season in Vancouver so there should be lot of demand. A friend that use to work for the cruise ship industry once told me historically the Alaska cruise runs out of Seattle have a high concentration of Americans, while the runs out of Vancouver are more popular with the Europeans. Seattle is typically a 7 day round trip, while Vancouver is usually a 14 day round trip or 7 day one way trip.

Well next summer there'll be 4 a day on AC/BA. WS won't cut YVR-LGW because of demand but (if they do) because of scheduling and operational concerns, especially when there's already double daily YYC-LON that people in YVR who want to fly WS can hypothetically connect on.

[Johnny Aussie]

Originally Posted by casper

WS will undercut AC and ANA on Vancouver to Japan via Calgary. Applies the principle that the non-stop is usually more expensive.

And JAL of course too. Those who want the cheapest flights will fly whatever route gives them the cheapest seats. Even if $100 cheaper the budget conscious traveler will choose price over convenience. Always been the case. That’s what they’re depending on. Same with Europe - even with all the nonstop YVR-Europe options Westjet is certainly betting on some (many) YVR originating travellers (among others) flying to help fill all those new flights. We all know those flights aren’t going to fill just with O&D