Atlantic Canada airport thread

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by BlackYear

Very active YQM.

Photo from Facebook YQM Airport Spotting. I just cropped it to show a little more impact.

Great shot!

[Bishop2047]

Per the Fredericton Airport Facebook and the AC Schedule Freddy will have 3x daily flights to Toronto as of Aug 2, 2023. Up from 2X daily. They will continue to be A319s.

[Bishop2047]

https://huddle.today/2023/07/11/frederic...t-traffic-nearly-at-pre-pandemic-levels/

Finally some numbers from Fredericton. They claim to be operating at 92 percent of pre-covid numbers.

427,000 pre-covid 2019

103,000 2020

100,000 2021 (much of this year there was only one flight a day!)

393,000 2022 using the 92% quoted.

Still missing a few flights from pre-covid but clearly the ones that are there are more full and/or bigger planes.

[nwalbert]

Originally Posted by Bishop2047

https://huddle.today/2023/07/11/frederic...t-traffic-nearly-at-pre-pandemic-levels/

Finally some numbers from Fredericton. They claim to be operating at 92 percent of pre-covid numbers.

427,000 pre-covid 2019

103,000 2020

100,000 2021 (much of this year there was only one flight a day!)

393,000 2022 using the 92% quoted.

Still missing a few flights from pre-covid but clearly the ones that are there are more full and/or bigger planes.

This is interesting... The Moncton and Fredericton airports are essentially the same volume of passengers now.

I still think a centralized airport is the only way for NB to go, but will never happen for political reasons.

[MonctonRad]

Passenger volumes at YQM were 468,841 in 2022. This is almost 20% greater than the stated figure for the Fredericton International Airport above.

Also, passenger volumes at YQM this year so far have rebounded to more than 90% pre pandemic. The last pre pandemic year, YQM had 680,000 passengers.

[OliverD]

Originally Posted by nwalbert

This is interesting... The Moncton and Fredericton airports are essentially the same volume of passengers now.

I still think a centralized airport is the only way for NB to go, but will never happen for political reasons.

Or practical or financial reasons.

[OliverD]

Originally Posted by Bishop2047

https://huddle.today/2023/07/11/frederic...t-traffic-nearly-at-pre-pandemic-levels/

Finally some numbers from Fredericton. They claim to be operating at 92 percent of pre-covid numbers.

427,000 pre-covid 2019

103,000 2020

100,000 2021 (much of this year there was only one flight a day!)

393,000 2022 using the 92% quoted.

Still missing a few flights from pre-covid but clearly the ones that are there are more full and/or bigger planes.

Fredericton should get a nice bump when Air Canada adds another Airbus flight to Toronto next month. Of course, the numbers would likely be even higher if they weren't canceling to many flights.

[Bishop2047]

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/travel-airport-nb-summer-1.6904675

Passenger numbers are up across NB and each airport is off life support. Each has the same issue (and it is a nation wide issue). Not enough planes and not enough staff.

PAX will be go up when and where flight frequencies are increased in the area.

I was hoping for Bathurst to get AC back but their "big announcement" was more Atlantic Charters availability.

[nwalbert]

Originally Posted by OliverD

Or practical or financial reasons.

We can agree to disagree on that one.

[J81]

Originally Posted by nwalbert

We can agree to disagree on that one.

Youre the only one that thinks that. Its absurd to entertain any idea of a province as broke as NB demolishing 3 perfectly good and proven airports to spend BILLIONs of dollars on a central airport that is less convenient for everyone except the tiny town of Sussex with no guarantees of any increase in services. Even if there were it still would be so marginal it would never be worthwhile.

[Bishop2047]

Originally Posted by J81

Youre the only one that thinks that. Its absurd to entertain any idea of a province as broke as NB demolishing 3 perfectly good and proven airports to spend BILLIONs of dollars on a central airport that is less convenient for everyone except the tiny town of Sussex with no guarantees of any increase in services. Even if there were it still would be so marginal it would never be worthwhile.

I have a conspiracy theory that Bangor International Airport and/or Halifax Stanfield is behind the regular bringing up of a central airport in NB. These are the only groups who would certainly benefit from an airport in the middle of no-where.

This is of course a joke and meant to not be taken seriously.

No-one who flies regularly (or infrequently) would ever support this, as the convenience of flight is one of the primary reasons we are able to support three airports in the region.

[OliverD]

Originally Posted by J81

Youre the only one that thinks that. Its absurd to entertain any idea of a province as broke as NB demolishing 3 perfectly good and proven airports to spend BILLIONs of dollars on a central airport that is less convenient for everyone except the tiny town of Sussex with no guarantees of any increase in services. Even if there were it still would be so marginal it would never be worthwhile.

Not to mention the transportation connections that such a project would require.

[jonny golden]

Originally Posted by OliverD

Not to mention the transportation connections that such a project would require.

There'd be a huge public uproar if they tried to replace YQM, YFC and YSJ with a single airport in the Sussex area. It just isn't going to happen.

[J81]

Originally Posted by Bishop2047

I have a conspiracy theory that Bangor International Airport and/or Halifax Stanfield is behind the regular bringing up of a central airport in NB. These are the only groups who would certainly benefit from an airport in the middle of no-where.

This is of course a joke and meant to not be taken seriously.

No-one who flies regularly (or infrequently) would ever support this, as the convenience of flight is one of the primary reasons we are able to support three airports in the region.

I laughed

[nwalbert]

Originally Posted by J81

I laughed

I have been a 100K AC member for 8 or 9 years, I fly more regularly than 99% of the population and I would fully support it and it would be 10x more convenient for those of us who do travel frequently.

Sussex is ~ 45 minute drive from all three airports and would draw significant enough passenger volume to allow for hourly flights to YYZ which would drop the average connection time several hours, reducing your travel time dramatically on both ends.

It would also allow for bigger and much more comfortable planes, which also provide shorter flight times and more economical fares.

The combined operations would be more economical than 3 airports, so there is obviously some ROI, but certainly measured in years, maybe decades but it would move the province forward and allow us to compete with NS.

The biggest blocker is politics, and I agree it will never happen, but it should, and I am far from the only one who thinks that.

[OliverD]

Originally Posted by nwalbert

I have been a 100K AC member for 8 or 9 years, I fly more regularly than 99% of the population and I would fully support it and it would be 10x more convenient for those of us who do travel frequently.

Sussex is ~ 45 minute drive from all three airports and would draw significant enough passenger volume to allow for hourly flights to YYZ which would drop the average connection time several hours, reducing your travel time dramatically on both ends.

It would also allow for bigger and much more comfortable planes, which also provide shorter flight times and more economical fares.

The combined operations would be more economical than 3 airports, so there is obviously some ROI, but certainly measured in years, maybe decades but it would move the province forward and allow us to compete with NS.

The biggest blocker is politics, and I agree it will never happen, but it should, and I am far from the only one who thinks that.

Moncton is closer to an hour from Sussex, Fredericton is nearly 90 minutes.

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by nwalbert

I have been a 100K AC member for 8 or 9 years, I fly more regularly than 99% of the population and I would fully support it and it would be 10x more convenient for those of us who do travel frequently.

Sussex is ~ 45 minute drive from all three airports and would draw significant enough passenger volume to allow for hourly flights to YYZ which would drop the average connection time several hours, reducing your travel time dramatically on both ends.

It would also allow for bigger and much more comfortable planes, which also provide shorter flight times and more economical fares.

The combined operations would be more economical than 3 airports, so there is obviously some ROI, but certainly measured in years, maybe decades but it would move the province forward and allow us to compete with NS.

The biggest blocker is politics, and I agree it will never happen, but it should, and I am far from the only one who thinks that.

Maybe for a frequent fliier like yourself, potentially hourly connections (I have trouble believing this would happen) for shorter connection times would make sense, but, for most casual fliers, the simple convenience of cabbing it to the airport , or, a 10 minute drive far outweighs the hassle of having to take a shuttle bus in frequently dodgy weather during late fall, winter and early spring. All you would be doing is adding a step in an already stressful process for most people (getting a drive to the shuttle bus stop, then bussing to the airport, before even navigating check-in and boarding).

Add in a billion dollars to build (I firmly believe it would cost this much), the cost of decommissioning three perfectly serviceable airports, the loss of air cargo services to regional industrial parks (especially in Moncton), and the resultant loss in economic activity, and it would make no sense.

[adamuptownsj]

All three airports should work together and try to specialize a little to distinguish themselves from each other.

[darkharbour]

I generally cross shop Fredericton and YSJ while booking flights once I realized that it's a 20+ minute drive for me to the SJ airport and only about half an hour more to get to Fredericton since it's on this (the southern) side of the city. Moncton is a bit too far to be convenient to me, but I easily consider the other two while shopping for fares and it gives me flexibility of multiple discount carriers now.

My partner and I have each flown Flair and Lynx recently without any issues, so hopefully they continue their services to the region.

[bridgeoftea]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

Maybe for a frequent fliier like yourself, potentially hourly connections (I have trouble believing this would happen) for shorter connection times would make sense, but, for most casual fliers, the simple convenience of cabbing it to the airport , or, a 10 minute drive far outweighs the hassle of having to take a shuttle bus in frequently dodgy weather during late fall, winter and early spring. All you would be doing is adding a step in an already stressful process for most people (getting a drive to the shuttle bus stop, then bussing to the airport, before even navigating check-in and boarding).

Add in a billion dollars to build (I firmly believe it would cost this much), the cost of decommissioning three perfectly serviceable airports, the loss of air cargo services to regional industrial parks (especially in Moncton), and the resultant loss in economic activity, and it would make no sense.

As someone who drove home during the big snowstorm in January from an airport. Having my local airport have them same services would have been more convenient and safer.

When looking at flights, I already am looking at 6 options, Portland, Bangor, SJ, Fredericton, Moncton and Halifax looking at price vs convenience vs drive time. Ideally my local airport would provide a good price with the convenience of taking a 10 minute cab or having a friend drop you off. However, it's not the case and it then becomes the task of gas/drive time vs price difference.

It can be a bit exhausting at times, but I think it'd be worse with a regional airport.