Winnipeg James Armstrong Richardson International Airport

[Bluenote]

I'd love to see some direct flights to winter destinations, not sure why everyone is so happy about american destinations.......We need world destinations. One in particular is over the POLE.

[jmt18325]

There are many direct flights to winter destinations. Also, US destinations like LAX give more choice when going international.

[h0twired]

Originally Posted by Bluenote

I'd love to see some direct flights to winter destinations, not sure why everyone is so happy about american destinations.......We need world destinations. One in particular is over the POLE.

No we don't.

Toronto, Vancouver and LAX are decent enough hubs for international flights.

[jmt18325]

Minneapolis, Denver, and Chicago have some nice connections too.

[Shinook]

Originally Posted by jmt18325

Minneapolis, Denver, and Chicago have some nice connections too.

That's all fine and dandy, but I hate connections in the States. Have had several bad experiences, including where I've ended up stranded in cities overnight for very petty reasons due to the airline itself. I see no harm in going for as many direct flights as we can get (Atlanta, Los Angeles, San Fran, Miami, Tampa, New York, etc.) I know we won't get them all, but it's just nice to have the option to fly direct to a place I want to go without having to stop anywhere from one to four times, spending nearly a day flying. And as the city grows, our options for direct flights will grow as well.

[jmt18325]

Sure, but our position mud continent makes overseas service less likely. We will get more US destinations, I think, and starting in June, you can connect to any continent via Pearson Terminal 1.

[Riverman]

Originally Posted by jmt18325

Sure, but our position mud continent makes overseas service less likely. We will get more US destinations, I think, and starting in June, you can connect to any continent via Pearson Terminal 1.

I don't think Shinook likes Toronto.

[Shinook]

Originally Posted by Riverman

I don't think Shinook likes Toronto.

To connect out of, it's a nightmare. But I know the real motive for this comment, so I won't get too much beyond this.

[Shinook]

Originally Posted by jmt18325

Sure, but our position mud continent makes overseas service less likely. We will get more US destinations, I think, and starting in June, you can connect to any continent via Pearson Terminal 1.

I disagree. It happens in other cities organically. Should the demand grow (and I believe it will) JARIA can land a few direct overseas flights. It's not difficult to comprehend. And not to mention, the airport and city need to make themselves competitive (that should be a no-brainer) for the obvious reasons. I see a bright future for the airport and it's potential future flight destinations.

[roccerfeller]

Shinook has a valid point though; direct flights sure are nice.

Its very convenient to fly direct to London from Calgary. It would be nice if Winnipeg had one such direct flight in addition to more US flights. It might not be possible realistically, given the relatively lower traffic YWG sees (vs other Canadian centres) but hypothetically it would be nice to have service more akin to YEG.

Hub airports then simply allow for more options. As Winnipeg gets bigger, these types of services are going to become a reality so even starting seasonal-weekly services would be something that could be done. But a lot is dependent on the airlines too, not just the WAA

[jmt18325]

Anything but London is a distance away in terms of timeframe.

[Shinook]

London will be a direct flight out of Winnipeg soon enough. I am thinking within the next 10 years or so.

[Spocket]

edited

[casper]

Originally Posted by Shinook

London will be a direct flight out of Winnipeg soon enough. I am thinking within the next 10 years or so.

Many years ago Air Canada had a non-stop from Winnipeg to London-Heathrow in the summer. I don't see that comming back. A tourist oriented airline to London perhaps.

What would be a welcome addition is a non-stop to one of the Lufthansa hubs in Germany. The flights to Saskatoon and Regina could be timed to provide some connecting feed.

[cheswick]

Originally Posted by casper

Many years ago Air Canada had a non-stop from Winnipeg to London-Heathrow in the summer. I don't see that comming back. A tourist oriented airline to London perhaps.

What would be a welcome addition is a non-stop to one of the Lufthansa hubs in Germany. The flights to Saskatoon and Regina could be timed to provide some connecting feed.

Wasn't there an airline that operated direct to London flights out of Winnipeg not that long ago? I can't think of the name of it.

[Bigtime]

Originally Posted by cheswick

Wasn't there an airline that operated direct to London flights out of Winnipeg not that long ago? I can't think of the name of it.

Was it Zoom by chance?

[Shinook]

Originally Posted by casper

Many years ago Air Canada had a non-stop from Winnipeg to London-Heathrow in the summer. I don't see that comming back. A tourist oriented airline to London perhaps.

What would be a welcome addition is a non-stop to one of the Lufthansa hubs in Germany. The flights to Saskatoon and Regina could be timed to provide some connecting feed.

Zoom provided direct service to Gatewick before they went belly up. This is what I'm referring to and is a very real possibility in the near future again. And no way in heck is Winnipeg going to have to connect through any small Saskatchewan city to get to European (or any other) destinations.

[Mininari]

Originally Posted by casper

Many years ago Air Canada had a non-stop from Winnipeg to London-Heathrow in the summer. I don't see that comming back. A tourist oriented airline to London perhaps.

What would be a welcome addition is a non-stop to one of the Lufthansa hubs in Germany. The flights to Saskatoon and Regina could be timed to provide some connecting feed.

Winnipeg - Frankfurt (or Frankfurt-Hahn) could do well, given the population of Germans / German-decent Mennonites who live here. And function as an access-point to all of Europe of course.

[roccerfeller]

Originally Posted by Shinook

Zoom provided direct service to Gatewick before they went belly up. This is what I'm referring to and is a very real possibility in the near future again. And no way in heck is Winnipeg going to have to connect through any small Saskatchewan city to get to European (or any other) destinations.

Regarding that poster's mention of Regina and Saskatoon, I think he meant the opposite; time flights out of Regina and Saskatoon to connect to Winnipeg, in such a way that a Winnipeg->Europe route would add potential passengers.

I'm sure people flying out of Saskatchewan would rather fly 1 hour East and then hit a European destination rather than fly 1 hour west to Edmonton or Calgary and then back again over Saskatchewan.

Not only would it add potential passengers and traffic through YWG (albeit not a lot) it makes some travel sense too.

Smart thing to point out , casper

Originally Posted by Mininari

Winnipeg - Frankfurt (or Frankfurt-Hahn) could do well, given the population of Germans / German-decent Mennonites who live here. And function as an access-point to all of Europe of course.

I think a London connection, probably to Gatwick, would be most likely.

That said a Frankfurt connection would be the next most likely European destination I think, and it makes sense when one thinks about it from a hub standpoint.

I also feel Manila will have direct flights from Winnipeg (unless there already is?) considering the heavily focused Filipino population in Winnipeg.

But keep in mind it has a lot to do with the airline as well. WAA would love for there to be direct flights all over. And I have not doubt they have and continue to try to figure out what would work. But if no airline feels it feasible to start a direct route in addition to another one through an existing hub close to Winnipeg either in Canada or the US, then it won't happen for quite some time.

[casper]

Originally Posted by Shinook

Zoom provided direct service to Gatewick before they went belly up. This is what I'm referring to and is a very real possibility in the near future again. And no way in heck is Winnipeg going to have to connect through any small Saskatchewan city to get to European (or any other) destinations.

Zoom was one of these charter/tourist airlines. The problem with them is don't have interline agreements with anyone else that makes connections very difficult. Air Canada or Lufthansa (they operate flights between Canada and Europe as a joint venture) is much better for business travel.

What I wrote may have been confusing. Yes, what I tried to say, was adjust the times of the flights from Saskatoon and Regina to feed the flight to Europe. I don't think the Winnipeg airport should expect much feed for a European flights coming from anywhere else other than Saskatoon or Regina.

Going to Europe I would rather have a Winnipeg connection than any of the US airports or Calgary. Toronto is not a bad in that there are more options and you can sometimes avoid having another connection in Europe to your final destination.

That said, both the Saskatoon and Regina airport are trying to convince airlines to fly from Saskatchewan to Europe. Wardair did fly from Saskatoon to London in years past.