London International Airport

[Djeffery]

We also took a bit of a hit the year before COVID when the Max 8 crashes happened and grounded that fleet. Air Canada at least, had plans to add flights here using that aircraft and then had to pull back altogether when they had to steal aircraft from non-MAX routes to fill more profitable existing MAX routes. Westjet was also bringing MAX flights in and I think it's safe to say between them and Swoop, they had expansion plans here.

As for Flair and K-W, I seriously think that airline is going to flop. They aren't as cheap as they make it out to be. I was shopping for flights to Halifax for my dad and his wife this summer. I compared WS and AC out of London to Flair out of KW. Flair was cheaper, but not by a lot, and that wasn't factoring in getting to KW. I haven't been following to see if they even figured out their ownership problem that threatened to shut them down. But they are obviously aiming at people from Milton and Mississauga not wanting to deal with Pearson when they can drive 20 minutes longer and deal with an airport with 200 people in it at a given time, as well as their own home market of course.

[jammer139]

Air Cargo shipments up 19%. The proximity of the just built Amazon building next door likely has helped.


https://londonincmagazine.ca/2022/05...rgo-soars-yxu/

[Djeffery]

It's been mostly automotive. Earlier in the year especially, parts were being flown in because of the border blockades. There were days in February that the 737 and DC-9 freighters were flying 4 or 5 flights a day each between London and Ypsilanti bringing parts over. Now that Cami is shut down, this will drop significantly until winter.

Amazon gets flown in to Hamilton and trucked to the various delivery depots from there it didn't have an affect on London.

[GreatTallNorth2]

Good news for London Airport: Flair Air staring service in London

https://lfpress.com/news/local-news/...vice-next-week

[Djeffery]

Going to take a stab and say the Flair announcement is going to be for either Palm Springs or Phoenix. Would have said Vegas but it's only 1 flight a week and no one really goes to Vegas for a week. The news also said a southwest US sun destination. They also don't serve that region from Kitchener, so they won't be competing with themselves.

[JakeLRS]

Originally Posted by Djeffery

Going to take a stab and say the Flair announcement is going to be for either Palm Springs or Phoenix. Would have said Vegas but it's only 1 flight a week and no one really goes to Vegas for a week. The news also said a southwest US sun destination. They also don't serve that region from Kitchener, so they won't be competing with themselves.

99.9% sure its Tuscon, AZ.

However, now that Flair will enter the London market, I fully anticipate Swoop will provide more flights out of YXU again.

Perhaps Flair will introduce a few domestic routes in the near future.

[north 42]

Originally Posted by JakeLRS

99.9% sure its Tuscon, AZ.

However, now that Flair will enter the London market, I fully anticipate Swoop will provide more flights out of YXU again.

Perhaps Flair will introduce a few domestic routes in the near future.

It probably is Tucson, they are flying to Tucson from Windsor as well.

[JakeLRS]

London to Tucson | 1x weekly | Starting December 5, 2022.

YXU_Flair by freerealms454, on Flickr

[haljackey]

That's quite the distance for $99. I am assuming that is a very temporary rate- would $99 even pay for the fuel to get there? I guess we have to see what fuel prices are at in December.

[mooseman]

It looks like SWOOP is going to be adding Orlando (Sanford) and Cancun from YXU starting this December. Both flights will be 2x weekly. This is very good news as it shows SWOOP is serious about reinstating the pre-covid service to YXU. I'm still waiting for an airline to establish P2P flights with popular Canadian destinations like YUL or YVR.

[Djeffery]

Originally Posted by mooseman

It looks like SWOOP is going to be adding Orlando (Sanford) and Cancun from YXU starting this December. Both flights will be 2x weekly. This is very good news as it shows SWOOP is serious about reinstating the pre-covid service to YXU. I'm still waiting for an airline to establish P2P flights with popular Canadian destinations like YUL or YVR.

I would expect that Swoop to Abbottsford will be back next spring, maybe even possibly Halifax. I'm curious how well Flair is pre-selling Tucson and what other destinations they might add from London as well.

[GreatTallNorth2]

Looks like Porter Airlines is hiring for jobs in London. I would assume this means they are looking to do flights from here.

[JakeLRS]

Originally Posted by Djeffery

I would expect that Swoop to Abbottsford will be back next spring, maybe even possibly Halifax. I'm curious how well Flair is pre-selling Tucson and what other destinations they might add from London as well.

No brainer to bring Abbotsford and Halifax next summer. Wouldn’t rule out the potential for Vegas this season if they get caught up on aircraft deliveries.

[kattiff]

This real? YXU to CUN
https://thecancunsun.com/air-canada-...tes-to-cancun/

[Djeffery]

Originally Posted by kattiff

This real? YXU to CUN
https://thecancunsun.com/air-canada-...tes-to-cancun/

That's the only place anyone seems to have seen that story about Air Canada offering CUN from the 5 cities listed. Swoop did announce this week that they are adding Cancun and Sanford Florida (Orlando) from YXU this winter though. Possible the Cancun website is mixing up the Canadian airline on this.

[Djeffery]

Not sure what the plan is, but I noticed today a large chunk of land at the airport's north end has that black plastic construction barrier around it and some excavators were clearing away brush. The piece of land is on the south side of Huron, right across from the cargo terminal. On this map, it is the piece the length of Dakota Place over to the taxiway beside the Versabank hangar.

https://www.google.ca/maps/@43.03232...m1!1e3!5m1!1e4

[JakeLRS]

Flair Introduces Domestic Routes to London, ON

As anticipated, Flair will launch a pair of domestic routes to YXU!

Halifax (YHZ) - 3x weekly (Tue,Thur,Sun) starts 08JUN23
Vancouver (YVR) - 3x weekly (Mon,Wed,Fri) starts 07JUN23

Flair could potentially add more routes and frequencies based on demand and aircraft deliveries.

This will also give Swoop a further incentive to return to the YXX and YHZ routes next summer as well!

[Djeffery]

A few things for YXU.

As reported on the Canada Airports thread, daily flights on AC Dash8-400 to Montreal return for next summer.

The first Tuscon flight on Monday was delayed about 7 or 8 hours due to fog in Tuscon for the flight coming into London. Not a good omen for their first day.

A few months ago I mentioned construction taking place at the north end of the airport on Huron St at the corner of Dakota Place, across from the cargo terminal. Noticed today that all this is is a parking lot for Riverdale Poultry to park their trucks after dropping off chickens to the nearby Cargill plant. Was a let down to see that, as I was hoping it was going to be something more significant there, especially after the Boeing talk earlier.

[MolsonExport]

Montreal makes a hell of a lot more sense than Tucson. WTF?

The last time I was at the London Airport, I noticed that the Tim Horton's had shuttered. It is pretty sad when you only have a snackbar left (post security).

[manny_santos]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

Montreal makes a hell of a lot more sense than Tucson. WTF?

The last time I was at the London Airport, I noticed that the Tim Horton's had shuttered. It is pretty sad when you only have a snackbar left (post security).

They don't even offer much, other than a decent selection of beer. I think they offer beer from Railway City Brewing.

I don't expect YXU to offer a whole lot, but Abbotsford's airport, which is similar size to London, has an actual bar with food service before security, and they actually serve a decent poutine. They also have a snack bar after security similar to London's.