Hamilton International Airport

[SteelTown]

^ that would be nice.

Taking Swoop from YHM to Vegas is excellent, as I don't have to deal with Pearson. But one advantage of Pearson is the pre-US customs; therefore, I arrive in Vegas as a domestic.

[ScreamingViking]

More amenity space would be useful too. Busier terminal creates demand for food options, for example. What's there right now is pretty slim.

HIA seems hamstrung by trying to upgrade the terminal piece by piece. I don't remember how it was done with Billy Bishop, but the changes made there across a very limited space were drastic. To do that while trying to serve the same number of passengers is a challenge.

E.g., they might be able to do something like build additions to handle the operational stuff (outbound baggage is a big one) and then reconfigure that into passenger space. I'm not sure how limited they are in terms of footprint though... they did expand it for the departures lounge a while ago.
terminal map

May be easier to build a whole new half-terminal to serve existing demand on the west side (if possible) and then redo the east to allow for growth.

The site of the terminal itself seems a bit awkward now though, given the air-freight operations to the east and west. Someone in the know could probably speak to that, but seems to me more separation between freight and passenger traffic would be ideal.

[Fruitloops]

That walk from the Swoop gate in Vegas to US customs is a loooong one. I still would take YHM over YYZ anyday...and the walk probably results in me saving a few bucks by not getting to the casino quicker lol.

[Innsertnamehere]

Billy Bishop basically just didn't have a terminal before the current one was built. Porter operated out of an absolutely tiny terminal with maybe 2 gates at most beforehand, so the new terminal was just built right beside it. The old terminal building still exists and was integrated into the new building, I believe it's mostly used for offices and back-of-house space now.

Hamilton, if it was to get a new terminal, would probably want to demolish the hanger next to the terminal and start fresh there.

Unfortunately, I expect any expansion to be via an addition instead of a new terminal building.

[Pulkvedis Pods]

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saska...ccur-1.6718375
I saw this and thought to myself: hmmm. I know there must be another side to this story, being this is the CBC and all, but if they are not going anywhere, good for them. However, would you want to be flying with them anytime soon?

Originally Posted by LikeHamilton

Sunwing is not going anywhere. They own a fleet of 40 aircraft, all B737's.

They where hit with Transport Canada not allowing them the bring in planes with crews to fly in Canada this winter. This has been a common practice until this year. They expanded in the winter by bringing in plane with crews from Europe and they shrink down by sending planes with crews in the summer to Europe. They are 49% owned by the TUI Group of Germany who operate world wide:

• 1,600 travel agencies
• 150 aircraft
• 16 cruise liners
• 400 hotels and resorts
• 220 Brands

[Djeffery]

Originally Posted by Innsertnamehere

yes - We aren't going to be getting a Pearson or anything, obviously.

Hamilton already handles a significantly larger volume than Waterloo does - any expansion here should be looking more like Billy Bishop I would hope. Not some grand airline palace like Pearson but still respectable. Billy Bishop is designed to handle about 3,000,000 annual passengers I believe.. Hamilton currently gets about 1,000,000.

Once you start getting above 1,000,000 annual passengers you can start having things like jet bridges, larger entry halls for ticketing, etc. Which Hamilton just doesn't have right now in it's warehouse-like super-basic structure. Something like Quebec City would be the dream - a few jet bridges, a nicer terminal structure, perhaps some structured parking and on site rental car facilities, etc.

Again though, I don't expect it for a while, and even then, given Hamilton's focus on "budget-freindlyness" I would be surprised if it happens.

You don't even need to go to Quebec for inspiration. London would be a perfect terminal for Hamilton to copy.

https://www.google.ca/maps/@43.02850.../data=!3m1!1e3

[ScreamingViking]

One of the main reasons we even got the terminal we have is because MP John C. Munro's barrel of pork became ripe.

It was premature when the first parts were built in the 1980s, but quite useful over the past 20+ years.

[shoelessjoe]

There was an entire new Terminal plan launched around 2002 at the height of the Westjet operations -- ARUP did it. It was phased -- as new sections were built and opened, older parts of the existing terminal were closed and demolished -- ultimately resulting in an entirely new Terminal building supplanting the original -- sort of a smaller scale version of the way YOW was redeveloped.

Somewhere -- buried in a long term strategic plan was another, more vague proposal -- to build an entirely new passenger operations area/terminal to the west of the existing cargo complex -- closer to to the Glancaster Road corridor.

[ScreamingViking]

Originally Posted by shoelessjoe

There was an entire new Terminal plan launched around 2002 at the height of the Westjet operations -- ARUP did it. It was phased -- as new sections were built and opened, older parts of the existing terminal were closed and demolished -- ultimately resulting in an entirely new Terminal building supplanting the original -- sort of a smaller scale version of the way YOW was redeveloped.

Somewhere -- buried in a long term strategic plan was another, more vague proposal -- to build an entirely new passenger operations area/terminal to the west of the existing cargo complex -- closer to to the Glancaster Road corridor.

I recall that plan. I think it was predicated on WestJet keeping its Eastern Hub here. I saved the documents but have no idea if they're still online somewhere.

Maybe a new vision is needed. Build a completely new terminal in a new location, sell off the old one and its space to cargo use.

[Fruitloops]

John C Munro Hamilton Airport's master plan and development
The master plan suggested expansion of the passenger terminal in three phases to increase its handling capacity to 1.5 million passengers per annum by 2027. The expansion is currently in progress.Jul 24, 2012

found this nugget..updated plans that I could find deal with ground transportation in and around the airport.

[shoelessjoe]

Presumably with the Swoop operation essentially pre-COVID (plus Lynx, forthcoming PLAY) YHM should be close to 1 million again within the next year. These things are always susceptible to whatever decisions the management at WS/WO make, but the Swoop operation at YYZ has been shrinking (I suspect in part in relation to Westjet's overall reorganization) - so, assuming things remain in organic growth mode -- 1.5 million would not be all that far off...

[JakeLRS]

Originally Posted by shoelessjoe

Presumably with the Swoop operation essentially pre-COVID (plus Lynx, forthcoming PLAY) YHM should be close to 1 million again within the next year. These things are always susceptible to whatever decisions the management at WS/WO make, but the Swoop operation at YYZ has been shrinking (I suspect in part in relation to Westjet's overall reorganization) - so, assuming things remain in organic growth mode -- 1.5 million would not be all that far off...

We came close to 1 million in 2019. We will likely be just short again for 2022. Numbers are due to come out within the next couple weeks. It might come out Monday in conjunction with the federal government announcement.

Swoops future seems to be a little up in the air with Westjets restructuring. I’m very curious what their plan for Swoop is going forward. When the full summer schedule is released, we’ll get a better look.

[shoelessjoe]

Most of the Swoop domestic flying at YYZ has been dropped (the year-round exceptions being A-ford and Kelowna). They flew Charlottetown last summer -- no word on Summer 2023. Everything else could be categorized as "sun" flying (including LAS). Swoop was always intended to be kept from cannibalizing Westjet's own flying -- hence the original decree it would never touch YVR, YYC or YYZ. Westjet now scaling back YYZ significantly has changed things up a little, however it's notable Swoop has shrunk drastically at YEG, as well as YYZ. (YEG now only having A-ford and YHM as year-round services) It seems like Swoop is returning to being more A-ford and YHM focused (which is a positive)...locations where it serves many purposes -- among those being a block against growth at those airports by competing ULCC carriers.

Westjet itself has committed to strengthening a fortress hub at YYC with most Eastern Canadian flying flowing westward over YYC -- hopefully that means enhanced YHM-YYC services on WS.

Originally Posted by JakeLRS

We came close to 1 million in 2019. We will likely be just short again for 2022. Numbers are due to come out within the next couple weeks. It might come out Monday in conjunction with the federal government announcement.

Swoops future seems to be a little up in the air with Westjets restructuring. I’m very curious what their plan for Swoop is going forward. When the full summer schedule is released, we’ll get a better look.

[JakeLRS]

Originally Posted by shoelessjoe

Westjet itself has committed to strengthening a fortress hub at YYC with most Eastern Canadian flying flowing westward over YYC -- hopefully that means enhanced YHM-YYC services on WS.

I hope we'll get more YHM-YYC frequencies on westjet, but I'm doubtful. Pre-pandemic we had 2x daily over the summer and 1x daily year-round.

Important to remember a chunk of Westjets passengers connected to other destinations via YYC that are now connected directly via swoop. We also have Lynx also serving YHM-YYC 5x weekly in the summer.

Westjet is currently slated to run YHM-YYC 11x weekly next summer (2x on M,W,F,SU).

[Markus83]

Cannot find this link on here, so I will post it. Apologies if it has already, though nice refresher at that still.
https://www.steeldesignmag.com/2021/...n-for-success/

[Innsertnamehere]

https://www.canada.ca/en/transport-c...l-airport.html

Cargo upgrades as expected.

A strong supply chain is a priority for the Government of Canada to make life more affordable for Canadians. The government is therefore committed to ensuring that our supply chains are efficient and reliable to support Canada's economic growth, create good jobs, while ensuring they are resilient and adapt to the impacts of climate change.

Today, the Minister of Transport, the Honourable Omar Alghabra, and the Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario and Member of Parliament for Hamilton West–Ancaster–Dundas, the Honourable Filomena Tassi, announced an investment of up to nearly $23.5 million under the National Trade Corridors Fund for an expansion and sustainability project at the John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport.

This project, which will cost close to $47 million, will allow the Hamilton International Airport to:

handle increased cargo operations by improving and expanding airfield capacity;
increase de-icing capacity; and
build a new independent road to reduce congestion.
This investment will have significant economic and employment benefits for the region, such as reducing supply chain congestion, facilitating the movement of goods and creating good jobs for Canadians in the region.

The Government of Canada continues to make investments to strengthen the country’s supply chain, promote economic growth and enhance the opportunities for our businesses to expand into global markets. This represents a long-term commitment to work with stakeholders on strategic infrastructure projects to address transportation bottlenecks, vulnerabilities, and congestion along Canada’s trade corridors.

[Fruitloops]

Better than no funding. Maybe YHM mgmt can put all the Airport Improvent Fees and parking revenue towards enhancing the passenger experience. Which I imagine is substantial, esp. parking.

[JakeLRS]

Originally Posted by Innsertnamehere

https://www.canada.ca/en/transport-c...l-airport.html

Cargo upgrades as expected.

YHM_Apron Expansion by freerealms454, on Flickr

The old runway will look more like an apron. The rest are just rehabilitation projects and a new road.

I still don't understand how we don't have a taxiway to the edge of runways 30/12.

[king10]

Originally Posted by JakeLRS

YHM_Apron Expansion by freerealms454, on Flickr

The old runway will look more like an apron. The rest are just rehabilitation projects and a new road.

I still don't understand how we don't have a taxiway to the edge of runways 30/12.

number 9 is a new de-icing facility right?

[ScreamingViking]

Originally Posted by JakeLRS

I still don't understand how we don't have a taxiway to the edge of runways 30/12.

Me too.

I recall that the previous expansion plans included taxiways for both runways. 06/24 was supposed to be extended as well, and the city bought land to do it, but what's happened to that idea?

I imagine as the air freight business gets even busier, the carriers will be more vocal about asking for those improvements.