Very good news about McArthurGlen, even somewhat surprising to see so soon after the last phase (the Covid years should almost be deleted as they were not normal operations for retail). I am guessing that this expansion is the entirety of the last vacant parcel in the NE corner the property? Google aerial show it clearly. I believe it would be somewhat smaller than the last retail expansion, depending how it is configured and how much is non-store space like plazas etc. But the vacant land seems too small to be divided up in portions to creatin another future phases, so I think this will build it out. Very exciting, 27 more stores so there's bound to be some interesting ones.
I'd never seen that Government of Canada website with the assessments before, thank you for sharing it!! It has lots of little nuggets that I didn't even know about, and I consider myself well versed in the YVR world. Such as this:
The Vancouver Airport Authority is proposing to construct an airside cargo warehouse facility that will be leased for use as a sorting, processing and storage facility. The new facility will be located at 5960 Miller Road at the Vancouver International Airport in Richmond B.C.
The Proposed Project
The project consists of constructing a new 4000 square meter warehouse building with associated paved parking areas. The facility will have both airside and groundside access. An existing gravel access road will be paved and site services and utilities will be upgraded. The total project area is approximately 20,000 square meters. The location is previously developed and is currently used as a gravel parking lot.
https://iaac-aeic.gc.ca/050/evaluations/proj/83619
I wonder if it will be leased by Air Canada, it is directly beside their hangar. But I think AC wants to expand/upgrade its existing cargo facility, rather than lease separately. But maybe in the short terms, who knows, but I'm sure such a large new facility with airside and ground side access will be in high demand.
Here's another one:
https://iaac-aeic.gc.ca/050/evaluations/document/152552
The Proposed Project
Air Canada is proposing the expansion and replacement of the flight simulator facility located at the Vancouver International Airport (YVR), at 6001 Grant McConachie Way, Richmond, British Columbia.
The project site is currently used as an existing flight simulator and building. This replacement project will require demolition of portions of the existing facility and construction of new buildings to house new flight simulator equipment. The proposed replacement Project will be constructed in three phases (Figure 2):
• Phase 1: Construction of a two-storey expansion building (approximately 700sqm).
• Phase 2: Demolishing existing centre buildings (the east and west buildings to remain in place)
• Phase 3: Construction of a two-storey building (approximately 1500sqm)over part of the demolished buildings footprint to connect to the building constructed in Phase 1. The north end of the demolished area will be converted into a parking area.
The project activities will include paving for the new parking area, concrete removal/paving, building demolition and building construction.
So this won't likely have much of a visual impact to anyone on the road, it is within AC's campus compound. But still, nice to see them investing in this building and infrastructure, just a small thing but a nice confidence boost from AC. I have a theory (not even theory, basically just a musing lol) about some of the turnaround in AC's commitment to YVR in the last several years compared to the early 2000s to 2010s. I worked in various capacities in the airport from 2003-2008, which were turbulent years for AC (mind the pun). Not only was it struggling with zillions of global factors (9/11/war on terror, Iraq war, SARS) that depressed demand, but it was a mess internally (it was essentially a laughing stock of disorder financially, and seen as a dying venture saddled with debt, losses, and a tarnished image in public. At least in Vancouver, people would be so surprised if a young leisure traveller flew AC to anywhere in the west, it was always assumed WS was the preference and was stronger than AC in the west, even in YVR. They seemed high growth, well managed, expanding, better service, etc. etc., basically the dead opposite of AC in people's minds. It took years to change that perception, and a ton of hard work by AC to really stay on the right path and prove itself. They really do deserve recognition, like them or not. Coming from the state they were in for many years, to a quickly expanding, refreshed, growth-minded and financially stable company, it is very difficult to do. Hence why many airlines fail, cease operations, convert to cargo, reformat as a massively downsized carrier, the list goes on. The fail rate is spectacular, the odds are usually against you unless you are smart, lucky, or ideally both. AC was so close to shutting down or doing a massive reorganization, people don't even realize know. So yes, the government did give them a bailout, but this was not a wasted handout. Some companies take government help but still go under, or misuse it. The mess that was caused by these airline bankruptcies was brutal, so disruptive to passengers, and just generally a crap situation when your carrier stops flying immediately without warning. But AC really used the government money smartly, and really changed everything around to achieve results. Some companies wouldn't have learned their lesson, and just use the gov't money but don't fix the core problems, and then ultimately implode. AC clawed itself out of a huge hole that dragged on for years, not easy to do a 180 from that to today.
So with that in mind, also remember that AC was a giant amalgam of previous airlines that basically were in existence not long before the largest merger with Canadian Airlines in 2001. And so AC was seen as very Eastern Canada, while CP (Canadian Airlines) was bigger out in BC and AB. The merger was very complex; there were a lot of union factors, lots of complications integrating the two operations, labour issues, just very tough and not well received by anyone it seemed. CP employees hated it, they felt a big culture shock with AC management and many eastern employees doing things their way from Toronto. CP employees were affected worse IMO. Not only did they have the stress that all combined AC/CP employees had regarding the health of the company ("Will I even be around next week, is my pension worthless, I am not going to pretend to be friendly when I'm frustrated as hell and the airline is sinking"), but coming from a somewhat well-liked airlines like CP (including its predecessors like Ward Air, CP Air, Pacific Western), it was jarring to now be part of basically a foreign company with a totally different style and different employee reception. I knew a lot of former CP staff who couldn't make it work after the takeover, the vibe was too off for them to overcome.
So what all this meant was there was some dismissal of YVR from Air Canada, since it was a CP stronghold with a very different focus than AC. So even though they inherited their Asian routes from CP, they were never regarded in the same league as the big European routes from the east. CP was much more popular, AC just inherited their market presence, but lost the CP likability. So my theory is that part of the reason why AC didn't build up YVR for so long was it was former Canadian, and still not on the same level as YYZ or YUL in any way. I don't mean that in some western alienation/consiracy kind of way, I just mean AC was much more comfortable and established in the east than in the west, so it stands to reason that when they are in rocky financial times, their main focus will be where they know best. They were trying to just stay afloat, so making a big spash in former CP territory would be too risky.
There were years of disorder, followed by a lengthy reconstruction period that many employees were still not sure would work, and they'd be axed anytime. Especially former CP staff, they always thought they'd be the first to go, or be forced to move east (many original AC staff were almost numb to the chaos because they were so embittered from years of negativity), but the CP staff were not used to that mindset, so it was jarring. But patience paid off, and finally AC started getting itself back on stable footing, and then focused on upgrading its planes, its offerings, its staff/appearance. Then came the network expansions, and it started getting positive reviews and some actual acclaim in the industry. For an airlines that was most likely going to collapse, it was a major turnaround. Then they really starting utilizing all of its hubs, and not hiding from WS. From the 2001 CP merger through basically all the 2000s, WS was arrogant as an airline, and really saw AC as a dying animal, and the government money nothing more than wasted tax dollars on a hopeless cause. WS would be the one launching route after route to challenge AC wherever they could, with AC just struggling to keep what they had. But over the years of stabilization and growth, AC realized they didn't need to be intimidated, and basically started doing the same thing to WS, and reclaiming a lot of ground.
I hate to say this, I hope it isn't flagged by the mods as inappropriate or hateful, but the combined AC/CP had so many old, bitter, tired, "fed up with your S%&" type staff, it was just toxic for passengers and staff themselves. As they got this generation out through retirement, buy outs, etc., the attitude changed. It went from mass layoffs to mass hirings, and of a much more ethnically, linguistically, and age diverse group. And it just built and built, so now a lot of the cranky granny stereotypes of the 2000s would be foreign to young adults of today.
So I realized this is like a university essay rather than a forum post lol I'm sorry I went on so long, I just needed to express these thoughts in case other people remember the history and its impact. The original point was it is nice seeing AC invest in their building here, which has barely changed since they inherited it from CP lol, how fitting.
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(Looking at you Air Transat)
I am impressed with the knowledgabilty of the avaiation industry displayed by posters on the YVR thread. /// That said, if Lufthansa does acquire ITA, what is the % probability of YVR>< FCO happening?
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