Saskatoon and Regina Air Service

[Nathan]

Originally Posted by mjpaul

Air traffic soared higher once again in 2012 to a record 1.326 million passengers.

"It is incredible," said Saskatoon Airport Authority president and CEO Stephen Maybury. "We are up 6.5 per cent over last year."

The 1.326 million passengers that flew out of John G Diefenbaker International Airport in 2012 was 80,000 higher than in 2011 (1.246 million).

Read more: http://www.thestarphoenix.com/traffi...#ixzz2I3aMPH8n


impressive! gap is widening between yxe and yqr

Regina being closer to the States has a bit of a disadvantage. I know a fair number of people that drive to Minot and fly from there to save a pretty good sum of money. Saskatoon being further away doesn't have to worry about bleeding passengers like that. The population of the catchment areas are pretty similar otherwise.

In any case, both are still growing really well, which is great to see. We still need to catch a couple smaller cities' airports for traffic though, namely St. John's and Kelowna.

[Hawker]

Originally Posted by Nathan

Regina being closer to the States has a bit of a disadvantage. I know a fair number of people that drive to Minot and fly from there to save a pretty good sum of money. Saskatoon being further away doesn't have to worry about bleeding passengers like that. The population of the catchment areas are pretty similar otherwise.

In any case, both are still growing really well, which is great to see. We still need to catch a couple smaller cities' airports for traffic though, namely St. John's and Kelowna.

I would suggest a much bigger reason for the difference is the flights that go from YXE to the North. Those flights to PA and north don't have a ton of people per flight, but they add up.

Also, does anybody know if these numbers for each city include the pax that go through the AeroCentres in each city, such as the ExpressAir service between Regina and Saskatoon, or the flights up to mines from S'toon?

[SkydivePilot]

Originally Posted by Nathan

Regina being closer to the States has a bit of a disadvantage. I know a fair number of people that drive to Minot and fly from there to save a pretty good sum of money. Saskatoon being further away doesn't have to worry about bleeding passengers like that. The population of the catchment areas are pretty similar otherwise.

In any case, both are still growing really well, which is great to see. We still need to catch a couple smaller cities' airports for traffic though, namely St. John's and Kelowna.

That is true though. Many people in the Regina area who travel to the States do travel to Minot and fly out of there instead. (Not to mention folks in SE Saskatchewan/SW Manitoba.) Many Winnipeg folks go and fly out of Fargo as well.

[casper]

Originally Posted by Hawker

I would suggest a much bigger reason for the difference is the flights that go from YXE to the North. Those flights to PA and north don't have a ton of people per flight, but they add up.

Also, does anybody know if these numbers for each city include the pax that go through the AeroCentres in each city, such as the ExpressAir service between Regina and Saskatoon, or the flights up to mines from S'toon?

Any thoughts on how much growth would PA need to have before we see connections from their to places like Winnipeg or Edmonton....

[kalin_10]

Crews have broken ground for the STARS hanger and helipad at YXE. It is being built just south of Air Canada Cargo along the airport service road.

[mjpaul]

Originally Posted by Nathan

Regina being closer to the States has a bit of a disadvantage. I know a fair number of people that drive to Minot and fly from there to save a pretty good sum of money. Saskatoon being further away doesn't have to worry about bleeding passengers like that. The population of the catchment areas are pretty similar otherwise.

In any case, both are still growing really well, which is great to see. We still need to catch a couple smaller cities' airports for traffic though, namely St. John's and Kelowna.

I know quite a few who fly out of Minot as well..also a few south sask folk using Billings. Every couple years or so I am in Billings for business and I fly from yqr to Dever, Denver to Billings, Cost is usually bewtween $460 to $550. Next time i am considering driving to Glasgow Montana and catching a direct flight to Billings . For example, I just checked Silver Airways price for next week and Glasgow to Billings round trip is $150 USD (TOTAL). WE DESPERATELY NEED some competition for Westjet and AC.

yes, YQR does have a disadvantage. To combat this problem, YQR should try to get flights to Minot or Billings

[Nathan]

Originally Posted by mjpaul

I know quite a few who fly out of Minot as well..also a few south sask folk using Billings. Every couple years or so I am in Billings for business and I fly from yqr to Dever, Denver to Billings, Cost is usually bewtween $460 to $550. Next time i am considering driving to Glasgow Montana and catching a direct flight to Billings . For example, I just checked Silver Airways price for next week and Glasgow to Billings round trip is $150 USD (TOTAL). WE DESPERATELY NEED some competition for Westjet and AC.

yes, YQR does have a disadvantage. To combat this problem, YQR should try to get flights to Minot or Billings

I believe the reason is because Canadian airports aren't subsidized by government the way US airports are. As such, the fees that are passed on to airlines, which are them passed on through ticket prices are a lot higher in Canada. So either we pay through taxes or we pay trough ticket prices. The issue though is that for airports in locales close to the states start to bleed passengers, which decreases an airport's attractiveness in terms of getting more flights. The Canadian government has shown no interest in attempting to even the playing field though.

[kalin_10]

SASKATOON, SASKATCHEWAN--(Marketwire - Jan. 16, 2013) - It's wheels up for Saskatoon and Regina airport authorities in their continued efforts to secure non-stop charters to Europe and Asia, thanks to federal funding announced today by the Honourable Lynne Yelich, Minister of State for Western Economic Diversification (WD).

"Developing greater international connections with key trading regions is essential to Canada's economic prosperity," said Minister Yelich. "We are making a long-term investment to establish strategic air routes to Asia and Europe which will create jobs and strengthen Saskatchewan's tourism industry."

A three-year investment of $304,878 from WD will help Saskatchewan's two largest airports brand the province as an attractive destination for international carriers. Working with partners in the province's tourism industry and economic development organizations, representatives will meet with international carriers attending the 2013 and 2014 annual World Routes conferences.

"We compete for air service in a global marketplace," said Stephen Maybury, CEO at the Saskatoon Airport. "Attracting and developing new sustainable air service is not a short-term initiative or a simple process. It is gratifying to have the financial assistance of WD. Not only will it help in our ongoing efforts to promote Saskatchewan to the world, it also demonstrates their support of our collaborative efforts to date."

Representatives from Regina and Saskatoon airports attending the last two World Routes conferences have learned they must invest heavily in product marketing in order to compete with other Canadian airports which already have an international profile. Improved visibility and targeted marketing efforts focused on the United Kingdom, Germany and China will support new Saskatchewan branding strategies at upcoming international conferences.

More...

[Scruff Bucket]

L-P article rehashing about the amount of passenger traffic at YQR, along with some news about future plans for the airport.

Regina airport traffic hits 1.185M in 2012
By Will Chabun, Leader-Post January 16, 2013

...

. In other airport news, Hunter said work should be completed later this month on an "infill" of the airport terminal building's second floor, giving more seats in the post-security departure area.

. And in anticipation of more passengers, the airport authority is enlarging the check-in area on the terminal's main floor by moving backward by 12 feet the existing check-in desks. When completed, this should help to accommodate expected growth in traffic and passengers over the next decade.

. Looking even farther ahead, he said the airport authority is interested in moving Air Canada's cargo operation out of its existing building into new quarters.

Coupled with a move of the parking area for ground-handling equipment and an airline caterer, this would free up room for an eventual growth to the north of the terminal "pier" to handle more parked aircraft.

...

© Copyright (c) The Regina Leader-Post

[kalin_10]

By Kristi Patton - Penticton Western News
Published: January 21, 2013 10:00 AM
Updated: January 21, 2013 11:13 AM

WestJet has confirmed they will not be making an announcement about their new regional flights until February.

In November, WestJet said they planned on making the announcement of which communities their new regional carrier would land in on Jan. 21.

"That was a target date. We moved it to sometime in February. No firm date set," said Robert Palmer, WestJet media representative, via email.

MORE...


Do you think YXE or YQR will be the benefactor of additional flights through Encore?

[Ruckus]

[kalin_10]

Originally Posted by Ruckus

Looks good Ruckus! I'll post some more close-ups in two weeks time.

[dsmmace]

PCS/Stars Air Ambulance hanger and office has been started now as well.

[SkydivePilot]

Originally Posted by kalin_10

By Kristi Patton - Penticton Western News
Published: January 21, 2013 10:00 AM
Updated: January 21, 2013 11:13 AM

WestJet has confirmed they will not be making an announcement about their new regional flights until February.

In November, WestJet said they planned on making the announcement of which communities their new regional carrier would land in on Jan. 21.

"That was a target date. We moved it to sometime in February. No firm date set," said Robert Palmer, WestJet media representative, via email.
[URL="http://www.pentictonwesternnews.com/news/187764091.html"]
MORE...[/

Do you think YXE or YQR will be the benefactor of additional flights through Encore?

Yes: Both Encore and Rouge.

[casper]

Originally Posted by SkydivePilot

Yes: Both Encore and Rouge.

Was the plan not for Westjet to pull 737 aircraft from routines into Saskatoon/Regina and replace them with Encore Dash-8 aircraft? More flights but using smaller aircraft should help improve connection times.

[SkydivePilot]

Originally Posted by casper

Was the plan not for Westjet to pull 737 aircraft from routines into Saskatoon/Regina and replace them with Encore Dash-8 aircraft? More flights but using smaller aircraft should help improve connection times.

For Regina/Saskatoon, WJ will still use both types. I'd bet the Regina-Winnipeg route would then be resurrected; and Saskatoon-Edmonton routes could utilize the Q-400 as well. I think that they also want to penetrate markets into cities such as: Prince Albert; Brandon; Lethbridge; Kamloops 'n that sort of thing. I'd bet that a (semi-)daily Prince Albert-Calgary route would be very desirable. Such a route would make the drive to Saskatoon superfluous for PA folks.

[casper]

Originally Posted by SkydivePilot

For Regina/Saskatoon, WJ will still use both types. I'd bet the Regina-Winnipeg route would then be resurrected; and Saskatoon-Edmonton routes could utilize the Q-400 as well. I think that they also want to penetrate markets into cities such as: Prince Albert; Brandon; Lethbridge; Kamloops 'n that sort of thing. I'd bet that a (semi-)daily Prince Albert-Calgary route would be very desirable. Such a route would make the drive to Saskatoon superfluous for PA folks.

If they move forward with a PA-Calgary flight it will be interesting to see if there is any impact on Saskatoon flights.

I don't know how full the Saskatoon-PA flights are and how many passengers are continuing on to destinations north of PA. I don't know if Pronto or Transwest interline with any of the other major airlines into Saskatoon or not.

There I probably a fair number of people who drive from PA down to Saskatoon to catch a flight. No idea what the numbers would be.

[kalin_10]

Originally Posted by SkydivePilot

Yes: Both Encore and Rouge.

Skydive, you say this with such conviction... you know something that hasn't been officially announced? As well, talking with Westjet Agents in Saskatoon, they've admitted that Saskatoon is to "large" of a centre to be taken off mainline service with the 737's so if we are serviced with Encore, it will to compliment or expand service from Saskatoon.

[SkydivePilot]

Originally Posted by kalin_10

Skydive, you say this with such conviction... you know something that hasn't been officially announced? As well, talking with Westjet Agents in Saskatoon, they've admitted that Saskatoon is to "large" of a centre to be taken off mainline service with the 737's so if we are serviced with Encore, it will to compliment or expand service from Saskatoon.

Dude: I never said that 737s would be replaced with Q400s. (They would be complimentary.) I'm making a case for likely routes for the new a/c types. Saskatchewan has seen a number of airlines/routes come 'n go over the decades. The new Encore/Rouge a/c won't even be online for many months yet either. If you insist, I'll heavily edit prededing posts. How long have you been around/in the aviation industry for?

[casper]

I think it is reasonable to expect the Q400 on the Calgary-Saskatoon route. It is just under an hour from the main base for the Q400.

In the press there has been some talk about the Q400 permitting westjet to restart service to Winnipeg.

http://www.leaderpost.com/Airlines+f...465/story.html

It is not a bad thing. If a 737-700 is replaced by two Dash-8 400 flights that provides more options and about the same number of seats.

A few weeks ago I was on an Air Canada Dash-8 300 from Calgary to Saskatoon.

Last time I remember Air Canada operating the Dash-8 to Calgary was just after Sept 11 when they retired the fokker jets and reduced flights. Come to think of it is weird that all of those Fokker jets are still parked at the Saskatoon airport. They have been there for years.