Atlantic Canada airport thread

[ConundrumNL]

Press Release from the St. John's Airport Authority on the new expansion.

Airport Authority Unveils its 10-year Vision for Airport Improvements

ST. JOHN’S, NL, February 2, 2011 – St. John’s International Airport Authority has announced its 10-year plan for the development and expansion of the international Airport in St. John’s, in response to unprecedented growth in passenger traffic and aircraft movements. This long term capital plan is designed to achieve three main objectives: to ensure the Airport’s facilities have sufficient capacity to meet the existing and the anticipated growth in passenger and aircraft traffic to the year 2020; to provide Airport facilities that meet the highest standards related to safety, security and environmental sustainability; and to enable the expansion of services that will deliver an outstanding Airport experience for all air travelers.

“As the principal gateway to our province, St. John’s International Airport plays a key role in facilitating the growth of our economy. Our primary responsibility as the Airport Authority is to provide safe, secure and efficient facilities that meet the growing needs and expectations of air travelers, as well as our airline partners. We are confident that this long term vision for our Airport’s development and expansion will meet these expectations and will continue to facilitate economic growth in the Avalon Region and the entire province,” said Fraser Edison, Chair of the Board of Directors for the St. John’s International Airport Authority.
......

http://www.stjohnsairport.com/press/...tail.cfm?id=26


I wonder if the new access road means upgrading or replacing the existing entrance?

[PoscStudent]

Originally Posted by ConundrumNL

Press Release from the St. John's Airport Authority on the new expansion.



http://www.stjohnsairport.com/press/...tail.cfm?id=26


I wonder if the new access road means upgrading or replacing the existing entrance?

Hopefully, the road isn't really that great and their signage altogether on Portugal Cove Road is horrible.

[ConundrumNL]

Originally Posted by PoscStudent

Hopefully, the road isn't really that great and their signage altogether on Portugal Cove Road is horrible.

The signage on our roads is bad in general, but the signs in and around the airport are horrible, I believe it was mentioned in a report a few years back. I hope the replace the uncontrolled intersection of Craig Dobbin and Portugal Cove Rd with something more modern.

[PoscStudent]

Originally Posted by ConundrumNL

The signage on our roads is bad in general, but the signs in and around the airport are horrible, I believe it was mentioned in a report a few years back. I hope the replace the uncontrolled intersection of Craig Dobbin and Portugal Cove Rd with something more modern.

On the first page, I believe, of the Canada airport thread it mentions the report and the signage problems in St. John's.

They should rename the airport too.

[ConundrumNL]

Originally Posted by PoscStudent

On the first page, I believe, of the Canada airport thread it mentions the report and the signage problems in St. John's.

They should rename the airport too.

Agreed. Maybe something like St. John's-John Cabot International Airport

[PoscStudent]

Originally Posted by ConundrumNL

Agreed. Maybe something like St. John's-John Cabot International Airport

Personally I'm sick of naming things John Cabot. I heard Craig Dobbin International mentioned after his death which I liked, I'd also like to see more things here named after former politicians. Danny Williams International!

[ConundrumNL]

Originally Posted by PoscStudent

Personally I'm sick of naming things John Cabot. I heard Craig Dobbin International mentioned after his death which I liked, I'd also like to see more things here named after former politicians. Danny Williams International!

I like the use of historical names, but understand your statement about John Cabot being over used. Some others that popped into my head are "Sir Humphrey Gilbert International", "Leif Ericson International", or even "Sir Robert Bond International"

Using political names can be dicey. There's no guarantee they would be popular or very well respected in a few years

[PoscStudent]

Originally Posted by ConundrumNL

Using political names can be dicey. There's no guarantee they would be popular or very well respected in a few years

While that may be true I always say while everyone may not like politicians it doesn't change the fact they contributed to their continuents. Look at all the things named after Joey Smallwood, yet there's very little on any other politician.

[nwalbert]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

The Greater Moncton International Airport should have a passenger count in the vicinity of 590,000 for 2010. This is over 50% of the provincial total for NB.

I just landed in the Halifax airport from Saint John on my way overseas for a few days and can't but think how silly we are in NB. If you said there was going to be an airport in SJ, Fred, and Moncton you would expect the traffic to be roughly split evenly three ways amounting to roughly 350,000 passengers per airport.

However the Moncton airport has successful beyond what anyone could have expected, mostly as a result of some federal funding (irrelevant to the point), and yet it is sill not even close to enough passengers to offer a reasonable level of service for a business traveler.

I understand there are some seasonal holiday destinations, but in reality the only destinations served out of New Brunswick are Halifax, Montreal, Toronto and once a day to Newark.

If the province ever wants to get serious about moving forward economically, and offer the air transportation that significant businesses require the airports need to be combined.

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by nwalbert

The Moncton airport has successful beyond what anyone could have expected, mostly as a result of some federal funding.

I don't know what "federal funding" you're talking about. It's true we did get some money for a new apron for the Francophonie Summit, but that's pretty much it. In fact the GMIA was penalized at the outset for being the first airport that Transport Canada decided to privatize. The local airport authority got a raw deal on that one, with all subsequent privatizations being much more equitable in terms of start-up funding......

The Moncton Airport has always been successful, but also by being the first airport in the region out of the gate with privatization, the local airport authority was able to be proactive with the carriers in terms of securing new routes or expanding services on existing routes. This gave us a head start.

Having said this, I don't disagree with you about there being too many airports in southern NB. What would you do though, amalgamate services at one of the existing airports or build an entirely new one in Sussex. The Sussex option would likely cost at least a half billion dollars.

I can't see any government playing favourites with an existing airport now, or building a brand new airport......it would be political suicide!

[nwalbert]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

What would you do though, amalgamate services at one of the existing airports or build an entirely new one in Sussex. The Sussex option would likely cost at least a half billion dollars.

I can't see any government playing favourites with an existing airport now, or building a brand new airport......it would be political suicide!

The only logical place would be in the Sussex area. It is a shame that the Moncton airport had not been built 30-40 KM's west of the city instead of the 5-10 East that it is so that the commute would be under an hour for both Fred and SJ. I think if that were the case the argument could be made to close the other two. Unfortunately that is not the case and none of the airports will ever be closed unless it is for a centralized airport which virtually everyone agrees is the correct strategy.

With the state of the current economy this is obviously not something that is going to happen in the short term and may never happen.

I dont expect a centralized NB airport will ever happen, not enough of the population uses airports to warrant the cost, however we will never have proper air service until it does.

[PoscStudent]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

The Greater Moncton International Airport should have a passenger count in the vicinity of 590,000 for 2010. This is over 50% of the provincial total for NB.

That's not much for being 50% of the provincial total when you consider 1.3 million flew out of St. John's. New Brunswick has other modes of transportation that is easy to take unlike Newfoundland and Labrador however but still. Moncton isn't that much smaller then St. John's, one large "regional" airport would be smart for all 3 cities. Maybe David Alward should pass legislation moving the capital and all of the people living in Saint John and Fredericton to Moncton?

[mylesmalley]

Originally Posted by PoscStudent

That's not much for being 50% of the provincial total when you consider 1.3 million flew out of St. John's. New Brunswick has other modes of transportation that is easy to take unlike Newfoundland and Labrador however but still. Moncton isn't that much smaller then St. John's, one large "regional" airport would be smart for all 3 cities. Maybe David Alward should pass legislation moving the capital and all of the people living in Saint John and Fredericton to Moncton?

That's dangerous talk, PoscStudent. Dangerous, indeed. .

[JasonL-Moncton]

Tried to fly out of to Vegas two Saturday's ago...only airport that the morning flights cancelled, Moncton. SJ, Freddy, Charlottetown, Halifax all open and flying...Moncton, no go.

Some of my family said that they won't fly out of Moncton again in the winter...

(they'd even go so far as to drive to Bangor, where the tickets are half the price)

JL

[MonctonRad]

This has been a particularly hard winter. Too bad you had a bad experience.

Stats show that the GMIA has a better track record for on time performance than either Halifax or St. John's (fog).

[JasonL-Moncton]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

This has been a particularly hard winter. Too bad you had a bad experience.

Stats show that the GMIA has a better track record for on time performance than either Halifax or St. John's (fog).

They've had this experience numerous times here unfortunately...bad luck I guess.

RE: Hard Winter...scary thing is, we've only had snow on the ground permanently for 6 weeks.

JL

[nwalbert]

Originally Posted by JasonL-Moncton

Tried to fly out of to Vegas two Saturday's ago...only airport that the morning flights cancelled, Moncton. SJ, Freddy, Charlottetown, Halifax all open and flying...Moncton, no go.

Some of my family said that they won't fly out of Moncton again in the winter...

(they'd even go so far as to drive to Bangor, where the tickets are half the price)

JL

Unfortunately our proximity to the Bangor airport is another key ingredient in what is holding our airports back. There is a huge portion of pleasure travellers heading to Bangor as the fares are about half the price and the routes are much better. As a business traveler where fare cost is irrelevant I have done the drive myself a few times simply because I can actually save on total travel time by utilizing their routes.

I can tell you that I took off from Halifax around midnight on Saturday evening in the middle of the storm in weather that would grounded all planes that fly in New Brunswick.

Eventually we will see a centralized airport where we can potentially compete against either HFX or BGR, but probably not in time for any of us to take advantage of it, and I am in my twenties, lol.

[JasonL-Moncton]

Flight from Moncton: $749

Moncton to Toronto, Toronto to Vegas

Flight from Bangor: $418 (56% of Air Canada flight)

Bangor to Philly, Philly to Vegas.

JL

[PoscStudent]

It cost something like $1200 for someone I know to get a last minute flight from Moncton to St. John's. Of course it costs that much to fly across the island.

[Lrdevlop]

Seasonal flights from GMIA are starting! Cancun started a couple of weeks ago and Orlando started today!