Halifax Stanfield International Airport Developments

[halifaxboyns]

Ha ha love the pictures of the chickenburger - I know the guy in the first picture at the counter.

[q12]

December 7, 2011

http://www.hiaa.ca/default.asp?id=190&pagesize=1&sfield=content.id&search=1330&mn=70.1.262.291.656

Icelandair Cargo Returns to Halifax Stanfield

Start-Up Schedule Timed to Meet High December Demand

Halifax, N.S. – Halifax International Airport Authority (HIAA) has announced that, starting today, Icelandair Cargo will once again operate scheduled air cargo service at Halifax Stanfield International Airport (HSIA).

“Our team is very pleased to welcome Icelandair Cargo back to Halifax,” says Jerry Staples, HIAA Vice President Marketing & Business Development. “And the timing couldn’t be better. Having this new service start in December – typically our busiest month for air cargo – is great news for seafood shippers,” he says.

The weekly scheduled service will operate with a B757 freighter on Wednesday’s from Halifax to Reykjavik, Iceland and on to Liege, Belgium. The flight will arrive at Halifax Stanfield at 11:30 a.m. and depart for Keflavik International Airport in Reykjavik at 1:00 p.m.

“We are delighted to be back operating in Halifax after a three-year absence,” says Gunnar Mar Sigurfinnsson, Managing Director for Icelandair Cargo. “We look forward to renewing our relationship with the local airport and business communities,” he says.

“The addition of this new dedicated air cargo service provides a significant opportunity for exporters in our region to reach markets in Scandinavia and other points in northern Europe and demonstrates the priority we place on growing our cargo business,” adds Staples.

Work is currently underway to extend the main runway at Halifax Stanfield International Airport.
Extending the runway from 8,800 to 10,500 feet will allow the airport to handle larger wide-bodied and heavy aircraft. This will enhance the airport’s position as a key international air cargo and passenger hub.

[Nouvellecosse]

Any idea why the 3 year absence?

[halifaxboyns]

Originally Posted by Nouvellecosse

Any idea why the 3 year absence?

Icelandic economics and internal economic problems with the airline as I recall. The made money on the cargo run but once the economy tanked, the demand for lobster and freight through this route dried up.

I'm assuming that things have improved or they've gotten a really good deal with the airport for facility and landing fees.

[ghYHZ]

YHZ Transport Canada Brochures from around 1980. Note the floor plan shows ticket counters for two airlines only: Air Canada and Eastern Provincial. Also.....just three bridges at Gates 18, 20 & 22.





That DC-9 in the International Area is probably just in from BOS & JFK and interesting......a Cubana DC-8!

[halifaxboyns]

Funny that Cubana is serving YHZ again. Talk about full circle.
It's interesting how the configuration hasn't really changed that much; the ticket counters are still in the same place but have grown.

What has changed for YHZ is the amount of fog. I was talking to a friend who works there and the number of fog days have been climbing quite a bit; especially after about 10pm. Most of the regional flights from the US have been having problems getting in, so airlines have been forced to go from the CRJs to bigger aircraft just to make it on the ground.

When my flight was coming in on Wednesday night (AC1604) it was hugely foggy and the captain warned us he may have to divert because visibility was dropping. We got on the ground okay, but I pity the poor people going onto YYT (St. John's). They were supposed to leave at 12:05 and they didn't leave until 2:30 - which meant getting into YYT at 4:30 but that's the joy of the milk run extra flights at christmas.

[halifaxboyns]

(from the CH online)

CALGARY — WestJet is considering launching a new short-haul regional airline in a move that would extend service to smaller communities and increase traffic to its current network.

Few details were available on the proposed regional operation, other than that the company is thinking about launching it as early as 2013 using a fleet of approximately 40 smaller, turboprop aircraft.

“This is an exciting consideration for WestJetters,” said company president and CEO Gregg Saretsky.

“One of the cornerstones of our success is engaging with employees early on in key decisions and I am confident they will see the strategic value of this initiative.”

Saretsky said the company has regularly evaluated the idea in the past, saying a short-haul aircraft combined with WestJet’s brand, balance sheet strength and low-cost structure would allow WestJet to profitably accomplish a number of goals.

Among other things, it would allow WestJet to introduce its service to many smaller communities and optimize the size of aircraft to efficiently increase frequency. It would also create new connections between existing WestJet markets and build additional feed to the airline’s current network.

“I am excited at the prospect of repeating the entrepreneurial success of WestJet’s beginnings,” added Clive Beddoe, WestJet chairman and a principal founder of the company.

WestJet’s current single fleet of Boeings would be joined by “a sister company operating a single fleet of turboprops to maintain maximum efficiencies for both airlines,” Beddoe said.

WestJet currently offers scheduled service to 71 cities in North America and the Caribbean.

This could be quite good for some smaller communities mainly in Ontario, Quebec, BC and possibily the maritimes. I wonder if they will make YHZ their regional hub?

[pblaauw]

Maybe they could talk to the folks at East Coast Airways.

[halifaxboyns]

Originally Posted by pblaauw

Maybe they could talk to the folks at East Coast Airways.

Also known as Air no where...omg I can hear the old Air Nova ad in my head lol.

[Jstaleness]

Was it a ladies voice and sort of sounded like Air Nooovaaaaaaaaaa?

[q12]

Originally Posted by Jstaleness

Was it a ladies voice and sort of sounded like Air Nooovaaaaaaaaaa?

Air Nova Commercial 1992

50 second mark

• Video Link

[Jstaleness]

haha! Yes that's it. Except that was John Gracie or whatever doing the bit for that commercial.

[q12]

Airport Construction Projects Update:

• Renovating departures domestic & international (except USA) south end area of main terminal building to make terminal uniform from end to end (new glass facade)
• New Runway Extension from 8,800 ft to 10,500 ft UNDER CONSTUCTION
• New one-way terminal Roadway (Bell Boulevard) to loop back to Highway 102
• New ALT Brand Hotel at terminal (Le Groupe Germain) UNDER CONSTRUCTION http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?p=5562388#post5562388
• New Hotel off-site (Marriott Courtyard)
• New Loading Bridges
• Metro Transit Bus Service METRO X LAUNCHING IN SPRING
• 2nd Starbucks on main level Arrivals, NOW OPEN
• New Chickenburger outlet NOW OPEN
• 2nd Clearwater Outlet on Departures Level NOW OPEN
• Other additional improvements (post them if I missed something)

[q12]

Halifax Stanfield Breaks Passenger Record

http://www.hiaa.ca/default.asp?id=190&pagesize=1&sfield=content.id&search=1333&mn=70.1.262.291.666

January 26, 2012

While Enhancing Coveted Global Airport Service Quality Reputation

Halifax, N.S. – Halifax Stanfield International Airport (HSIA) welcomed 3,594,164 passengers in 2011, up 2.5 per cent over 2010. This marks the airport’s busiest year and accounts for over half of all the air passengers in Atlantic Canada.

At the same time, Halifax Stanfield maintained its Airport Service Quality (ASQ) Assured certification, making it one of only 13 airports in the world - and the only airport in Canada - to reach this pinnacle of passenger satisfaction.

Compared to 2010, all sectors recorded year-over-year growth in 2011.
- Transborder traffic (non-stop to the United States) was up 10.8 per cent, serving a record 409,709 passengers
- International traffic rose 9.1 per cent, and also marked a record year serving 327,811 guests
- Canadian domestic traffic held strong, rising 0.7 per cent to 2,856,644 passengers

Air Canada continued to be a powerful partner at Halifax Stanfield, in all sectors. With their partners Jazz, headquartered at HSIA, Air Canada’s Halifax hub benefits the Atlantic Region by providing global access through their network and their Star Alliance partners.

“These achievements are the result of lots of hard work and focus from all of our partners – airlines, tenants, retailers, volunteers, all levels of government and the dedicated employees of Halifax International Airport Authority (HIAA),” says Tom Ruth, HIAA President & CEO. “The support we’ve received from all of the carriers that serve Halifax is very encouraging”, said Ruth. “We are grateful to them all, especially those helping us grow our international service – a key strategic goal of ours.”

In 2011, Halifax Stanfield was served by 18 passenger airlines flying to a total of 43 non-stop destinations (22 year-round and 21 seasonal). The airport served an average of over 175 flights each day.

Passenger airlines included Air Canada, WestJet, Jazz, Porter, United, Air Transat, American Airlines, CanJet, Condor, Air Georgian, Air St. Pierre, Continental, Delta, Icelandair, Cubana, Sunwing, Thomas Cook (UK) and US Airways.

"I want to recognize and thank the amazing staff at Halifax Stanfield International Airport who do their best to ensure that every passenger and visitor has a pleasant and memorable experience," says Premier Darrell Dexter. "As the region's largest airport, Halifax Stanfield continues to set records for quality, performance and numbers. The province is pleased to support this world-class facility through investments like the extension of the main runway, which will help to make the airport even better in the years to come."

Factors contributing to the increase in Transborder traffic (non-stop to the United States) were:
• a full year of operation of the three times daily service by US Airways to Philadelphia that began operation in June, 2010
• increased capacity in the 4th quarter of 2011 by Continental (used 70 seat aircraft on two of its four daily flights to Newark versus 50 seat)
• increased capacity by WestJet Airlines to destinations in Florida during the winter sun flight season

In the International sector, contributing factors were:
• increased capacity to Europe during the peak summer season from both Condor to Frankfurt and Icelandair to Reykjavik
• increased capacity on flights chartered from Thomas Cook (UK) by tour operator Canadian Affair for its weekly service to London (Gatwick) by increasing the size of the aircraft (from 185 seats to 362 seats)
• introduction of new year-round service to Santa Clara, Cuba by tour operator Hola Sun Vacations using Cubana Airlines
• increased capacity to winter sun destinations in Mexico and the Caribbean

“Our commitment to provide superior service at Halifax Stanfield reaches far beyond those 3.59 million passengers,” says Ruth. “When you consider the family and friends who pick them up and drop them off, we have the opportunity to provide a positive experience to over 8 million people a year. We take our responsibility to each and every one of them very seriously,” he noted.

3.6 Million passengers pretty impressive!

[ghYHZ]

American Airlines (Eagle) will end its twice daily service between JFK and YHZ on April 2. They began this route in 2004 and also had summer service to BOS and ORD in the mid 2000’s.

And on a local note……it was interesting to skate around the ice surface in the Millennium Centre at St. FX in Antigonish and see the American Eagle ad on the boards advertising the AA YHZ-JFK service!

Former American Eagle CEO Peter Bowler is a St. FX graduate and was also on the Board of Governors.

[q12]

This likely due to the fact that American Airlines is under bankruptcy protection. Their flight schedule is being reduced significantly. If they come out of bankruptcy as a profitable airline, then we will see them return.

Delta and United which have both gone through mergers will probably add more flights to NY. Another possibility is for Porter to start a direct flight to NY, since they have set up a base here. Air Canada could also resume New York service as well.

On another note, American Airlines (Eagle) is ending it's calgary - chicago route as well.

[ghYHZ]

Originally Posted by q12

Delta and United which have both gone through mergers will probably add more flights to NY.

Delta Airlines……not currently serving YHZ will be adding a flight to LGA this summer, also DTW.

[halifaxboyns]

(from the CH online)
UPDATED 8:09 p.m.

Atlantic Canadian travellers may need to make alternate plans to visit the Big Apple.

American Airlines will no longer offer service to John F. Kennedy International Airport from Halifax as of April 3, citing continued restructuring under the Chapter 11 protection it received last year.

“We’d been serving the market since October 2009 but, over time, it just didn’t develop as we had hoped,” said Ed Martelle, spokesman for the airline based in Fort Worth, Texas, in an email Tuesday.

The decision leaves United Airlines, which includes the former Continental Airlines, as the only carrier offering direct service to the New York City area. It currently flies from Halifax to Newark Liberty International airport in New Jersey.

Jerry Staples, vice-president of marketing and business development at Halifax Stanfield International Airport, said the American Airlines move was relayed to the airport a few weeks ago.

“They let us know that as a result of their restructuring and Chapter 11 protection in the U.S., of course, that they would be stopping service,” Staples said.

“It’s always disappointing to see a carrier leave a market but, having said that, the door is open with them. We have very strong relationships with their executive and their planning teams. So once they go through the restructuring, we’ll be back talking to them about reinstatement of service on the JFK market.”

There is “significant traffic” to New York from Halifax, Staples said, noting that travellers not only use it to visit the city, but to utilize the vast array of worldwide connections available through JFK and Newark.

The decision to terminate the route didn’t come as a surprise to Robert Kokonis, president of AirTrav Inc., an airline consulting firm near Toronto.

“They have to take a look at ways to reduce the costs of their financial activities ..... and certainly they’re looking at their operation from top to bottom, looking for opportunities to save money,” he said.

“They’re going to be looking for routes such as Halifax, which perhaps are marginal producers or potentially losing money, so that doesn’t surprise me.”

While there is an extensive network of connections to Europe and Latin and South America out of Newark, travellers out of Halifax will see a difference, at least in the short term, Kokonis said.

The rest of the story is here.

Personally, AA never really did well after Canadian disappeared in the YHZ market. Their flights were all timed badly - when they had 3 flights a day, only 1 of them made a critical connection time in NYC. The first flight of the day was way off leaving you with often a 2-3 hour layover.

When they dropped down 2 flights a day, the early morning one still didn't seem to work. Plus over all AA is one of the worst carriers when it comes to service quality (they were the first to introduce many of the fees for baggage, etc.). Oddly enough, US airways (which I hear in the US is hated more than AA) I find has better service, but that's just me.

I suspect the people interviewed is right - AC Express will jump in to fill the void. Air Nova used to offer to daily flights to Newark and they always seemed to do well, since they used their BaE146's (which had business class seats). Hopefully either AC or AC express will jump in with an aircraft that has some business class seats (my guess would be a CRJ700 or E175).

[ghYHZ]

What surprises me is the YHZ-PHL service. US was the last of the majors to arrive at YHZ less than two years ago and their schedules have been consistent…..3 a day each way originally on CRJs and now two each way have been up-gauged to E-170s………So what’s the draw in Philadelphia?

Continental has also been quite consistent except for a couple of summers using mainline ‘737s but American and Delta schedules and routes have been all over the place. Currently Delta is not even serving YHZ but they will be back in the spring to LGA and DTW and I wonder if ATL will be back this summer too.

[halifaxboyns]

Originally Posted by ghYHZ

What surprises me is the YHZ-PHL service. US was the last of the majors to arrive at YHZ less than two years ago and their schedules have been consistent…..3 a day each way originally on CRJs and now two each way have been up-gauged to E-170s………So what’s the draw in Philadelphia?

Continental has also been quite consistent except for a couple of summers using mainline ‘737s but American and Delta schedules and routes have been all over the place. Currently Delta is not even serving YHZ but they will be back in the spring to LGA and DTW and I wonder if ATL will be back this summer too.

Part of the change for the PHL service has been (of all things) fog. That's the same for some of the other US flights in general. YHZ has been having a lot more dense fog days at night which has caused a number of the RJ flights arriving late in the evenings (for the first flight back to the US the following mornings) to get cancelled - particularly the PHL flights. So US Airways regional carrier (which operates both the CRJ and E70's) upgraded the planes to avoid this issue. But as it turns out the flight has done well with the upgrade and it's made good money.

I don't think AC has code shared it yet, but I wouldn't be surprised if they do in the future, which will mean a streamlined connection through YHZ from the various regional destinations around atlantic canada. Frankly, I wouldn't be surprised if AC steps in and does a NYC flight from YHZ - why they ever stopped I'm not sure. Like I said previously, their newark flight with the BaE146's (Air Nova) always seemed to do well. I guess they didn't think the CRJ 700's would do good business? That or at the time there weren't enough to go around - because you hardly ever saw a CRJ700 come into YHZ until they bulked up how many they had. Even still, they are pretty rare, where as the CRJ100's (with no business seats) are common place.