Canadian Airport Thread

[esquire]

Originally Posted by SaskScraper

San Diego is the busiest one-runway airport in USA, and one of the busiest single runway airports in the World, busier than airports like Montreal or Edmonton. Landing & taking off is quite the experience with tight banking, with comparisons to Hong Kong's former Kai Tak Airport.

I'm not sure if San Diego's airport would be either of the two, easier or cheaper. Must be a high demand for more Alberta & BC airports to another SoCal destination.

I was thinking "easier" in terms of making the economics work... but yeah, if the demand is high enough then it could work even if it isn't a cheap airport to fly in and out of.

[G.S MTL]

YVR for May

2,186,452 +1.8%

YTD 10,291,198 +2.8%

Ahh thoughts? I’m curious to see YUL for May..

[thenoflyzone]

Originally Posted by Cage

A large part of Rouge's transAt success is the integration with AC North America network. A large part of TS recent challenges are related to lack of NA network feed. Doubtful the we would see Rouge operations move to TS.

The one exception I could see is a temporary transfer of Rouge 763 metal to TS in order to get the 310s out of the fleet sooner. But this could entail a lot of tricky negotiations with the pilot unions.

TS last A310 flight is tentatively sheduled for 27 April 2020. By the time this deal is approved and AC comes in, the A310s will already be gone.

[thenoflyzone]

Originally Posted by Cage

It will take a minimum 2 years to integrate the two companies. Pilots and FA union contracts will need to be coordinated. Seniority will be an issue, especially with the pilots. Lots of time to rehash old merger discussions about "bottom of the list"; "no bump, no flush"; "new AC pilots careers destroyed by senior TS pilots".

It will most likely be "date of hire", same as with AC/CP merger.

You should see the lovely rhetoric already posted on avcanada by AC/TS pilots. I'm preparing the popcorn.

[lubicon]

Originally Posted by Dominion301

Here's AC's Western Canada winter 2019-20 expansion announcement:

https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/ai...ty-on-key-regional-routes-803241414.html

Route Frequencies & Aircraft* Capacity Increase

Calgary-Terrace Daily with Q-400s new
Vancouver-Terrace 5 x daily with Q-400s +30%
Vancouver-Prince Rupert 2 x daily with Q-400s +56%
Vancouver-Smithers 2 x daily with Q-400s +56%
Vancouver-Fort St. John 4 x daily with Q-400s +20%
Vancouver-Kamloops 5 x daily with Q-400s +56%
Vancouver-Penticton 3 x daily with Q-400s +56%
Vancouver-Comox 3 x daily with Q-400s +56%
Vancouver-Sandspit Daily with Q-400s +56%
Vancouver-Saskatoon 3 daily with CRJ900s offering Business and Economy Class +44%
Vancouver-Regina 3 daily with CRJ900s offering Business and Economy Class +44%
Vancouver-Whitehorse 2 x daily with A319s/A320s offering Business and Economy Class +24%
Calgary-Kamloops 2 x daily with Q-400s +56%
Calgary-Winnipeg 3 x daily with A319s/CRJ900s offering Business and Economy Class +40%
Edmonton-Fort McMurray 3 x daily with Q-400s +70%
Edmonton-Grande Prairie 2 x daily with Q-400s +56%

So pretty much the retirement of all DH8-100 and DH8-300's? I see a lot of Q400's in this list.

[Denscity]

Originally Posted by lubicon

So pretty much the retirement of all DH8-100 and DH8-300's? I see a lot of Q400's in this list.

Yes thats what i was thinking. Everyone except Castlegar is on that list so any Dash 8-300 fan can come here and get their spotting on lol!

[Dominion301]

Originally Posted by Denscity

Yes thats what i was thinking. Everyone except Castlegar is on that list so any Dash 8-300 fan can come here and get their spotting on lol!

They haven’t been retired yet, but all the DH1s fly exclusively out of YYZ now and all but about 3 DH3s are in the east as well.

[SpongeG]

Travellers slam Swoop after nearly 2 dozen delayed or cancelled flights


'It would be great if they were reliable and had some customer support, but no'
Dan Taekema · CBC News · July 8, 2019

Passengers planning to take Swoop flights from airports across Canada and Florida have been left scrambling after the low-cost airline delayed or cancelled nearly two dozen trips because of maintenance issues.

The WestJet Airlines subsidiary said 11 of its flights were cancelled on July 7 and 8, including trips from Hamilton, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Halifax, Orlando and Fort Lauderdale.

The cancellations, which began on July 5, will continue for next two days. July 9 trips from Hamilton, Halifax and London, Ont. and July 10 trips from Hamilton, Winnipeg and Edmonton have also been grounded.

The airline blamed unscheduled maintenance on one of its aircraft.

"Safety is our number one priority and we sincerely apologize to our travellers for the interruption in their plans," said Swoop spokesperson Karen McIsaac in an email to CBC News.

"We know how disruptive it is when travel doesn't go as planned, and we're sorry for the inconvenience and disappointment this has caused."

...

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/swoop-airline-fort-lauderdale-1.5203982

[SpongeG]

missed this just heard about it today

Boeing admits falsifying documents of Air Canada Dreamliner?

CLÉMENT CHARPENTREAU

Among the reports that the U.S. Department of Justice is starting to investigate the production of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, a specific manufacturing incident involving the aircraft has come to light. Boeing seemingly admitted that some documents regarding a Dreamliner sold to Air Canada had been falsified. That same plane experienced an oil leak, after ten months of service.

On June 29, 2019, Boeing sent a statement to CBC News where it admitted the falsification of several certificates of the 787 Dreamliner, registered C-GHPQ, which was the first to be delivered to Air Canada. After only ten months of service, the aircraft was affected by an incident.

On February 10, 2015, the Air Canada Boeing 787 registered was performing flight AC-3 from Vancouver, Canada to Tokyo Narita, Japan, when "the pilot [received] oil indicators from one of the engines," according to Air Canada spokesman Peter Fitzpatrick. The plane diverted to Anchorage, Alaska, and a new aircraft was dispatched to take the passengers to Narita.

...

https://www.aerotime.aero/clement.charpe...fying-documents-of-air-canada-dreamliner

see also: Seattle Times: DOJ's Boeing investigation expands to 787 Dreamliner

Caroline Kelly
By Caroline Kelly, CNN

https://www.cnn.com/2019/06/28/politics/boeing-investigation-expands-787-dreamliner/index.html

[SteelTown]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

Travellers slam Swoop after nearly 2 dozen delayed or cancelled flights


'It would be great if they were reliable and had some customer support, but no'
Dan Taekema · CBC News · July 8, 2019

Passengers planning to take Swoop flights from airports across Canada and Florida have been left scrambling after the low-cost airline delayed or cancelled nearly two dozen trips because of maintenance issues.

The WestJet Airlines subsidiary said 11 of its flights were cancelled on July 7 and 8, including trips from Hamilton, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Halifax, Orlando and Fort Lauderdale.

The cancellations, which began on July 5, will continue for next two days. July 9 trips from Hamilton, Halifax and London, Ont. and July 10 trips from Hamilton, Winnipeg and Edmonton have also been grounded.

The airline blamed unscheduled maintenance on one of its aircraft.

"Safety is our number one priority and we sincerely apologize to our travellers for the interruption in their plans," said Swoop spokesperson Karen McIsaac in an email to CBC News.

"We know how disruptive it is when travel doesn't go as planned, and we're sorry for the inconvenience and disappointment this has caused."

...

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/swoop-airline-fort-lauderdale-1.5203982

Some idiot threw coins to one of the engines. As a result, the idiot is responsible for all of the recent cancellations.

[YYCguys]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

Travellers slam Swoop after nearly 2 dozen delayed or cancelled flights


'It would be great if they were reliable and had some customer support, but no'
Dan Taekema · CBC News · July 8, 2019

Passengers planning to take Swoop flights from airports across Canada and Florida have been left scrambling after the low-cost airline delayed or cancelled nearly two dozen trips because of maintenance issues.

The WestJet Airlines subsidiary said 11 of its flights were cancelled on July 7 and 8, including trips from Hamilton, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Halifax, Orlando and Fort Lauderdale.

The cancellations, which began on July 5, will continue for next two days. July 9 trips from Hamilton, Halifax and London, Ont. and July 10 trips from Hamilton, Winnipeg and Edmonton have also been grounded.

The airline blamed unscheduled maintenance on one of its aircraft.

"Safety is our number one priority and we sincerely apologize to our travellers for the interruption in their plans," said Swoop spokesperson Karen McIsaac in an email to CBC News.

"We know how disruptive it is when travel doesn't go as planned, and we're sorry for the inconvenience and disappointment this has caused."

...

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/swoop-airline-fort-lauderdale-1.5203982

The fleet isn’t huge (I think under 10 aircraft?) so when one of the frames goes inop, the ripple effect is huge. With the Max fleet grounded, WS can’t even be expected to pick up the slack because it needs all available frames for its own ops.

[ghYHZ]

CNN Travel: Gander International

An interesting article on an airport that was once a major player in Transatlantic air travel.

https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/gander-international-airport-canada/index.html

Pan Am, TWA, BOAC, El Al, Air France, Alitalia, Sabena, SAS, Swissair, TCA etc. were all there and most had extensive operations with crew bases, dispatch etc.

Even Aeroflot, Interflug (East Germany) CSA-Czechoslovak and Cubana stopped for fuel on their way to and from Cuba and many travelers got their first taste of freedom there when they defected during the stopover in the Gander Terminal.

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1985-04-11/news/8501210193_1_rcmp-officer-refueling-lounge

[Dominion301]

YOW's June pax stats are out and not surprisingly, transborder was down due to UA's 10 month ORD suspension starting in early June (means July will be even worse), and domestic was flat no doubt due MAX cancellations/reductions. The fact that domestic was flat is not bad at all.

Sector / Jun-18 / Jun-19 / % Change
Dom: 363,899 / 363,732 / -0.05%
TB: 52,462 / 48,101 / -8.3%
Int'l: 21,556 / 23,088 / +7.1% - Best result since 2015. No capacity change vs 2018 = a higher LF of 86%
TTL: 437,917 / 434,921 / -0.7%

Sector / YTD 2018 / YTD 2019 / % Change
Dom: 1,894,204 / 1,918,579 / +1.3%
TB: 375,885 / 386,410 / +2.8%
Int'l: 230,875 / 263,212 / +14.0%
TTL: 2,500,964 / 2,568,201 / +2.7%

12 Months Rolling / % Change vs Year End 2018
Dom: 4,026,584 / +0.6%
TB: 731,295 / +1.5%
Int'l: 420,159 / +8.3%
TTL: 5,178,038 / +1.3%

[nname]

No schedule update from AC last night

But from booking site, seems like AC had rolled back quite a lot of the planned increase likely due to MAX grounding.

India-Pakistan airspace had been opened, but current schedule shows YYZ-DEL suspension remains till end of September. YVR-DEL still fly above China, Mongolia/Japan both directions and avoid the middle east side altogether.

[thenoflyzone]

Originally Posted by nname

India-Pakistan airspace had been opened, but current schedule shows YYZ-DEL suspension remains till end of September. YVR-DEL still fly above China, Mongolia/Japan both directions and avoid the middle east side altogether.

That's good news for DEL and India in general. Indian airlines have lost over $80 million because of the airspace closure.

I don't think AC will reopen YYZ-DEL before October. Filling up these flights on such short notice won't be easy, and resuming next week with half empty planes isn't the best of ideas.

[thenoflyzone]

Originally Posted by nname

YVR-DEL still fly above China, Mongolia/Japan both directions and avoid the middle east side altogether.

AC45 currently northwestbound out of DEL.

Back to the old routing it seems.

https://www.flightradar24.com/data/flights/ac45

[Dominion301]

The two new AC Rouge sun routes are officially announced: https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/fu...a-cana-dominican-republic-869743454.html

Air Canada today announced two new winter services from Quebec City (YQB) to popular sun destinations Cancun, Mexico and Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. Service to Cancun begins December 21, 2019 until April 11, 2020, while Punta Cana flights start December 22, 2019 until April 12, 2020.

Flights are on all-Y 200 seat 321s. What's interesting is, in order to rotate in/out the 321s, the 321 will departing YQB to YYZ on Mondays at 0550, only 1/2 hr after the daily 320 at 0520. That's a LOT of early morning seats to fill to YYZ. Not sure how they're rotating in the 321 though as that's not loaded yet, but I'd imagine it'll be a similar extra flight on Friday nights.

[thenoflyzone]

Originally Posted by Dominion301

The two new AC Rouge sun routes are officially announced: https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/fu...a-cana-dominican-republic-869743454.html



Flights are on all-Y 200 seat 321s. What's interesting is, in order to rotate in/out the 321s, the 321 will departing YQB to YYZ on Mondays at 0550, only 1/2 hr after the daily 320 at 0520. That's a LOT of early morning seats to fill to YYZ. Not sure how they're rotating in the 321 though as that's not loaded yet, but I'd imagine it'll be a similar extra flight on Friday nights.

I don't think it's a lot of seats. Quebec City is an 800,000 + market, after all, and has been underserved for years. What's 360 seats in the morning to Toronto.

There should be plenty of YQB-YYZ-Sun passengers to capture as well. An early morning departure out of YQB is ideal in order to capture that market.

Glad to see AC finally paying attention to YQB.

[Dominion301]

YWG's Q2 Pax Stats

APRIL

Sector / Apr-18 / Apr-19 / % Change
Dom: 286,084 / 284,518 / -0.5%
TB: 39,322 / 40,930 / +4.1%
Int'l: 8,558 / 8,570 / +0.1%
TTL: 333,964 / 334,018 / +0.02%

MAY

Sector / May-18 / May-19 / % Change
Dom: 325,133 / 333,060 / +2.4%
TB: 29,676 / 36,188 / +21.9%
Int'l: 0 / 0 / 0%
TTL: 354,809 / 369,248 / +4.1%

JUNE

Sector / Jun-18 / Jun-19 / % Change
Dom: 352,650 / 354,763 / +0.6%
TB: 31,321 / 34,662 / +10.7%
Int'l: 768 / 989 / +28.8%
TTL: 384,739 / 390,414 / +1.5%

YTD 2019

Sector / YTD 2018 / YTD 2019 / % Change
Dom: 1,763,100 / 1,819,117 / +3.2%
TB: 225,613 / 255,998 / +13.5%
Int'l: 139,183 / 151,890 / +9.1%
TTL: 2,127,896 / 2,227,005 / +4.7%

12 MONTHS ROLLING TOTAL

12 Months Rolling / % Change vs Year End 2018
Dom: 3,903,226 / +1.5%
TB: 486,905 / +6.7%
Int'l: 193,321 / +7.0%
TTL: 4,583,452 / +2.2%

[thenoflyzone]

Airbus commited to expanding the Mirabel FAL.

https://montrealgazette.com/business/loc...rbus-eyes-additional-facility-in-mirabel

Airbus is leaning toward building a new plant in Mirabel within about two years to speed up production of the jetliner formerly known as the C Series.

The proposed pre-assembly facility will be tasked with preparing complete sections of the A220 plane before they are moved to the final assembly line. A decision on whether to proceed with the investment will be make in the coming weeks, according to Philippe Balducchi, chief executive officer of the Airbus Canada Limited Partnership.

“Our goal with this pre-assembly facility is to protect the final assembly line,” Balducchi told the Montreal Gazette Thursday in a telephone interview from Toulouse, France, where Airbus is based. “We are very probably going to build this pre-assembly facility, and we will do it in Mirabel.”

The new line will probably start operating sometime around 2021...

...

About 2,500 employees now work on the A220 in Mirabel, up from about 2,200 a year ago. While hiring for the program will continue in the months ahead, “it won’t be massive,” Balducchi said.

Having shipped 21 A220s in the first half of the year, Airbus is aiming to reach about 45 deliveries for all of 2019. Mirabel’s capacity is about 120 planes a year.

Output should climb further next year when a second A220 final assembly line in Mobile, Ala., begins deliveries. The first plane sections have already arrived in Mobile, and assembly work will begin in the coming weeks, Balducchi said. When fully operational, the U.S. factory will be capable of building up to 50 jets per year.

Nice to see Airbus investing in Mirabel, and keeping the jobs in Quebec.

On another note, REM station construction officially started at YUL. Link in french only (used google translate for the quote)

https://www.lelezard.com/communique-18852734.html

MONTREAL, July 19 2019 / CNW Telbec / - ADM Aéroports de Montréal today launched the groundbreaking ceremony officially launching the construction of the future metropolitan express railway (REM) station at YUL Montréal-Trudeau International Airport. The first REM subway will enter the station in 2023.
...
The construction of the REM station is part of a much larger project, the development program on the city side, which will notably lead ADM to rebuild the storied parking and the departure ramp at YUL, infrastructures that are at the end of their useful life. A new space called YULtransit will also be built underground, where public transport will converge.
...

Highlights:

- The construction of the REM station will be completed in 2023;
- The REM will transport users from downtown to the airport in about 20 minutes;
- The $ 250M costs related to the construction of the REM station will be borne by ADM;
- The installation of technical equipment (landing doors, rails, power supply, communication and control systems, etc.) will be carried out as part of the REM project;
- The excavation to build the station will be at a depth of 35 meters under the storied parking;
- The new YUL pier will have a tripled capacity;
- The staged parking will be completely covered with a green roof equipped with solar collectors; Depending on the needs of the moment, sufficient space will be reserved for electric vehicles as soon as the new storied parking space is opened; The project will be built to sustainable construction standards for Envision certification .

Both the REM and the expansion of the departure ramp are much needed at YUL. The traffic jam leading to the airport during the evening rush hour often stretches 1km long all the way to highway 20 and 520.