Halifax Stanfield International Airport Developments

[q12]

Originally Posted by stephan.richard

Is this going to be a United airlines codeshare flight?

Of course it will.

Also this flight will coincide with the opening of the New Terminal A in November/December at Newark, which Air Canada uses.



Newark Airport’s New $3 Billion Terminal A Expected to Open in November

September 22, 2022

https://airlineweekly.com/2022/09/newark...terminal-a-expected-to-open-in-november/

[q12]

Air Canada to Launch New, Non-stop Transborder Routes to the U.S. from Halifax and Vancouver



Halifax-Newark, Vancouver-Houston flights convenient for customers

MONTREAL, Oct. 3, 2022 /CNW Telbec/ - Air Canada today announced new, daily transborder flights between Halifax-and-Newark and Vancouver-and-Houston. The year-round routes will start in December and conveniently link these major urban markets, as well as provide easy onward connections through Air Canada's and its partner United Airlines' global networks.

Air Canada to Launch New, Non-stop Transborder Routes to the U.S. from Halifax and Vancouver (CNW Group/Air Canada)

"With these new routes from Halifax and Vancouver, Air Canada is meeting demand in these important markets and building on our strengthened trans-border partnership with United Airlines to solidify our leadership in the Canada-U.S. market," said Mark Galardo, Senior Vice President, Network Planning and Revenue Management at Air Canada. "These routes will give customers in Atlantic and Western Canada more convenient options for flying to the U.S. They will reinforce the already strong links between Atlantic Canada and New York, while for customers in Western Canada they will provide more options for reaching destinations in Latin America and the Caribbean through United Airlines' Houston hub. They will also facilitate many new one-stop connections from the U.S. onto Air Canada's extensive domestic and global network."

Air Canada is the foreign carrier with the largest number of flights to the U.S. Including these new routes, Air Canada's U.S. network will be 6 per cent above its 2019, pre-pandemic capacity for the summer season of 2023. It serves 51 U.S. airports.

Halifax-Newark

Air Canada's new, year-round Halifax-Newark route will begin December 16, 2022. It will operate daily with an Air Canada Express Q-400 in an all-Economy cabin configuration. The non-stop service is timed to connect conveniently to and from regional centres in Atlantic Canada and, in the U.S., with a variety of destinations through United Airlines' network.

AC8670

Halifax-Newark

11:45

13:04

Daily

AC8669

Newark-Halifax

13:45

16:35

Daily

All flights provide for Aeroplan accumulation and redemption and, where available, for eligible customers and Aeroplan members, priority check-in, Maple Leaf Lounge access, priority boarding and other benefits.

https://media.aircanada.com/2022-10-03-A...es-to-the-U-S-from-Halifax-and-Vancouver

[Drybrain]

Originally Posted by fatscat

Nice! Newark is in a pretty good location, despite appearances. One simple train ride and you're in midtown Manhattan. Door to door for me last time was under an hour, maybe 40'ish minutes.

It's actually often quicker, depending on traffic, than JFK, either by car or transit. Comparable in any case. La Guardia is fastest but it's also a terrible airport.

[OliverD]

Originally Posted by Drybrain

It's actually often quicker, depending on traffic, than JFK, either by car or transit. Comparable in any case. La Guardia is fastest but it's also a terrible airport.

It's possibly the worst airport I've ever flown out of.

[q12]

A new restaurant La Cocina Mexicana, a sit-down Mexican restaurant has opened in domestic/international departures.



https://twitter.com/HfxStanfield/status/1582394709556703233

[q12]

Originally Posted by thenoflyzone

https://www.aeroroutes.com/eng/220806-wsns23eu

No YHZ-Europe in preliminary S23 schedules. Hopefully that changes.

Edit: also, since we’re on the subject, YHZ-LGW season is cut short and is ending this week, and GLA ends mid Sept as well. Both routes were initially scheduled until end of October. Not a good sign.

https://www.aeroroutes.com/eng/220806-wsfy22lon

Looks like Westjet has confirmed on Twitter a few days ago the return of YHZ-Europe in 2023.



EDIT: Also on their website:


https://www.westjet.com/en-ca/flights

[beyeas]

Originally Posted by OliverD

It's possibly the worst airport I've ever flown out of.

LGA certainly was a dumpster fire of an airport for decades. And while it still won't hit my list of great airports, it has massively improved. Just flew back from NYC this weekend and the new terminal B is waaaaaaayyyyyy better than the old terminal that A/C flew into. I was trying to look into the new terminal C as well as I went by in the cab, and it looked like it was still under construction (but close), and perhaps they may have parts of it in a soft open as they did with the new terminal B when it first opened.

I vividly remember needing to line up in the freezing cold outside that American Airline hanger building to wait for a cab. Brutal. Basically by the end of all this there will be nothing of the old LGA left, thank god, and the entire airport terminal infrastructure will be new.

[Zmonkey]

Flair is bringing in Quebec City flights 3 x a week starting in July.

https://www.accesswire.com/729151/Flair-Airlines-Announces-New-Service-from-Qubec-City

[Saul Goode]

I just wish Sunwing would restore direct flights from YHZ to PIE, the St. Pete–Clearwater International Airport. What a dream airport if you're going to the northern Gulf coast - in and out in 10 minutes. Even the Fort Myers airport is a PITA hassle by comparison.

[eastcoastal]

Originally Posted by Zmonkey

Flair is bringing in Quebec City flights 3 x a week starting in July.

https://www.accesswire.com/729151/Flair-Airlines-Announces-New-Service-from-Qubec-City

It's Flair. Do we believe them?

[Saul Goode]

Originally Posted by eastcoastal

It's Flair. Do we believe them?

I'm not sure we should disbelieve them just because it's Flair (although I don't think the airline has the proverbial snowball's chance of surviving for long).

What I do question is whether there's demand enough to support 3x weekly flights to Quebec City.

[Zmonkey]

Originally Posted by Saul Goode

I'm not sure we should disbelieve them just because it's Flair (although I don't think the airline has the proverbial snowball's chance of surviving for long).

What I do question is whether there's demand enough to support 3x weekly flights to Quebec City.

If its cheap, it will work.
Metro Halifax is 500K people, Metro Quebec is 750K people. No reason these two communities could not sustain 3x a week. Both are popular summer tourist spots and turning a 10 hour drive into a 75 minute flight will help demand between the two cities.

[Dartguard]

Originally Posted by Zmonkey

If its cheap, it will work.
Metro Halifax is 500K people, Metro Quebec is 750K people. No reason these two communities could not sustain 3x a week. Both are popular summer tourist spots and turning a 10 hour drive into a 75 minute flight will help demand between the two cities.

It will be interesting if it does especially as Stanfield is close to HRM's 500 K but services the over 2 Million of Atlantic Canada.

[Hali87]

Halifax tends to be one of the most Francophone-friendly cities in Canada outside Quebec (probably after Moncton and Ottawa) and the population is more likely to have at least a basic understanding of French than in most of Canada, and in fact a lot of the immigrants who have moved here in the last decade have been French-speaking. Both cities are interesting and attractive tourist destinations from the other's perspective, and there are a lot of potential synergies between the two cities, but they've always been a bit out of each other's way due to the lack of convenient air connections.

It also allows some transfers to happen at YHZ that might otherwise have happened at YUL or YYZ.

[Saul Goode]

All good points, but I'm still willing to wager that the demand simply will not sustain the route. A 189-seat airplane is way over-capacity for reasonably-expected traffic.

Porter operated YHZ-YQB daily last summer and had the right idea using the Q400. Even if Flair is able to eat Porter's lunch on fares (not a sure thing; Porter also has some fare flexibility and offers a much nicer flight experience) I'm fairly confident they'll find themselves unable to fill the airplanes consistently.

Let's re-convene next fall and see how it went - and if Flair still exists.

[Saul Goode]

I meant to add for the record that Flair must have one of the ugliest damn liveries in the history of commercial aviation. I mean, who chose vomit green? Those poor 737s must be humiliated to have to show up on the ramp dressed like that.

[Zmonkey]

Originally Posted by Saul Goode

All good points, but I'm still willing to wager that the demand simply will not sustain the route. A 189-seat airplane is way over-capacity for reasonably-expected traffic.

Porter operated YHZ-YQB daily last summer and had the right idea using the Q400. Even if Flair is able to eat Porter's lunch on fares (not a sure thing; Porter also has some fare flexibility and offers a much nicer flight experience) I'm fairly confident they'll find themselves unable to fill the airplanes consistently.

Let's re-convene next fall and see how it went - and if Flair still exists.

This is where Flair does exceedingly well. I have flown Flair from Toronto to both Calgary and Vancouver. Calgary was $96 RT and Vancouver was $125 or so. Both times I did just a backpack. Porter isn't as cheap.

Flight experience for domestic, cheap travellers isn't all that important especially on a flight that is just over an hour.

[Saul Goode]

Originally Posted by Zmonkey

Porter isn't as cheap.

Of course not. But then I never said - nor even implied - otherwise.

Flight experience for domestic, cheap travellers isn't all that important especially on a flight that is just over an hour.

Fair enough. But again, my main point is that there will not be sufficient demand to fill 189 seats, both ways, three times a week. I'm very confident in saying that, but of course only time will tell.

And the primary concern for any airline, and particularly for so-called low-cost airlines, is putting butts in seats. They absolutely must fill those seats, or die. Their margins are way too tight to do otherwise.

[eastcoastal]

Originally Posted by Saul Goode

I'm not sure we should disbelieve them just because it's Flair (although I don't think the airline has the proverbial snowball's chance of surviving for long).

What I do question is whether there's demand enough to support 3x weekly flights to Quebec City.

I was referring to Flair's habit of canceling routes without much notice - anecdotally, I've heard that Flair is ambitious, but not well-planned, and the YHZ Deals Blog notes this concern in its post about cheap Halifax-Quebec flights.
https://yhzdeals.com/halifax-to-quebec-city-98-roundtrip

[eastcoastal]

Originally Posted by Hali87

Halifax tends to be one of the most Francophone-friendly cities in Canada outside Quebec (probably after Moncton and Ottawa)...

Interesting. What's the metric used to measure friendliness?

I'd always thought Winnipeg was, by virtue of the St. Boniface area in the city... but while St. Boniface is a large Francophone community, I don't know if that equates to friendliness... I'm not challenging your statement, just interested in who determines this and how it's determined.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Boniface,_Winnipeg