Halifax Stanfield International Airport Developments

[q12]

American Airlines upgrading Halifax (YHZ) <-> Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) from 1x Weekly to 1x Daily on Embraer 175.
Switches from weekly to daily starting August 6th.

United is back flying non-stop to EWR 2x daily.

Updated 2024 non-stop to the U.S. Northeast from Halifax:

Boston

Air Canada 1x Daily (78 seat Q400)
American Airlines 1x Weekly Seasonal (80 seat E175)

New York area airports

Air Canada EWR 1x Daily (78 seat Q400)
United Airlines EWR 2x Daily (80 seat E175)
American Airlines LGA 1x Daily Seasonal (80 seat E175)
Delta Airlines LGA 2x Daily (80 seat E175)

Philadelphia

American Airlines 1x Daily Seasonal (128 seat A319)

Washington Reagan

American Airlines 1x Daily Seasonal (80 seat E175)


Halifax's Transatlantic Summer 2024:

Frankfurt, Germany

Discover Airlines YHZ-Frankfurt 5x weekly A330
Condor Airlines YHZ-Frankfurt 4x weekly A330

London, UK
Air Canada YHZ-London Heathrow, UK Daily 737max8
Westjet YHZ-London, Gatwick, UK 4x weekly 737max8

Iceland
Icelandair YHZ-Reykjavik, Iceland 3x weekly 737max8

Scotland, UK
Westjet YHZ-Edinburgh, Scotland, UK 3x weekly 737max8

Dublin, Ireland
Westjet YHZ-Dublin, Ireland 4x weekly 737max8

Updated 2024 Route Map for YHZ:

[ScovaNotian]

Condor to Frankfurt is 4x weekly I think.

[q12]

You're right. Friday and Saturdays are going to be busy with two A330 widebody flights from Halifax to Frankfurt. This is likely the most scheduled seat capacity ever on a single day to a European airport from Halifax.

[Halifax12]

I dont think there is year round service from Halifax to Orlando, as the flight map suggests

[q12]

Currently non-stop flights are not available between Halifax and Orlando in the months of July, August and September only. Westjet used to fly the route in peak summer pre-pandemic.

[q12]

United Airlines is returning with 2x Daily non-stop to EWR

Halifax will have 4 Major Airlines flying non-stop to New York City this summer.

[Saul Goode]

Originally Posted by q12

Halifax will have 4 Major Airlines flying non-stop to New York City this summer.

It's interesting to note that all three US carriers' flights will be operated by the same regional partner, Republic Airways. That means Embraer E175s (possibly 170s for American). Not my all-time fave airplanes, but not the worst either.

[Keith P.]

Originally Posted by Saul Goode

It's interesting to note that all three US carriers' flights will be operated by the same regional partner, Republic Airways. That means Embraer E175s (possibly 170s for American). Not my all-time fave airplanes, but not the worst either.

Yes, they aren't totally horrible, but can be a bit snug in the passenger cabin. I am curious as to how Delta's 2 flights beat the others in travel time by 15 minutes or so. Is LGA that much closer than EWR? On a map they seem pretty near each other.

[Saul Goode]

Originally Posted by Keith P.

I am curious as to how Delta's 2 flights beat the others in travel time by 15 minutes or so. Is LGA that much closer than EWR? On a map they seem pretty near each other.

For that matter, it's a bit puzzling that Delta is 10 minutes faster to LGA than American, considering they're actually the same airline (Republic) operating the the same airplane type.

As for EWR, I'd be very surprised if it's even five minutes of straight-line flight time away from LGA - more like 2 or 3, I'd guess. I'd speculate that the differences arise from different routings into the airports dictated by ATC. Between JFK, LGA and EWR there's a huge volume of air traffic into/out of the NYC area to be regulated. Perhaps someone with better knowledge will chime in.

I'm more intrigued that Air Canada's flight time to Newark is so close to United's, considering that AC is flying Q400s, which are 100 mph (more or less) slower than United's jets.

[q12]

Yeah it's all mostly Air Traffic (safety) that prevents planes from flying the most direct route into NYC.

Today's flight went as far as Albany, NY before lining up in order to land. This flight is often delayed (on arrival) up to 45 mins, due to how busy the air space is over NYC.

[q12]

Almost 3.6 Million passengers through Halifax Stanfield in 2023.

Halifax Stanfield Celebrates Impressive Passenger Traffic Growth in 2023

January 30, 2024

The sounds of passenger announcements, suitcase wheels humming over the floor tiles and laughter as people prepared to depart on an exciting journey were music to our ears at Halifax Stanfield in 2023. Today, Halifax International Airport Authority (HIAA) is pleased to announce that the airport served 3,579,293 passengers in 2023, marking an impressive 15 per cent increase over 2022 figures.

“We are incredibly proud to have welcomed nearly half a million more travellers to our airport in 2023 than the year prior,” said Joyce Carter, President & CEO, HIAA. “This is a testament to continued travel demand, the industry’s recovery efforts, and the unwavering dedication of our employees and airport community. With the pandemic behind us, we can now celebrate our success.”

Following a fast and furious restart of the air transportation industry midway through 2022, 2023 kicked into a year of even higher passenger activity. In February, Porter Airlines expanded its capacity at Halifax Stanfield by introducing non-stop service to Toronto Pearson through their new E195 jets. Condor and Discover Airlines returned with their popular non-stop services connecting Halifax and Frankfurt, Germany, and Air Transat started their sun flights earlier than usual, offering sun flights as early as December 2023 instead of February. Air Canada continued to offer the most connectivity for Halifax Stanfield travellers, with their popular year-round non-stop services to London Heathrow, Newark (New York), and Boston, along with flights to nine destinations across Canada.

U.S. travel continued to recover at a slower pace than international traffic, due to ongoing sector challenges, such as crew and aircraft shortages. American Airlines was the only U.S.-based airline to operate in 2023, with daily flights to Philadelphia and weekly flights to Boston and Washington, D.C. Despite the temporary suspension of some popular non-stop European routes in 2023, the international sector still demonstrated a strong recovery.

“Overall, our airline partners reported significantly higher load factors across all sectors than in previous years, with the demand outpacing the supply of capacity during peak travel periods,” said Marie Manning, Vice President, Business Development & Chief Commercial Officer, HIAA. “Our airline partners are excited to serve the dynamic city of Halifax, and this presents an exciting growth opportunity for us at Halifax Stanfield.”

Anticipation is building for the return of several routes that were temporarily suspended in recent years, including Icelandair’s non-stop seasonal service to Reykjavik, which will operate three times weekly this summer. HIAA is also pleased that WestJet will operate three transatlantic services in 2024, providing non-stop flights to Dublin, London Gatwick, and Edinburgh, a new destination on Halifax Stanfield’s route map.

Moreover, both Condor and Discover Airlines (formerly Eurowings Discover) will be back with seasonal non-stop service to Frankfurt. Condor has up-gauged its aircraft to an A330-900Neo and will be adding a fourth weekly frequency, while Discover Airlines is extending its season to start in late April instead of June. This summer, there will be up to nine weekly flights to and from Frankfurt.

Much-needed capacity will also be added to the U.S. this summer. Delta Airlines is returning to Halifax Stanfield with twice-daily non-stop service to New York LaGuardia Airport. American Airlines will also offer daily service to New York LaGuardia, complementing its existing Boston, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C. routes, with the Washington service being offered daily in August and September, providing a significant increase in capacity. United Airlines is also returning to Halifax Stanfield and will have twice-daily service to Newark Liberty International Airport starting in May, complementing Air Canada’s existing daily, year-round, non-stop Newark service. The added services to the New York region result in 6 daily flights being available for passengers during the peak summer season.

“Our commitment to providing our community with an exceptional passenger experience and expanded connectivity to the Atlantic region is what motivates us to achieve these significant recovery milestones,” said Carter. “Looking ahead to 2024, we are not only optimistic but also enthusiastic about the positive trajectory for Halifax Stanfield.”

https://halifaxstanfield.ca/news-rel...rowth-in-2023/

[egb]

It's good to see the recovery moving along, but when you consider population growth across the province, they'd probably need to reach over 4.5 million annual passengers to approximate the same airline capacity per person (using a really rough calculation).

[Saul Goode]

Originally Posted by egb

It's good to see the recovery moving along, but when you consider population growth across the province, they'd probably need to reach over 4.5 million annual passengers to approximate the same airline capacity per person (using a really rough calculation).

And the YHZ numbers almost certainly will get there. That's the direction they were headed in pre-pandemic. The limiting factor at the moment is not passenger demand - there's lots of that - but the availability of airplanes and crew, an industry-wide problem that is slowly resolving.

[DBaz]

Originally Posted by q12

Yeah it's all mostly Air Traffic (safety) that prevents planes from flying the most direct route into NYC.

Today's flight went as far as Albany, NY before lining up in order to land. This flight is often delayed (on arrival) up to 45 mins, due to how busy the air space is over NYC.

Looks like a standard SHAFF SEVEN arrival starting at the Albany VORTAC (a type of navigation aid consisting of both a VOR and a TACAN)... I would think that would be a very common arrival for Newark from Halifax when the wind is out of the south, given that it is published.


Image courtesy of FlightAware

SkyVector is an actual flight planning site; it is very good for understanding routings.

Given that there are three major airports in New York area (Newark, La Guardia, and JFK) and three lesser commercial airports (Morriston, Teterboro, and Farmingdale) plus a plethora of general aviation and heliports, and all the helo traffic over the rivers (as a Nav I flew Sea Kings through there) the arrivals and departures need to be managed. Newark tends to do westerly departures, JFK south easterly out over the ocean, and La Guardia north easterly. So you need to go west of Newark and turn into the approach, whereas you can go straight in (from Halifax) to La Guardia.

[Zmonkey]

Originally Posted by Saul Goode

And the YHZ numbers almost certainly will get there. That's the direction they were headed in pre-pandemic. The limiting factor at the moment is not passenger demand - there's lots of that - but the availability of airplanes and crew, an industry-wide problem that is slowly resolving.

I don't think it gets reported enough, but Canada lost a big number of 20 something pilots who needed hours over the pandemic. Those pilots had two options, not fly while they stay in Canada, or continue to build hours and leave (most went to the USA).
Beucase of this both WestJet and Porter have Q400 parked as they don't have pilots, WestJet is back to training in a big way but it will take a couple years to build up. AC express lost many of its pilots for smaller aircraft as well and now rebuilding. Porter hasn't put the investment into Q400 pillots as they focus on their jets.

Atlantic Canada needs smaller aircraft to really grow its air travel, something that is a ways off. Until than it will be flights to the bigger hubs and cities. But even things like PEI/NB to halifax to help grow the hub will take a while to build out.

[NS Bayman]

Originally Posted by Zmonkey

I don't think it gets reported enough, but Canada lost a big number of 20 something pilots who needed hours over the pandemic. Those pilots had two options, not fly while they stay in Canada, or continue to build hours and leave (most went to the USA).
Beucase of this both WestJet and Porter have Q400 parked as they don't have pilots, WestJet is back to training in a big way but it will take a couple years to build up. AC express lost many of its pilots for smaller aircraft as well and now rebuilding. Porter hasn't put the investment into Q400 pillots as they focus on their jets.

Atlantic Canada needs smaller aircraft to really grow its air travel, something that is a ways off. Until than it will be flights to the bigger hubs and cities. But even things like PEI/NB to halifax to help grow the hub will take a while to build out.

Very interesting. I fly to YYT almost quarterly and just about all planes going there now are Dash 8/Q400s. It has been years since there was jet service between YHZ and YYT.

Anyways, the last trip with AC was before the holidays and it was serviced by... PAL??? The only thing that was AC about it was the booking and baggage tag. The plane was a branded PAL Dash 8. The in-flight experience and service was definitely a downgrade, but yet the price of the ticket was the same as if it was serviced by AC Express. It was very surreal and is definitely going to push me towards Porter for my next trip.

One positive was that I ordered a beer and the flight attendant never came back to me for my payment card. She either forgot, or AC did not setup PAL with a suitable inflight payment system. Fun tip...

[Saul Goode]

Originally Posted by Zmonkey

I don't think it gets reported enough, but Canada lost a big number of 20 something pilots who needed hours over the pandemic. Those pilots had two options, not fly while they stay in Canada, or continue to build hours and leave (most went to the USA).

Yes - a close relative is one of those. He stayed.

AC express lost many of its pilots for smaller aircraft as well and now rebuilding.

Yes - and it's been the source of more than a little friction among AC, Chorus/Jazz and the pilots.

Atlantic Canada needs smaller aircraft to really grow its air travel, something that is a ways off. Until than it will be flights to the bigger hubs and cities. But even things like PEI/NB to halifax to help grow the hub will take a while to build out.ft to really grow its air travel, something that is a ways off.

It's happening, slowly but surely. The system will reach a new equilibrium; we'll just have to be patient. And the Atlantic Canada market definitely isn't the only one to be affected in that way.

[Dartguard]

Originally Posted by Saul Goode

Yes - a close relative is one of those. He stayed.



Yes - and it's been the source of more than a little friction among AC, Chorus/Jazz and the pilots.

Atlantic Canada needs smaller aircraft to really grow its air travel, something that is a ways off. Until than it will be flights to the bigger hubs and cities. But even things like PEI/NB to halifax to help grow the hub will take a while to build out.ft to really grow its air travel, something that is a ways off.[/QUOTE]

It's happening, slowly but surely. The system will reach a new equilibrium; we'll just have to be patient. And the Atlantic Canada market definitely isn't the only one to be affected in that way.[/QUOTE]

I just got back from St John's last week on a direct flight back to Halifax. A Work associate, that lives in Moncton, wound up on my flight as his YYT to Montreal was delayed due to Freezing Rain.Luckily for him he can change flights on a whim and his Company swallows it. He calculated that if he had waited for his YUL flight he would have gotten to his house in Moncton at 5 AM. Instead he moved his NS visit up a week and flew with me to Halifax. In his Hotel at 9:30 PM.

[Ozabald]

Originally Posted by NS Bayman

Very interesting. I fly to YYT almost quarterly and just about all planes going there now are Dash 8/Q400s. It has been years since there was jet service between YHZ and YYT.

Anyways, the last trip with AC was before the holidays and it was serviced by... PAL??? The only thing that was AC about it was the booking and baggage tag. The plane was a branded PAL Dash 8. The in-flight experience and service was definitely a downgrade, but yet the price of the ticket was the same as if it was serviced by AC Express. It was very surreal and is definitely going to push me towards Porter for my next trip.

One positive was that I ordered a beer and the flight attendant never came back to me for my payment card. She either forgot, or AC did not setup PAL with a suitable inflight payment system. Fun tip...

The Q400 does not make for a comfortable flight between YHZ-YYT. Flew it last summer and it was not enjoyable. Hopefully one day, jet service between Atlantic Canada's two largest cities will be a reality once again.

Back in the day of Air Nova and Air Atlantic flying the route, it was jet service on a BAe-146; with business class. During the Christmas season in the early/mid 2000's, Air Canada would use 767s on the route for some flights.

Air Atlantic ad:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTEWQMPq22Y

Air Nova ad:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5MqgErbaFw

[q12]

The only Porter Q400's flying out of Halifax starting in April will be to Toronto Billy Bishop.

YYT-YHZ is going all jet with Porter.

Halifax - Toronto Airports

• Halifax - Toronto Pearson
  4x Daily E195-2
  
• Halifax - Toronto Billy Bishop
  2x Daily Q400

Halifax - Montreal
3x Daily E195-2 (2x in April)

Halifax - Ottawa
3x Daily E195-2

Halifax - St. John's
3x Daily E195-2 (2x in April)