I wonder why they didn't post the full update on the Stats page yet. YVR did the same, they announced total volumes before posting the actual stats. Just for PR I guess, postive news about airlines is contagious, it will help the rebound to hear good stories about airports and not the doom and gloom of Covid years and the other airport issues this year. YUL's international (non-US) traffic is definitely impressive, to the point that I think they are siphoning off Pearson's growth. Operating two hubs so close together in a small-ish population country can always be a bit iffy, but YYZ and YUL are so different and had different strengths historically. But the AC growth at YUL has been on routes that were very YYZ (just to name a few: Delhi, Tokyo, Shanghai, Beijing, Cairo, South America, Tel Aviv, even European routes like Copenhagen). These were part of Montreal in the Mirabel days, but hadn't been for quite a while. It seems to me that although Toronto is the global hub, AC has actually been giving YUL more love. Other than Brussels in the spring, they are kind of stagnant on YYZ, which is surprising. I thought they'd be amping YYZ up before YUL, to be honest.
YVR is even getting more love than YYZ it seems like. Although China's still in the dumps and India is a no-fly zone (things that are no reflection on YVR itself, just global circumstance), AC introduced BKK, boosted Australia and New Zealand, and have been strengthening transborder and switching to more mainline. And arguably WS has axed more Toronto routes than almost any other station (a big chunk of their Encore service, their LGW service, Charlottetown..). They still have massive operations there, no doubt, but they are really a sun destination carrier now. They have so much competition from Flair and other domestic-focused airlines, their domestic routes aren't as big as they used to be. Obviously Toronto is by far the biggest domestic market in Canada, so they are always going to have a big presence, but it seems like they are in retraction mode there. AC is not in retraction mode, but they don't seem to be giving new routes to YYZ the way they are to YUL. Someone made a funny comment a few weeks ago when Top Gun was #1 at the box office and Kate Bush was in the top with Running Up That Hill, it was like 1985-86 all over again. And Montreal attracting all the international love was also very mid 80s lol!
This was not meant to be a pile-on against YYZ, not at all, nothing personal, please no angry replies from YYZers. Just never really thought about it until I looked at what was happening in YYZ vs YUL and was very surprised how different their trajectories seem. What this tells me is AC has so many routes from YYZ already, so with what equipment they have available, they see more success in new routes from YUL and YVR. I think AC has gotten into almost all the big main routes from YYZ already, so the routes left may not be as viable in the current climate. Whereas YUL was so underserved, there's more fresh fruit.
It's a totally different story than in the West, because WS is so clearly dominant in YYC, so AC isn't really concerned about splitting between them and YVR. YYC keeps LHR and FRA on AC, and some sun destinations, but that's it. So if they expand in the West, YVR is almost certain to benefit. Whereas in the East, AC has to make real educated judgement calls about what new routes are announced and from where to Europe, Africa, Middle East. Both YYZ and YUL are seen as valuable contenders, and seems lately YUL is winning.
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