YVR Airport & Sea Island Developments Discussion

[lubicon]

Originally Posted by hollywoodcory

WS starts 789 service to YVR today 5x weekly from YYZ. This will be the first time WS' 787 has been to YVR.

They need to find something to do with all the airframes and this makes sense. Long flight and they can now offer business class.

[hollywoodcory]

Originally Posted by lubicon

They need to find something to do with all the airframes and this makes sense. Long flight and they can now offer business class.

Agreed. I’m surprised they didn’t do this earlier in the summer. Keeps crews/aircraft moving and offers a competitive alternative to Air Canada.

[CloudInspector]

Originally Posted by hollywoodcory

Agreed. I’m surprised they didn’t do this earlier in the summer. Keeps crews/aircraft moving and offers a competitive alternative to Air Canada.

It’s a smart move, during normal times it seems to be AC’s highest grossing route:

https://www.visualcapitalist.com/top-airline-routes-by-revenue/

[Johnny Aussie]

YVR’s current transborder schedule for October.

TOTAL 65 flights per week:

AC
LAX 7
SFO 7
SEA 7
PDX 4
PHX 2

UA
SFO 12
DEN 5

AS
SEA 14

DL
SEA 7

[SFUVancouver]

Originally Posted by VancouverOfTheFuture

did they ever really need a geothermal plant? they could have expanded their current systems as required.

this was one of those project to become carbon neutral/less carbon intensive and was never needed persay. but while they could afford it, it was a no brainier to score PR points as green-washing is a big thing people like these days.

While it's part of the YVR brand to be environmentally conscious and a leader in the aviation sector, the carbon tax and need to purchase credits is no joke and not a hand-wavy feel-good idea with no actual ramifications. As owner of the province's largest building, heating and cooling the terminal is a serious business and the savings associated with an effective geothermal-based solution are substantial, with low reoccurring costs. Moreover, it helps insulate (pun not intended) the airport from risk and cost uncertainties associated with future changes to the carbon tax regulatory environment, the price of heating fuel, and the price of electricity.

I also completely agree that pausing the expansion is appropriate at this time, when there is so much uncertainty about how the aviation sector will fare in the coming years. Mothballing under-construction facilities, including making weather tight spaces that need protection and a monitoring and maintenance regime, will let the completed works wait on standby for their (inevitable) future completion. Moreover, it's possible that the future re-tendering of project for its completion could yield lower priced offers from an eager construction industry that would help ameliorate some of the cost overruns experienced to date.

Thank goodness the Canada Line was completed a decade before this situation; I bet the Sea Island component of the line would have been stopped/cancelled were it under construction today.

[Gordon]

Can West Jet's regular domestic gates handle wide bodies or do they haveto use C 50,51 or c 52?

[trofirhen]

Originally Posted by Johnny Aussie

YVR’s current transborder schedule for October.

TOTAL 65 flights per week:

AC
LAX 7
SFO 7
SEA 7
PDX 4
PHX 2

UA
SFO 12
DEN 5

AS
SEA 14

DL
SEA 7

Yikes! I booked a flight to ORD at the end of December on AC / UAL. Everthing seemed to have been in order.
Hmm. I hope there will be no nasty surprise waiting for me. The airline spoke as if everything were as per normal.

[nname]

Originally Posted by Gordon

Can West Jet's regular domestic gates handle wide bodies or do they haveto use C 50,51 or c 52?

See my previous post. B14 is a widebody gate.

Originally Posted by nname

Seems like the parking map for YVR is already updated.



Double circle = widebody gates
Circle with rectangle = gates with double bridge

I guess that 789 WS planning to use for YVR-YYZ will always park at gate 14?

[casper]

Originally Posted by nname

See my previous post. B14 is a widebody gate.

It is weird they built that entire overhead connection area from A/B over to international to have some swing gates. Then only one of those gates is widebody.

I am assuming connection pathway is one way. They can offload an international flight on a few of the A/B gates but can't load an international flight from there?

[thenoflyzone]

Based on satellite imagery (google Earth), you can park a widebody at 16 also, but it cannibalizes 15.
Any gate with multiple lead-in lines is a good indication that one of those lines is for a widebody.

[WestCoastEcho]

Originally Posted by hollywoodcory

Agreed. I’m surprised they didn’t do this earlier in the summer. Keeps crews/aircraft moving and offers a competitive alternative to Air Canada.

It also improves WestJet's cargo offering as well; I'm seeing the flight is a morning departure from YVR, with arrival into YYZ in the early afternoon. A 787 can take pallets and cargo containers in the belly compared to a 737, which is bulk loaded.

[nname]

Originally Posted by casper

It is weird they built that entire overhead connection area from A/B over to international to have some swing gates. Then only one of those gates is widebody.

I am assuming connection pathway is one way. They can offload an international flight on a few of the A/B gates but can't load an international flight from there?

You don't HAVE to use widebody for international flights. United States, Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean are international flights too. These probably account for the majority of international flights run by WS and TS out of YVR. If I remember correctly, before the pandemic, YVR only see at most 3 widebody planes out of WS and TS combined, and only 2 or 4 times a week that a swing gate is ever needed for a widebody.

I'm surprised that there's even a widebody gate in A/B...

[casper]

Originally Posted by nname

You don't HAVE to use widebody for international flights. United States, Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean are international flights too. These probably account for the majority of international flights run by WS and TS out of YVR. If I remember correctly, before the pandemic, YVR only see at most 3 widebody planes out of WS and TS combined, and only 2 or 4 times a week that a swing gate is ever needed for a widebody.

I'm surprised that there's even a widebody gate in A/B...

There use to be more. When I graduated from university and started to fly regularly for business there was always an early morning departure to Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa with AC out of what is now the B gates. The morning Toronto flight was a 747 sometimes a smaller widebody. Montreal was the same. Some of the Canadian and Air Canada flight from Asia also arrived in their. Not certain if any of the stairs heading down to immigration as still in place or they have been remodeled out by now.

[Nites]

• Video Link

[Johnny Aussie]

Air Canada has updated their schedule list for flights into February.

As we all know this is very unlikely to happen as it is on paper.

I still don’t even believe what’s happening in November. Let’s see what actually comes out of this.

Most airlines appear to adjust (*cough* cut) flights even two weeks out.

[s211]

Originally Posted by Johnny Aussie

Air Canada has updated their schedule list for flights into February.

As we all know this is very unlikely to happen as it is on paper.

I still don’t even believe what’s happening in November. Let’s see what actually comes out of this.

Most airlines appear to adjust (*cough* cut) flights even two weeks out.

Yesterday, Air Canada changed five of my previously-booked flights in November and December. Most were inconsequential time-wise, but one in November involved an approximate five hour time change.

[deasine]

Originally Posted by nname

I believe both AF and BF have right. But if they pick up and drop off pax at YVR, then it would be international flight instead of domestic. Might complicate matters on both Paris and Tahiti sides?

Originally Posted by casper

Canada has open skies with France.

Originally Posted by trofirhen

That will automatically include "Départements Outre Mer" such as Martinique, but what about "Territoires Outre Mer," such as is Tahiti?

Thenoflyzone and I had quite an extensive conversation from about Page 770 on this. Essentially, the existing bilateral between France and Canada (note that EU) does not give pick-up rights. France and Canada will need to modify this agreement or add an addendum in order to allow for this.

[nname]

Originally Posted by deasine

Thenoflyzone and I had quite an extensive conversation from about Page 770 on this. Essentially, the existing bilateral between France and Canada (note that EU) does not give pick-up rights. France and Canada will need to modify this agreement or add an addendum in order to allow for this.

But AF did applied and approved specifically for "Route 3" though, so I assume that includes the pickup right for YVR-PPT. Unless CDG-YVR-PPT is different from CDG-YVR + YVR-PPT?

Also, according to a post in the French Aviation News thread in Airliners, AF and TN did look into YVR-PPT and it was "confirmed" that one will operate the route and the other will code-share. But that was before the pandemic hit.

============

Anyways, it seems like AI now extended YVR-DEL into second week of December, and will switch to a more permanent flight number AI185/186 at the beginning of the Winter change. Maybe that route is here to stay?

Note that YYZ-DEL is AI187/188.

[EDIT]
Seems like AI had confirmed their Canadian schedule until Mar 2021. 5x weekly YYZ and 3x weekly YVR
https://simpleflying.com/air-india-canada-march-2021/

[stiffdeadman]

Originally Posted by Johnny Aussie

Air Canada has updated their schedule list for flights into February.

As we all know this is very unlikely to happen as it is on paper.

I still don’t even believe what’s happening in November. Let’s see what actually comes out of this.

Most airlines appear to adjust (*cough* cut) flights even two weeks out.

i wouldn't believe anything that is scheduled until the 14 day quarantine that basically prevents any canadian from travelling is lifted whenever that may be.

[Johnny Aussie]

Originally Posted by stiffdeadman

i wouldn't believe anything that is scheduled until the 14 day quarantine that basically prevents any canadian from travelling is lifted whenever that may be.

And with new cases trending up in Canada again, the massive spike in new cases in Europe, the US having over 50,000 new cases per day... I just can’t see demand picking up. I’m assuming the Canada USA border is still closed although I’ve read some exemptions are allowed now.