Canadian Airport Thread II

[FactaNV]

Give it another couple years and there will be a Europe flight outta Winnipeg again. Hopefully Air France. WestJet kinda sucks lol

[Dominion301]

WS broke the announcement up into multiple NRs, so here they all are:

Starting with YWG - for the airport that "got nothing", it included a +19% capacity increase and extending MCO to year-round and YWG-BNA to a full summer schedule: https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/we...sive-summer-2025-schedule-858285246.html

YSB & Ontario announcement: https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/we...e-and-increased-frequency-847756894.html - one thing not noted is YYZ-YOW sensibly returns to being served on a year-round basis.

YQR/YXE: https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/we...expanded-domestic-service-858681897.html

YVR: https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/we...tions-to-boston-and-tampa-866907217.html

YQY-YYC: https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/we...mer-2025-network-schedule-807592884.html

Full network announcement: https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/we...pacity-across-its-network-866147229.html

[fanofYOW]

Words cannot express how extremely happy I am for YYT. Previous to LGW started by WS, the fastest way they could get to Europe is going to YHZ then AC to LHR, then God knows what else to get them to their final destination

[Ozabald]

Originally Posted by Dominion301

No doubt YWG can support service to LGW on a MAX. The problem is YWG isn’t within MAX range of LGW whereas YYT-DUB is shorter than YOW-YVR.

Maybe YWG/Manitoba could present a bag full of money in front of AF to get them to launch seasonal 3x weekly CDG service on a 332 like they successfully did with WS for LAX & ATL.

Are the YOW and YQB airport authorities plus their respective provincial governments providing any subsidies to AF for their service to these airports?

[Justanothermember]

Originally Posted by Ozabald

Are the YOW and YQB airport authorities plus their respective provincial governments providing any subsidies to AF for their service to these airports?

Why is that such a big deal to you? St. John's is throwing money at WS for their European flights, yet you don't seem to have a problem with that. Oh that's right, it literally only Winnipeg that you have some sort of hateful infatuation with.

[fanofYOW]

Originally Posted by Ozabald

Are the YOW and YQB airport authorities plus their respective provincial governments providing any subsidies to AF for their service to these airports?

Doubt YOW is with all these 90%+ load factors on their most dense frames

[SignalHillHiker]

Originally Posted by fanofYOW

Words cannot express how extremely happy I am for YYT. Previous to LGW started by WS, the fastest way they could get to Europe is going to YHZ then AC to LHR, then God knows what else to get them to their final destination

Thanks! We've had better connections before, but yes, it's wonderful to have an option. I'll definitely plan Lisbon around it's earliest availability.

[Ozabald]

Originally Posted by Justanothermember

Why is that such a big deal to you? St. John's is throwing money at WS for their European flights, yet you don't seem to have a problem with that. Oh that's right, it literally only Winnipeg that you have some sort of hateful infatuation with.

Shall I post your rather hateful comments about Fredericton? If the government of Newfoundland wishes to throw money at WestJet, more power to them. You just seem so bitter that no airline wishes to establish an European flight from YWG. Obviously there's no business case to support such a flight.

[MountainView]

A daily flight YYT-Europe is amazing!
A lot of people don't realize this is shorter than YUL/YOW to YVR for the frame.

Also, a 117% increase on YEG-YOW is insane. Is the market connecting traffic through WS's new YEG routes, etc?

[Airboy]

Interesting the WS reduction in service to the east coast and Montreal. Must mean that there is less commuting to McMurray and projects like the LNG in Kitimat and Site C.

[thenoflyzone]

Originally Posted by Airboy

Interesting the WS reduction in service to the east coast and Montreal. Must mean that there is less commuting to McMurray and projects like the LNG in Kitimat and Site C.

It seemed that way to me as well, and yet, according to this WS article, YUL is getting a 31% capacity increase in S25 compared to S24.

Of course, in absolute terms, it's extremely minimal, due to the fact they operate so few flights here, but in terms of percentage, it's the second highest increase for any Canadian destination, after YOW.....

All jokes aside, since there is an overall frequency reduction to YUL next summer (according to aeroroutes), it's safe to assume the capacity increase is due to an upgauge in equipment.

[Alexcaban]

I still LOL every time I see Westjet struggle to make a route between the 2nd and 3rd largest cities in the country work. Meanwhile AC throws A330s, 777s and Dreamliners in the mix.

[SignalHillHiker]

Originally Posted by q12

The Westjet St. John's Europe service is still subsidized by the province of Newfoundland and Labrador according to the press release from today:



https://www.gov.nl.ca/releases/2024/exec/1118n02/

Ahh, look at them trying to pull the wool over our eyes. Literally put out a press release days before WestJet's announcement:

Announced in November 2023, WestJet’s direct flight from St. John’s to London’s Gatwick Airport has been an incredible success. Preliminary estimates indicate that each flight operated at greater than 80 per cent capacity. Due to the success of the route, it is anticipated that no government support will be required in 2025.

Work to improve intraprovincial travel between the island and Labrador is a critical issue. The Provincial Government maintains more than 10,000 kilometres of paved road to connect all Newfoundlanders and Labradorians and continues to subsidize provincial ferry services more than 90 per cent.

The Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts and Recreation is focusing on intraprovincial air travel and continues to work with airport partners and local stakeholders to explore options for improvement. The Provincial Government is also engaged with other jurisdictional partners on how they deal with similar issues across Canada.

https://www.gov.nl.ca/releases/2024/tcar/1115n02/

Sin, the crabs in a bucket thing here is insane. However "What about us?" you might feel Newfoundland is in relation to Canada (High speed rail Montreal to Toronto? WHAT ABOUT ST. JOHN'S!?), rural Newfoundland and all of Labrador is that to St. John's but worse. Literally wouldn't be surprised if Labradorians physically attack YYT after this announcement. If only they could fly here to do it.

[Zmonkey]

Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker

Ahh, look at them trying to pull the wool over our eyes. Literally put out a press release days before WestJet's announcement:



https://www.gov.nl.ca/releases/2024/tcar/1115n02/

Sin, the crabs in a bucket thing here is insane. However "What about us?" you might feel Newfoundland is in relation to Canada (High speed rail Montreal to Toronto? WHAT ABOUT ST. JOHN'S!?), rural Newfoundland and all of Labrador is that to St. John's but worse. Literally wouldn't be surprised if Labradorians physically attack YYT after this announcement. If only they could fly here to do it.

I am still surprised WestJet isnt doing a Halifax St Johns route in the summer. Would help with Europe feed and there is generally high demand between those cities - especially in the summer.

[peytol]

Originally Posted by Alexcaban

I still LOL every time I see Westjet struggle to make a route between the 2nd and 3rd largest cities in the country work. Meanwhile AC throws A330s, 777s and Dreamliners in the mix.

To WJ managements credit, they made it very clear they were pulling out of inter east flying, and they certainly have followed through on that promise. At this point they only reason I could see any additions out east is for positioning planes once sunwing is rolled in.

But it is impressive seeing that split in reality, 119X weekly on YYC-YVR vs 7x on YYZ-YUL. There is only a couple inter western routes with less frequency and they are routes like YWG-YLW/YYJ.

[Dominion301]

Originally Posted by thenoflyzone

It seemed that way to me as well, and yet, according to this WS article, YUL is getting a 31% capacity increase in S25 compared to S24.

Of course, in absolute terms, it's extremely minimal, due to the fact they operate so few flights here, but in terms of percentage, it's the second highest increase for any Canadian destination, after YOW.....

All jokes aside, since there is an overall frequency reduction to YUL next summer (according to aeroroutes), it's safe to assume the capacity increase is due to an upgauge in equipment.

Almost all of YUL’s 31% increase is returning YUL-YYZ to year-round. Those 7x weekly outweigh the slight western net reduction of -3x/week.

The 36% increase at YOW equates to +18 weekly, BUT YOW-YVR’s season is being shortened by a month. It’s still such a head scratcher that WS can’t figure out how to be competitive in linking the 2nd & 4th largest metros to the 3rd largest year-round, even if it meant YOW & YUL were to split a daily rotation between them at 4x/3x in winter. I get that AC fly widebodies on both routes but still.

[Dominion301]

YHZ's September and YTD pax stats:

September

Sector / 2019 / 2023 / 2024 / % Chg: 24 vs 23 / 24 vs 19
Dom: 337,759 / 297,303 / 290,159 / -2.4% / -14.1%
TB/USA: 33,549 / 15,287 / 38,565 / +152.3% / +15.0%
INT'L: 24,542 / 25,497 / 40,109 / +57.3% / +63.4%
Total: 395,850 / 338,087 / 368,833 / +9.1% / -6.8%

Year-to-Date (YTD):

Sector / 2019 / 2023 / 2024 / % Chg: 24 vs 23 / 24 vs 19
Dom: 2,702,957 / 2,379,510 / 2,472,942 / +3.9% / -8.5%
TB/USA: 288,892 / 150,703 / 241,668 / +60.4% / -16.3%
INT'L: 282,049 / 275,547 / 383,687 / +39.2% / +36.0%
Total: 3,273,898 / 2,805,760 / 3,098,297 / +10.4% / -5.4%

[whatnext]

Flair out looking for cash again:

Canadian Budget Airline Flair Is Seeking to Borrow $150 Million
Proceeds would follow what company says was ‘great’ 3Q
Peers in the US, Canada have had to file for protection
By Jill R Shah and Thomas Seal
November 20, 2024 at 11:48 AM PST

Canada’s Flair Airlines Ltd. is looking to raise around $150 million of senior debt as part of an ongoing overhaul at the budget carrier.

The firm, which said in August it was in talks to raise funds, is working with Haywood Securities Inc. to do so, according to people familiar with the matter who asked not to be named discussing a private matter. Flair recently reported C$14.7 million ($10.5 million) of third-quarter Ebitda, one of the people added.

“We had a great third quarter and look forward to serving the Canadian public for the long term,” a Flair spokesperson said in a statement to Bloomberg News while declining to comment on financial details. Haywood Securities did not respond to requests for comment...

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/...llion?srnd=homepage-canada&sref=x4rjnz06

[Dominion301]

Originally Posted by whatnext

Flair out looking for cash again:

Canadian Budget Airline Flair Is Seeking to Borrow $150 Million
Proceeds would follow what company says was ‘great’ 3Q
Peers in the US, Canada have had to file for protection
By Jill R Shah and Thomas Seal
November 20, 2024 at 11:48 AM PST

Canada’s Flair Airlines Ltd. is looking to raise around $150 million of senior debt as part of an ongoing overhaul at the budget carrier.

The firm, which said in August it was in talks to raise funds, is working with Haywood Securities Inc. to do so, according to people familiar with the matter who asked not to be named discussing a private matter. Flair recently reported C$14.7 million ($10.5 million) of third-quarter Ebitda, one of the people added.

“We had a great third quarter and look forward to serving the Canadian public for the long term,” a Flair spokesperson said in a statement to Bloomberg News while declining to comment on financial details. Haywood Securities did not respond to requests for comment...

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/...llion?srnd=homepage-canada&sref=x4rjnz06

Bet they're looking to replace their 18% interest debt with debt at a much lower interest rate. Even at 10%, that would send millions extra to their bottom line.

[Dominion301]

AC will be resuming YYZ-PRG in summer 2025 - seasonal 3x/week on the 788: https://www.paxnews.com/news/airline/air-canada-operate-toronto-prague-flights-summer-2025