Hamilton International Airport

[JakeLRS]

Swoops Winter Schedule:

Hamilton - Edmonton 4x weekly.

Everything else (Abbotsford, Halifax, and all seasonal destinations from last summer) have been axed.

It’s like we’ve seen this all before...

[shoelessjoe]

Swoop's entire reason for existing has been upended by the Pandemic and the global collapse in demand for air travel. When Westjet was filling up it's own aircraft out of YYZ creating Swoop as a ULCC beachhead at YHM made sense on multiple levels -- containing the growth of Flair and discouraging the start-up of any other similar operators. Now that the industry is in turmoil the chance of a new entrant being capitalized is next to nil for the time being and with Westjet's own loads tanking with everyone else, they obviously made the decision to drop a "lower cost" product into YYZ -- where presumably losses may at least be reduced. In some ways in marks some degree of the ceding of YYZ/Central/Eastern Canada to AC, where Westjet has always been the #2 player (and #3 on some routes where it competes with Porter). During times like these airlines tend to retreat somewhat to their areas of strength -- for Westjet that's Western Canada. As an added bonus they are likely hoping to drive Flair away for good. An additional variable is that the GTAA has (and will continue to be) very aggressive/predatory on luring airlines into YYZ (AC and Westjet pay bulk landing fees for instance). Swoop worked well from YHM -- times change.

[swimmer_spe]

Originally Posted by shoelessjoe

Swoop's entire reason for existing has been upended by the Pandemic and the global collapse in demand for air travel. When Westjet was filling up it's own aircraft out of YYZ creating Swoop as a ULCC beachhead at YHM made sense on multiple levels -- containing the growth of Flair and discouraging the start-up of any other similar operators. Now that the industry is in turmoil the chance of a new entrant being capitalized is next to nil for the time being and with Westjet's own loads tanking with everyone else, they obviously made the decision to drop a "lower cost" product into YYZ -- where presumably losses may at least be reduced. In some ways in marks some degree of the ceding of YYZ/Central/Eastern Canada to AC, where Westjet has always been the #2 player (and #3 on some routes where it competes with Porter). During times like these airlines tend to retreat somewhat to their areas of strength -- for Westjet that's Western Canada. As an added bonus they are likely hoping to drive Flair away for good. An additional variable is that the GTAA has (and will continue to be) very aggressive/predatory on luring airlines into YYZ (AC and Westjet pay bulk landing fees for instance). Swoop worked well from YHM -- times change.

WJ used to operate out of Hamilton till it could move most of it's operations to Pearson. I wonder if WJ will reduce things further and can Swoop all together.

[ScreamingViking]

Originally Posted by swimmer_spe

WJ used to operate out of Hamilton till it could move most of it's operations to Pearson. I wonder if WJ will reduce things further and can Swoop all together.

I think that's exactly what will happen if other low-cost carriers are pushed out of the market (or don't even make it off the ground... there were a couple of others planning to launch pre-COVID, weren't there?).

Swoop was probably intended from the get-go to kill the upstart competition.

[Zmonkey]

Originally Posted by swimmer_spe

WJ used to operate out of Hamilton till it could move most of it's operations to Pearson. I wonder if WJ will reduce things further and can Swoop all together.

The big shift to Toronto back then was the business travel people were taking AirCanada out of Calgary and Edmonton. If you want business travel you need to be at Pearson.

Wonder how much of an effect Flair is having running out of Toronto, is Swoop losing people in the GTA who would just rather fly on Fliar since they don't need to make the ride out to Hamilton.

[SteelTown]

If it wasn't for COVID-19 I'm sure Swoop would have still offered USA, Mexico and Caribbean routes.

[Innsertnamehere]

I was hoping to use them to head to Vegas at some point - I hope that returns post-COVID.

[SteelTown]

I used Swoop three times for a Vegas trip. The only difference is that in Pearson you can get pre-security clearance and therefore you land at Vegas domestic terminal. Whereas, with Swoop you have to enter the international terminal and therefore it's more walking and takes awhile to exit the place.

Each time I used Swoop to Vegas, the plane was either full or nearly full. So I can't see them taking away YHM to LAS permanently. Even before Swoop, WestJet was doing YHM to LAS.

[LikeHamilton]

DHL update

DHL @ YHM 02 Sept 2020 - 2 [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/152405135@N06/]

DHL @ YHM 02 Sept 2020 - 1 url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/152405135@N06/]

DHL @ YHM 02 Sept 2020[url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/152405135@N06/]

[LikeHamilton]

Just some extra Pictures of YHM

YHM view from the sky August 2020 , From YHM Twitter

YHM 02 Sep 2020 - 02 ,

YHM 02 Sep 2020 - 01 ,

YHM 02 Sep 2020 - 03 ,

[SantaClo]

https://www.chch.com/amazon-to-open-...ing-1500-jobs/

[JakeLRS]

Hamilton scores a new Amazon fulfillment centre set to be located adjacent to the airport. 1500 new jobs being added to the city!

[Dr Awesomesauce]

Huge numbers!

[Zmonkey]

Originally Posted by SteelTown

I used Swoop three times for a Vegas trip. The only difference is that in Pearson you can get pre-security clearance and therefore you land at Vegas domestic terminal. Whereas, with Swoop you have to enter the international terminal and therefore it's more walking and takes awhile to exit the place.

Each time I used Swoop to Vegas, the plane was either full or nearly full. So I can't see them taking away YHM to LAS permanently. Even before Swoop, WestJet was doing YHM to LAS.

Don't be so sure. Airlines are about to get smaller, and we are going to have less flights in total. If Pearson worked out a deal with Swoop/West Jet to move over like they did with Flair they will be out there permanently.

[Innsertnamehere]

Originally Posted by Zmonkey

Don't be so sure. Airlines are about to get smaller, and we are going to have less flights in total. If Pearson worked out a deal with Swoop/West Jet to move over like they did with Flair they will be out there permanently.

It will take a few years for them to rebound but by 2025 I expect the industry to be more or less back to the way it was in 2019.

[JakeLRS]

Hamiltonians have clearly shown their frustration with swoop on social media. They have added back the Hamilton-Abbotsford route. Still nothing regarding Halifax.

Current Winter Schedule:
Hamilton to Edmonton - 4x/Weekly
Hamilton to Abbotsford - 4x/Weekly

[urban_planner]

Originally Posted by JakeLRS

Hamiltonians have clearly shown their frustration with swoop on social media. They have added back the Hamilton-Abbotsford route. Still nothing regarding Halifax.

Current Winter Schedule:
Hamilton to Edmonton - 4x/Weekly
Hamilton to Abbotsford - 4x/Weekly

Good
Most on the comments on social media after they YYZ announcement were not positive. A lot of people we're upset.

[LikeHamilton]

From YHM

Today, we are celebrating 80 years! Since 1940, YHM has grown to become Canada’s largest overnight express cargo airport, a commercial passenger airport for the GTHA and a strong economic driver for Hamilton and the region.

For info

John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport is Canada’s fourth-largest cargo airport (after Toronto, Vancouver and Montréal), and is Canada’s largest overnight express cargo airport.

[LikeHamilton]

New video of the resurfaced and lengthened runway. Near the end you can see the where the new Amazon facility is going.

https://www.facebook.com/HamiltonInt...7516531552344/

[LikeHamilton]

Changes in Air Transat schedule for this winter from YHM

Hamilton – Cancun eff 06FEB21 1 weekly A321 (Previous plan: 19DEC20)
Hamilton – Punta Cana eff 07FEB21 1 weekly A321 (Previous plan: 20DEC20)
Hamilton – Varadero eff 07FEB21 1 weekly A321 (Previous plan: 20DEC20)