Hamilton International Airport

[thistleclub]

NewLeaf airline delaying launch, refunding credit card transactions
(Winnipeg Free Press, Geoff Kirbyson and Ashley Prest, Jan 18 2016)

Jim Young would like a second chance to make a first impression.

The NewLeaf Travel Company CEO announced Monday that it has decided to delay its launch date for flights while the Canadian Transportation Agency reviews licensing regulations for indirect air service providers. The company will refund all credit card transactions for reservations that were scheduled to begin Feb. 12.

Young said he hopes the new discount airline, based in Winnipeg, will be in the air by spring and its customers will return because "thousands and thousands of people" made bookings online when NewLeaf started selling tickets to seven Canadian destinations on Jan. 6.

"We’re the customers’ champion. We have brought low fares to the country and we’ve proven that people really want those," Young said at a press conference Monday. "By giving everybody more than 28 days from our first flight to make other arrangements, we wanted to serve the best and that’s why we’re doing this."

Though the Canadian Transportation Agency was not prohibiting NewLeaf from operating during the review, Young said NewLeaf doesn’t want any customers to have their bookings at risk and wants its customers to have time to make new arrangements.

"There’s still a lot of ambiguity and uncertainty with respect to whether or not we’re going to need to amend our agreement with Flair," he said, referring to the charter arrangement that NewLeaf currently has with Kelowna-based Flair Airlines Ltd.

Under that agreement, Flair held the Canadian Transportation Agency operating licence while NewLeaf offered seat sales.

Though the Canadian Transportation Agency gave NewLeaf an exemption from holding a licence directly while it reviews the licensing regulations, Young said the company is "taking the high road" right now to respect its customers.

"It came to the point where I had to make a really difficult decision with our partner Flair... and I did not want to put our customers at risk," Yong said.

"They’re spending their hard-earned money to actually fly. At these prices, they’re making decisions to make trips to take their families and I didn’t want to get into a situation where they’d made arrangements with hotel rooms and other things and they wouldn’t be able to get their money back because we were at some loggerhead with five days to go."


Read it in full here.

[LikeHamilton]

I can’t see them changing the rules for wet leasing of an aircraft. A general rule of wet leasing from Wikipedia is

“One airline (the lessor) provides an aircraft, complete crew, maintenance, and insurance (ACMI) to another airline or other type of business acting as a broker of air travel (the lessee), which pays by hours operated. The lessee provides fuel and covers airport fees, and any other duties, taxes, etc. The flight uses the flight number of the lessee.”

This happens all the time. WestJet did this, until recently, for their flights to Hawaii, by wet leasing B757 from Thompson Airways. Both Air Transat and Sunwing are both heavily into seasonal wet leases with Sunwing having almost 2/3 of their fleet wet leased for the winter.

If the Canadian Transportation Agency changes the rules then it will be a serious blow to the other airlines in Canada. I suspect that this my come from pressure from the other start up low cost airline that are trying to start up with their more expensive, own their own plane model of an airline. They are most likely not happy that newleaf was first out of the gate.

[SteelTown]

Air Canada announces Hamilton to Montreal direct flights
Airline plans twice-daily flights between 'Ontario's Golden Horseshoe' and Montreal

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilt...ghts-1.3431829

Air Canada announced Wednesday it'll launch new flights direct between Hamilton and Montreal beginning in May.

The flights are scheduled to leave each airport twice daily except Saturday, which will have one flight each way.

The airline says it timed the flights so passengers could connect with flights to Atlantic Canada and Europe.

Air Canada's passenger airlines president, Benjamin Smith, cited the population of Ontario's Golden Horseshoe as a factor in deciding to launch the service in Hamilton.

"Hamilton is a convenient departure and arrival point for the business community as well as tourists, visiting friends and relatives," Smith said in a press release.

Montreal is a destination that Hamilton airport passengers have requested often, said Frank Scremin, president and CEO of the John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport — both for business and for getaways.

The service is scheduled to begin on May 24. The airline says the flights will be on Jazz Aviation LP 50-seat Bombardier CRJ jets.
Schedule:

Sunday to Friday flights:

Montreal to Hamilton: Depart YUL at 6:30 a.m., arrive YHM at 7:40 a.m.
Hamilton to Montreal: Depart YHM at 8:10 a.m., arrive YUL at 9:21 a.m.

Daily flights:

Montreal to Hamilton: Depart YUL at 4:55 p.m., arrive YHM at 6:07 p.m.
Hamilton to Montreal: Depart YHM at 6:40 p.m., arrive YUL at 7:50 p.m.

[NortheastWind]

This is a strategic move by Air Canada to keep any future low cost airlines at bay. Air Canada did it in 2005 to compete with CanJet. When CanJet folded, AC left.

[drpgq]

Originally Posted by NortheastWind

This is a strategic move by Air Canada to keep any future low cost airlines at bay. Air Canada did it in 2005 to compete with CanJet. When CanJet folded, AC left.

I suppose in some sense maybe, although they are only flying to Montreal. I wonder if part of it is to feed their Montreal Europe flights. I fly from Pearson to Germany every couple of months, so I may try going from Hamilton once. Although in my experience adding a third segment really increases the chances for screwups.

[LikeHamilton]

Non of the 3 start up low cost carriers are mentioning Montreal in their plans as it is an expensive airport to service.

This is the way Air Canada should be advertizing the flight. It will connect to other flight in the world.

I am going to Italy in the fall. Into Venice and back from Rome. It is in their system with reasonable layovers and the price was not all that expensive. I am seriously considering it. Getting to Hamilton is much easier and It I wish to drive parking is much cheaper.

[Beedok]

Might be an effort just to relieve Toronto a bit? Montreal does those long flights already, so get southern Ontario folks over quickly.

[DDP]

Originally Posted by LikeHamilton

Non of the 3 start up low cost carriers are mentioning Montreal in their plans as it is an expensive airport to service.

This is the way Air Canada should be advertizing the flight. It will connect to other flight in the world.

I am going to Italy in the fall. Into Venice and back from Rome. It is in their system with reasonable layovers and the price was not all that expensive. I am seriously considering it. Getting to Hamilton is much easier and It I wish to drive parking is much cheaper.

It may be to fur future travel to Atlantic Canada from the start ups, New leaf was starting Halifax to start and Moncton and St. Johns probably followed at some point. Now you can take AC and connect in Montreal.

Hamilton + Brantford+ Niagara could probably fill this flight easily to Montreal so glad they are doing something regardless. Airport/city needs it.

[HillStreetBlues]

Originally Posted by LikeHamilton

This is the way Air Canada should be advertizing the flight. It will connect to other flight in the world.

I am going to Italy in the fall. Into Venice and back from Rome. It is in their system with reasonable layovers and the price was not all that expensive. I am seriously considering it. Getting to Hamilton is much easier and It I wish to drive parking is much cheaper.

It will be an excellent option for trans-Atlantic flights. There are actually a number of cities- mostly in French-speaking parts of Europe, and also North Africa and sub-saharan- that have direct flights from Montreal but not Toronto. As you point out, there’s a great choice of flights to many parts of Europe from Montreal. If you’re adding a flight leg, you’re still subtracting a driving leg.

If you’re in say Brantford wanting to fly into Frankfurt or Amsterdam (or Paris or Rome or Madrid…), you can take the easiest drive imaginable to Hamilton to get there an hour before your flight, and connect in Montreal.

Or you could debate whether you should leave for Mississauga four hours before your flight, or five just to be safe, either get stuck in traffic stressing about a tight check-in or arrive there unexpectedly quickly and have to wait at the airport kicking yourself for leaving too early…after you’ve paid a small fortune to park the car in some barbed-wire compound and caught a shuttle to the terminal. (Repeat at the end of your trip.)

I think the Montreal service from Hamilton will be a great option for anyone west of the GTHA.

[Dominion301]

Originally Posted by DDP

It may be to fur future travel to Atlantic Canada from the start ups, New leaf was starting Halifax to start and Moncton and St. Johns probably followed at some point. Now you can take AC and connect in Montreal.

Hamilton + Brantford+ Niagara could probably fill this flight easily to Montreal so glad they are doing something regardless. Airport/city needs it.

I sure hope a flight to Ottawa is in the cards (even on a lowly Dash 8) as arguably the O&D traffic to YOW is likely higher than to YUL out of Hamilton/Niagara (obviously living in Ottawa, I'd use a YOW-YHM, but have no use for YUL-YHM). Remember CanJet ended Montreal long before pulling out of Hamilton. They only pulled Ottawa after AC announced YHM the first time around in order to quickly eliminate a GTA-area competitor. It's too bad CanJet was run by Ken Rowe's family instead of by people who knew what they were doing.

Let's see if AC actually re-announce YHM-YYC on Rouge for this summer...I highly doubt it. This appears on the surface to be nothing more than keeping any future ULCCs at bay.

[DDP]

Originally Posted by Dominion301

I sure hope a flight to Ottawa is in the cards (even on a lowly Dash 8) as arguably the O&D traffic to YOW is likely higher than to YUL out of Hamilton/Niagara (obviously living in Ottawa, I'd use a YOW-YHM, but have no use for YUL-YHM). Remember CanJet ended Montreal long before pulling out of Hamilton. They only pulled Ottawa after AC announced YHM the first time around in order to quickly eliminate a GTA-area competitor. It's too bad CanJet was run by Ken Rowe's family instead of by people who knew what they were doing.

Let's see if AC actually re-announce YHM-YYC on Rouge for this summer...I highly doubt it. This appears on the surface to be nothing more than keeping any future ULCCs at bay.

Air Canada is shrinking it's Calgary rouge operations, I think they may have actually elinitaed the base and now only have a limited number of flights, doubt that rouge flight comes back.

[LikeHamilton]

Originally Posted by DDP

Air Canada is shrinking it's Calgary rouge operations, I think they may have actually eliminated the base and now only have a limited number of flights, doubt that rouge flight comes back.

No one is going west. Westjet has cancelled lots of fights out west. Edmonton to Calgary has dropped this month from 75 to 61 flights a week and in the beginning of May they are dropping to 50 flights a week. Even Hamilton dropped from 14 flights a week to 7 but scheduled to go back up to 21 flights a week in May. From some people at at Westjet I know, the cancelled flight that came in at midnight and left around 6 am would only have around 50 passengers. The afternoon flight was up graded to their largest plane (for domestic service) a B737-800 and it is sold out on some days.

Other places losing Westjet flights are:

• Reducing service from Abbotsford to Edmonton by 7 flights a week, starting March 5.
• Cancelling daily service from Nanaimo to Edmonton on March 5.
• Cut more than half the flights from Penticton to Calgary to 10 flights a week as of February 15, 2016.
• Cancel daily service between Prince George and Calgary and cut one daily flight to Vancouver,effective March 5, 2016.
• Cancel daily service from Terrace to Calgary as of March 5, 2016.
• Cancel daily service from Kamloops to Edmonton as of March 5, 2016.

Even charter flights for the oil fields have all but dried out. Hamilton had, on most days, 2 charter fights a day to the west and now it is rare to have one. Fort McMurray airport went from seeing 10 charter planes a day and are now down to less than one plane a day.

As to Ottawa, most business travellers prefer traveling out of Toronto. More flights and more frequency. They start at 7:10 am and go to 12:30 am, running hourly. They have 16 flights a day with the smallest plane being a E90 with 97 seats going to an A319, A320, A321 to a B767-300 with 211 seats with all planes having business class seats available. The problem is do they put in enough planes to make the hirer paying business traveller happy and take away from Toronto or have enough just enough flights to make the touristy passenger happy and hope for some business travellers? Not enough flights is what they did in the past and it did not work.

[drpgq]

Even charter flights for the oil fields have all but dried out. Hamilton had, on most days, 2 charter fights a day to the west and now it is rare to have one. Fort McMurray airport went from seeing 10 charter planes a day and are now down to less than one plane a day.

Interesting. I didn't know we ever had any from Hamilton.

[LikeHamilton]

It looks like NewLeaf will start reselling ticket in March for a May start date.

Another Low Cost Carrier (LCC), Jetlines, announced that they have their financing in place.

With this transaction Jetlines will have the working capital to move forward in earnest and we expect to be announcing a number of major developments in a timely manner”, says Jim Scott President and CEO of Canada Jetlines.

Jetlines is a federally registered Canadian corporation in the pre-revenue stage with its head office located in Richmond, British Columbia. Jetlines plans to operate scheduled point-to-point all jet air service nationally with primary bases at the Vancouver International Airport and the Hamilton International Airport, with a secondary base at the Winnipeg International Airport (“YWG”). Jetlines plans to operate flights throughout Canada, the United States, Mexico and the Caribbean.

Jetlines’ business plan is focused on using the following principles, which it considers paramount in starting an ULCC airline in Canada:

Principle # 1: Avoid head-to-head competition with Air Canada and WestJet (by selecting secondary routes – many unserved or underserved routes in Canada);
Principle # 2: Plan on being matched on airfares and added aircraft capacity (plan passenger load factors between 65% to 75%);
Principle #3: Don’t “burn” passengers with high ancillary revenue fees (keep ancillary revenue fees to $30 or less per passenger);
Principle # 4: Provide 30-inch seat pitch due to longer sector lengths in Canada (do not reduce to the seat pitch used by Rouge or other USA ULCC airlines); and
Principle #5: Focus on an improved passenger experience without an increase in costs (when prices are matched, the passenger experience matters).
Jetlines believes it:

Can by using a true ULCC model, obtain the required cost savings to provide on average base airfares up to 40% below other scheduled legacy airlines;
Can obtain additional ancillary revenue ($20.00 per passenger) based on value added up-sales;
Can stimulate its own new passengers;
Can thrive by focusing mainly on unserved and underserved routes; and
Can capture a large portion of the estimated 10,000,000 new passenger trips in Canada per year that would use the ULCC model if airfares were significantly lower (these new passengers would be equivalent to 60 new 150 seat jet aircraft).

Canada Jetlines anticipated route network based on 16 aircraft.

https://scontent-yyz1-1.xx.fbcdn.net...bc&oe=57654E4A

[thistleclub]

WestJet to begin offering Hamilton-Vancouver service three times a week
(Hamilton Spectator, Feb 22 2016)

WestJet is planning to launch direct flight service this summer between Hamilton and Vancouver, three times a week. Flights are scheduled to run through the peak vacation season, from June 30 to Sept. 4, the airline announced Monday.

"We're very excited with WestJet's announcement to operate non-stop flights from Hamilton to Vancouver this summer," said Frank Scremin, president and CEO for John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport. "Vancouver is not only a key business destination, but also a great vacation market."

He said the direct service will be a boon for passengers who currently fly to Vancouver from Hamilton, by way of Calgary. The Vancouver to Hamilton runs will depart at 10:15 a.m. and arrive at 5:35 p.m. The reverse trips will depart at 6:40 p.m. and arrive at 8:38 p.m.

Via WestJet press release:

Vancouver, BC to Hamilton, ON
Base fare: from $204
Other air transportation charges: $23.00
Taxes, fees & charges: $39.83
Total one-way price: from $266.83

[LikeHamilton]

Suger before the shoe drops. They are considering dropping Moncton and Edmonton. They think it is OK to tell people to drive to Halifax or fly to Calgary and connect. Only thing that may stop this is if a new discount carrier comes in and they wish to keep their market share.

[LikeHamilton]

Well Westjet has done it. They have cancelled Moncton from Hamilton and non-stop to Edmonton from Hamilton for this summer. Bring on Newleaf and Jetlines.

[Dr Awesomesauce]

Same old tune...

[SteelTown]

NewLeaf discount travel company gets clearance to start flying
NewLeaf's plan calls for flights to be operated by Kelowna-based Flair Airlines

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manito...ipeg-1.3511888

Winnipeg-based NewLeaf Travel has been given clearance to begin offering low-cost flights in Canada.

The company, which has promised one-way fares as low as $89, hoped to start flying in February but that was postponed by the Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA), which said it wanted to review the licensing of indirect air service carriers. As a result of the delay, NewLeaf refunded all tickets sold after it launched in January.

NewLeaf's plan calls for its flights to be operated by Kelowna-based Flair Airlines, which owns and operates a fleet of Boeing 737-400 airplanes.

​Late Tuesday, the CTA cleared the air for NewLeaf by announcing that resellers — companies that purchase seats from an air carrier and resell them to the public — will not be required to hold an air licence. Flair Airlines is a licensed carrier.

There is no word yet on when NewLeaf will start selling tickets again or when its first flights will take off.

At the company's launch in January, representatives said NewLeaf would be headquartered in Winnipeg with hubs at Kelowna International Airport and John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport, with service to:

Abbotsford, B.C.,
Halifax,
Hamilton, Ont.,
Kelowna, B.C.,
Regina,
Saskatoon, and
Winnipeg.

NewLeaf also announced one-way fares from as low as $89 to as high as $149, which includes all airline fees and additional taxes.

The fares are for seats only, which is why NewLeaf bills itself as a "no frills" company.

There will be fees for extras such as on-board snacks and drinks, checked luggage and carry-on bags that do not fit under seats.

[LikeHamilton]

Great news. Hopefully NewLeaf starts selling soon. Need to plan my summer holidays.

On another note, I flew to Calgary a couple of weeks ago on the fogy rainy day. There was a lightning warning and the ground handlers had to come into the terminal. The terminal had actually got struck earlier in the day. I struck up a conversation with them and talked about that they may be busier this summer with NewLeaf and Air Canada. They said they where told by their boss that when he bid on Air Canada for ground handling, he was asked to give a price on 5 different types of aircraft. He would not say what types of aircraft.