Atlantic Canada airport thread

[MonctonRad]

And now for the bad news.....

Moncton Airport Expects Nearly $11-Million Drop In Revenue
Jan 20, 2021by Huddle Staff
https://huddle.today/moncton-airport...op-in-revenue/

The Greater Moncton Romeo LeBlanc International Airport ended the year with 173,404 passengers, a 74.3 percent decline from 674,406 passengers at the end of 2019. That’s also about 30 percent lower than the 239,320 passenger level of 1997, the year the airport authority took over operations from the federal government.

“With the current travel restrictions and quarantining requirements in place and with the situation continuously evolving, it is difficult for our business to ramp up to prior passenger activity or income levels,” said CEO Bernard LeBlanc said in a release.

“That being said, our airport continues to operate 24/7 with both runways fully operational to accommodate all commercial passenger, cargo, charter, MFC Training (Flight College), and general aviation aircraft activity.”

The ($10.7M) drop in revenue for 2020 is a 53% decrease from the previous year.

[MonctonRad]

And now for some good news!!

A recent tweet from the CYQM Twitter account:

Total cargo tonnage @ Moncton(YQM) for 2020 was 20.4 thousand metric tonnes. This is an increase over the previous year from 18.9 thousand metric tonnes. This equals to an 8% growth year over year. Many thanks to our most frequent partners @CargoJetAirways and @FedExCanada.

This certainly helps to make up for the loss in passenger volume due to the pandemic!

[MonctonRad]

Chamber leaders team up to defend airports against threat of closures
Amid declining air travel, 3 chamber CEOs say airports will play key role in economic recovery
Marie Sutherland · CBC News · Posted: Jan 29, 2021 7:00 AM AT | Last Updated: January 29
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-b...orts-1.5892489

New Brunswick's three biggest chambers of commerce have joined forces to send a message to the province that it's time to drop the "one central airport" idea once and for all.

[J81]

Good grief not this nonsense again. CBCs comments section as usual awash with unintelligent people and their sideways ideas.

Someone correct me if i am wrong but arent all three airports privatized meaning they receive zero tax dollars from the government to operate? There seems to be a lot of misconceptions on the CBC comments section that the 3 airports are sucking badly needed tax dollars out of our government coffers when they are actually doing the exact opposite and pumping tax dollars into it. If all 3 airports supported the services they had before the pandemic and turned a profit then why on earth would any of them close.? What does it matter to anyone that the 3 largest cities in NB all have viable airports? I just don’t understand this nonsense at all. People are clearly way too bored sitting home with nothing to do.

[stephan.richard]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

Chamber leaders team up to defend airports against threat of closures
Amid declining air travel, 3 chamber CEOs say airports will play key role in economic recovery
Marie Sutherland · CBC News · Posted: Jan 29, 2021 7:00 AM AT | Last Updated: January 29
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-b...orts-1.5892489

What we need is one main international airport and 3 regional airports.

[Franco401]

Originally Posted by stephan.richard

What we need is one main international airport and 3 regional airports.

This issue is dead. It's never, ever, ever happening. Four airport would be much worse than the current situation. What part of "newly renovated" is lost on people?

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by Franco401

This issue is dead. It's never, ever, ever happening. Four airport would be much worse than the current situation. What part of "newly renovated" is lost on people?

I think what Stephan means is that we need our three airports, but one of those (Moncton) should be considered as the lead international airport.

I will offer no comment, since this seems to be a politically charged minefield for some SSP members.

[Taeolas]

A "central" airport is a dead issue except for people writing What If's and/or trying to Retcon history.

And really, pre-COVID, all 3 airports were doing really well the way they were. Freddy's expansion and renovations were really overdue when they started. Now that they are almost done, they should be in good shape to have a post-COVID Grand Reopening, hopefully with Westjet and AC announcing the return of regular service to the Capital.

All three city airports seem to be in good position to support regular national service to our hubs; if anything we might need more Halifax flights from YFC and SJ maybe; but that will come in time if it is warranted.

And even with all that, I'd have no problem if Moncton shifted to try and become a secondary international hub for the Maritimes (after Halifax). Some US flights to Boston or NYC (as hard as it is to get those slots) would probably be something Moncton should try to get once things reopen, maybe with a regular France (Paris) connection to try and strengthen the french history. (I'm thinking a 5-10, maybe 15 year future timeline. Not an immediate post-COVID time frame)

[NBNYer]

Originally Posted by Franco401

This issue is dead. It's never, ever, ever happening. Four airport would be much worse than the current situation. What part of "newly renovated" is lost on people?

There are indeed four commercial airports in NB, actually five if you count Charlo which did have passenger service to Labrador up until very recently. It shut down passenger service even after the Bathurst airport did. Those airports are only 70Km apart, the closest of any two in the province. It'll be interesting to see if they can both recover. I think it may be difficult depending on the post-pandemic air travel recovery. Although only Bathurst had Air Canada service (to YUL), Charlo is the larger airport with apparently better infrastructure.

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

I think what Stephan means is that we need our three airports, but one of those (Moncton) should be considered as the lead international airport.

No, Stephan quite clearly said one International and three regional airports:

Originally Posted by stephan.richard

What we need is one main international airport and 3 regional airports.

New Brunswick will never have a main international aiport in 'insert town here' at the expense of our current three major airports in Fredericton, Saint John, and Moncton. Next.

Originally Posted by J81

Good grief not this nonsense again. CBCs comments section as usual awash with unintelligent people and their sideways ideas.

Stop.
Reading.
Comments.
On.
News.
Websites.
And.
Bringing.
That.
Discussion.
Here.

[lirette]

Originally Posted by Taeolas

A "central" airport is a dead issue except for people writing What If's and/or trying to Retcon history.

And really, pre-COVID, all 3 airports were doing really well the way they were. Freddy's expansion and renovations were really overdue when they started. Now that they are almost done, they should be in good shape to have a post-COVID Grand Reopening, hopefully with Westjet and AC announcing the return of regular service to the Capital.

All three city airports seem to be in good position to support regular national service to our hubs; if anything we might need more Halifax flights from YFC and SJ maybe; but that will come in time if it is warranted.

And even with all that, I'd have no problem if Moncton shifted to try and become a secondary international hub for the Maritimes (after Halifax). Some US flights to Boston or NYC (as hard as it is to get those slots) would probably be something Moncton should try to get once things reopen, maybe with a regular France (Paris) connection to try and strengthen the french history. (I'm thinking a 5-10, maybe 15 year future timeline. Not an immediate post-COVID time frame)

If Moncton got back an NYC flight I would go out of my way to take a trip there once a year. The biggest challenge with an NYC trip is accommodation cost but there's bound to be some hotel deals post pandemic.

I took advantage of the direct flight from Halifax a few years ago and I can't understate how awesome it is to only get on 1 plane for a few hours to get to one of the great cities in the world.

I really miss flying these days.

[stephan.richard]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

I think what Stephan means is that we need our three airports, but one of those (Moncton) should be considered as the lead international airport.

I will offer no comment, since this seems to be a politically charged minefield for some SSP members.

To specify what I meant based on current infrastructure.....
-The Greater Moncton Romeo Leblanc International airport would retain all
current flights(YYZ,YHZ,YUL,YOW) with the addition to the Airport to be the PRIMARY international and Transborder flights (Due to CBSA capacity)as well as ALL flights beyond Toronto.
-Fredericton Airport flights to Halifax, Montreal, Toronto, and Ottawa
-Saint John Airport flights similar to Fredericton.
-Bathurst flights to Montreal.

That’s what I meant and I never said to shut down airports in the province we just need or change the focus.

Plus you never see Sydney and Halifax fight for flights in Nova Scotia plus folks who live in the Yarmouth area have to drive to Halifax to catch their flights.

Hope everyone will understand my clarification.

[homebody]

Originally Posted by stephan.richard

To specify what I meant based on current infrastructure.....
-The Greater Moncton Romeo Leblanc International airport would retain all
current flights(YYZ,YHZ,YUL,YOW) with the addition to the Airport to be the PRIMARY international and Transborder flights (Due to CBSA capacity)as well as ALL flights beyond Toronto.
-Fredericton Airport flights to Halifax, Montreal, Toronto, and Ottawa
-Saint John Airport flights similar to Fredericton.
-Bathurst flights to Montreal.

That’s what I meant and I never said to shut down airports in the province we just need or change the focus.

Plus you never see Sydney and Halifax fight for flights in Nova Scotia plus folks who live in the Yarmouth area have to drive to Halifax to catch their flights.

Hope everyone will understand my clarification.

Let it die people. Just let it die.

[J81]

Originally Posted by JHikka

Stop.
Reading.
Comments.
On.
News.
Websites.
And.
Bringing.
That.
Discussion.
Here.

The discussion was already here. Some of those same ideas exist in this very thread. So who made you gatekeeper?.

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by J81

The discussion was already here. Some of those same ideas exist in this very thread. So who made you gatekeeper?.

Well...

All i'm saying is that it's beating a dead horse at this point. This forum usually goes around in a cycle of talking about twinning routes 7 & 11, talking about the TCH alignment, and talking about a central airport in Sussex. None of which are going to happen or can have much done about them at this stage. Surely we can be more creative than talking about plans from 40 years ago, especially given the sheer number of projects and development going on right now.

Referring to comments from news sites is usually equally as pointless given the absolute drivel that oozes from those corners of the internet, given that most are trolls or people so inept at open-minded thinking that they can't progress past 1980.

[OliverD]

Originally Posted by lirette

If Moncton got back an NYC flight I would go out of my way to take a trip there once a year. The biggest challenge with an NYC trip is accommodation cost but there's bound to be some hotel deals post pandemic.

I took advantage of the direct flight from Halifax a few years ago and I can't understate how awesome it is to only get on 1 plane for a few hours to get to one of the great cities in the world.

I really miss flying these days.

I definitely agree with you, although I've flown to NYC with WestJet and they had some decent itineraries with minimal layovers (until our flight home was delayed).

[Philbilly]

Moncton Airport Sees Air Cargo Growth In 2020


Moncton’s only airport reported a rise in total cargo tonnage compared to 2019.

Greater Moncton Roméo LeBlanc International Airport recorded 20.4 thousand metric tonnes, an 8 percent growth year-over-year.

YQM’s increase ranked second among tier 2 airports in the country, only trailing the John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport.

2020’s cargo figures are one of the few bright spots in the airline industry after the emergence of Covid-19 caused record lows for travelling.


The pandemic disrupted how things were purchased and distributed. More consumers opted for purchasing everyday goods online and created habits linked to online purchasing.

Airlines with daily domestic cargo like Cargojet and FedEx accounted for most of YQM’s air cargo activity. They provided shipments of vaccines, critical equipment and other time-sensitive goods.

Additional factors at YQM are the demand for live lobster during Chinese New Year and the Icelandic airline Bluebird Nordic that carries fish to North American markets.

Greater Moncton Roméo LeBlanc International Airport recently reported a massive decrease in passenger travel in 2020.

[J81]

Originally Posted by JHikka

Well...

All i'm saying is that it's beating a dead horse at this point. This forum usually goes around in a cycle of talking about twinning routes 7 & 11, talking about the TCH alignment, and talking about a central airport in Sussex. None of which are going to happen or can have much done about them at this stage. Surely we can be more creative than talking about plans from 40 years ago, especially given the sheer number of projects and development going on right now.

Referring to comments from news sites is usually equally as pointless given the absolute drivel that oozes from those corners of the internet, given that most are trolls or people so inept at open-minded thinking that they can't progress past 1980.

I actually laughed at your comment because i continually tell myself not to ever read the CBCs comments section and this is the rare occasion where i let myself down. Lol

[magee_b]

A bit of good news, as Flair announced it's Spring/Summer schedule, effectively recommitting to its' Atlantic Canada plans from last year.

The airline will add the following routes:

Service to Toronto, Ottawa and Waterloo out of Halifax.
Service to Toronto from Charlottetown and Saint John.

Flair had originally intended to expand into the Maritimes in 2020, but put those plans on hold because of the pandemic.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/princ...port-1.5908240

[homebody]

Originally Posted by magee_b

A bit of good news, as Flair announced it's Spring/Summer schedule, effectively recommitting to its' Atlantic Canada plans from last year.



https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/princ...port-1.5908240

This is good news for all of New Brunswick. I hope they do well and I think they will. It’s 2 days a week to start. I just wish that new airlines would go beyond the typical Toronto milk run that all cities have in New Brunswick and do a Saint John-Toronto-Edmonton or something similar. This would give a new option in New Brunswick and maybe an edge to a new airline coming in.