Atlantic Canada airport thread

[Taeolas]

It's good to see airlines planning to restore passenger service. It might help silence some of the doomsayers a bit. (unlikely of course).

Freddy doesn't have any activity on the horizon yet, but I suspect AC and Westjet will be back in here ASAP once travel restrictions start opening up. I wouldnt' be surprised if an airline announces restoring services to YFC by mid march (the announcement in Mid March, actual flights won't be until the summer likely)

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by homebody

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.

WestJet used to have a Moncton-Hamilton-Edmonton run a long time ago. I remember it because I took it once to a conference in Edmonton. It was great getting on the plane in Moncton and hopping off in your terminal destination.

[Bishop2047]

Porter is one that I could see starting up again soon in Fredericton. AC is all too happy to force those that have no choice but to fly, out of one port, so I doubt we see them in Freddy for a while. Would like to see WestJet back in the capital just to give people more options.... And maybe then I can use all my WestJet cash they are holding onto for me.

[Taeolas]

YFC has a slight ace up their sleeve that might lure AC back earlier. A major airport renovation and expansion that was started pre-COVID and will be completed around the time that we will hopefully be able to open up nationwide again (assuming vaccinations go well enough).

If YFC is smart, they would coordinate a "Grand Reopening" event with whoever is flying from YFC by then, giving them a bit of a PR boost. And if WJ is back at that point (or even Porter), I can't see AC missing out, even if they would rather be YQM exclusive.

[PEI highway guy]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

WestJet used to have a Moncton-Hamilton-Edmonton run a long time ago. I remember it because I took it once to a conference in Edmonton. It was great getting on the plane in Moncton and hopping off in your terminal destination.

in 2007 I also took a westjet flight, ch'town-Toronto- Edmonton. left PEI at 8 am and was in Edmonton before noon MT. I never left the plane.

[Bishop2047]

I expect to see some milk runs in the near future. I just did one the last time I came home from work. Saskatoon-Regina-toronto. Maybe some Halifax-Freddy-Toronto. Honestly they make sense. When I fly north I do some wild 4-5 stop milk runs to get to my destination on a second tier carrier.

[MonctonRad]

And the service reductions continue:

WestJet will be axing their St. John's to Halifax route, starting on March 21, lasting until (at least) June.

[homebody]

Air Canada Saint John Update:

According to the Air Canada Website. All flights will resume to Toronto and Montreal beginning on the 12th of April at pre covid frequency. Rouge flights will begin to Toronto on May 1st at 2x Daily. Here's to hoping lol.

[L'homard]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

WestJet used to have a Moncton-Hamilton-Edmonton run a long time ago. I remember it because I took it once to a conference in Edmonton. It was great getting on the plane in Moncton and hopping off in your terminal destination.

I ran into fishing guru Bob Izumi on this run, during the Hamilton stop, with his brother Wayne.
I will give Bob the benefit of the doubt and assume he was having a bad day - not exactly the happy smiley enthusiastic chap he is on TV. (Wayne, however, was awesome.)

[stephan.richard]

I seen on Air Canada’s site that they will have 3xDaily to Toronto out of Moncton with Rouge with Airbus A319’s but only time will tell on the fate of these flights. At least there is hope there is light at the end of the tunnel.

[BlackYear]

Here's something weird, odd and interesting.

Last week I randomly looked at the FlightRader24 app and noticed a Air Inuit plane was scheduled for arrival at Moncton YQM. I thought, what the heck is this. But only later to completely forget about it.

Well tonight, Tuesday around 5pm, I heard an unfamiliar jet fly over my house and I looked at FlightRader24 to see what is was. Air Intuit again. This time, it's bound for Winnipeg.

Question now is, what the heck is Air Intuit carrying out of Moncton? Cargo? Passengers? Is this a new regular route for Air Intuit? I assume it's all cargo.

I'll need to take a closer look at this and try to capture some pics, because that one nice looking Boeing 737.

[BlackYear]

Saturday afternoon activity at the Moncton Airport. This Bluebird Nordic Boeing 737 was sitting on the tarmac. Not sure what they were here for. First I ever seen BBN in Moncton. According to web site, they are cargo shipper from Iceland.

So last week Air Inuit was here shipping cargo, and our regular FedEx, CargoJet, UPS and Atlas Air are routinely in and out of Moncton. Nice to see the cargo bizz at YQM is actively good.

[J81]

Bluebird is here every Saturday morning bringing in fish from Iceland. Schedule varies a bit sometimes but it’s usually here Saturday mornings

[gohaligo]

I'm just going to leave this here and run.
This is by CTV news
March 15 2021

https://regina.ctvnews.ca/regina-sas...3ZSGJUHJCSw0Cw

[adamuptownsj]

Originally Posted by gohaligo

I'm just going to leave this here and run.
This is by CTV news
March 15 2021

https://regina.ctvnews.ca/regina-sas...3ZSGJUHJCSw0Cw

If the feds try and restrict international travel to Vancouver/Calgary/Toronto/Montreal long term, it will be a massive blow to not only the other provinces, but to freedom and ease of movement. Having multiple provinces and urban centers more than eight hours drive from an international airport, for no reason than the federal government deciding, is worrying.

[MonctonRad]

I checked that list of currently designated international airports in Canada (the one that no longer includes Saskatoon and Regina), and here it is:

5.5 Airports currently designated as “International”
(1) As of the date of publication of this AC the following airports have been designated as “International”:

(a) CYYC - YYC Calgary International
(b) CYEG - Edmonton International
(c) CYFC - Fredericton International
(d) CYQX - Gander International
(e) CYHZ - Halifax / Stanfield International
(f) CYQM - Moncton / Greater Moncton Romeo Leblanc International
(g) CYUL - Montreal / Pierre Elliott Trudeau International
(h) CYOW - Ottawa / Macdonald-Cartier International
(i) CYQB - Québec / Jean Lesage International
(j) CYYT - St. John’s International
(k) CYYZ - Toronto / Lester B. Pearson International
(l) CYVR - Vancouver International
(m) CYWG - Winnipeg / James Armstrong Richardson International.

https://tc.canada.ca/en/aviation/ref...-302-032#toc55

The list includes 13 Canadian airports, of which five are in Atlantic Canada, including Fredericton, Moncton and Halifax.

The list of airports therefore is rather top heavy with Atlantic Canadian content. If I was to guess why this might be, it may have to do with our location on the "Great Circle Route." As such, our airports occasionally are used as emergency or alternate destinations in case of in flight emergency (medical or otherwise). This certainly happens in Moncton at least several times per year, and customs services can be necessary in times like this. Also, our location on the circle route gives us a geographic advantage for international air cargo, which also requires customs clearance. Freddy and Moncton have no year round scheduled international destinations, but we certainly have many sun destinations in the winter time. Having customs clearance here certainly gives us a tremendous advantage in marketing ourselves for vacation travel to southern destinations.

[lirette]

Westjet restoring Atlantic Canada service as of June 24th

With vaccines progressing one has to wonder what the summer tourism season will look like by July!

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/westj...P4X99Y6THlX1YZ



St. John's-Halifax
6x weekly
May 6, 2021

Charlottetown-Toronto
11x weekly
June 24, 2021

St. John's-Toronto
1x daily
June 24, 2021

Fredericton-Toronto
1x daily
June 26, 2021

Quebec City-Toronto
1x daily
June 28, 2021

Sydney-Halifax
1x daily
June 28, 2021

Moncton-Toronto
1x daily
June 30, 2021

[BlackYear]

Westjet had one of their Boeing aircraft in Moncton just a few days ago. It came in from Halifax and returned back to Halifax the next day.

[Taeolas]

And good news for our local airports:

WestJet today announced it will restore flights to the communities of Charlottetown, Fredericton, Moncton, Sydney and Quebec City after service was suspended as a result of COVID-19. The reinstatement of service will restore WestJet's complete network of pre-COVID-19 domestic airports.

Service is set to resume to the five airports WestJet suspended service from in November, beginning June 24, 2021 through to June 30, 2021. In addition, service between St. John's and Toronto, which was indefinitely suspended in October, will resume effective June 24, 2021. Following a temporary suspension, the restart of service between St. John's and Halifax will be advanced from June 24, 2021 to May 6, 2021. Full schedule details and restart dates are outlined below.

Nothing on Saint John, but good news for the rest of the region.

[Smevo]

Good news. It will be even better when they can restore the pre-Covid routes, even if it's at lower frequencies. I know every time I flew home, the leg of the trip serving Sydney was always full, whether it was peak or low season, and whether it was to/from Toronto, Montreal (AC), or Halifax.

In the meantime, the Halifax-Sydney route gives a great aerial view of the communities around Sydney Harbour on landing approach.