Saskatoon and Regina Air Service - Page 35

The Bess · #**681** Posted **Apr 25, 2014, 2:38 PM**

Thanks for the photo update on saskatoon airport Kalin

Robag · #**682** Posted **Apr 25, 2014, 5:01 PM**

YQR passengers numbers increase 3.5% in the first quarter of 2014, as well as some upgrade projects that will begin shortly.

"Due to an exceptionally cold and harsh winter this past quarter, the ray of sunshine for many Regina and southern Saskatchewan residents was the selection of sun destinations offered by Regina International Airport allowing for a welcome reprieve from the weather. As a result of our sun travelers as well as increased frequency and capacity on a number of domestic flights passenger numbers have increased 3.5% based on last year’s first quarter – an increase of 11,416 passengers. With winter wrapping up and spring on its way we are beginning to see a number of projects underway at the airport. These projects include: the Apron 1 rehabilitation has just begun with an anticipated completion of November 2014, the start of construction on the Multi-tenant facility for ground handling and cargo, and upgrades to our overflow parking lot to be completed prior to our next winter charter season. In addition to construction we also have a number of planned initiatives in support of our strategic plans for 2014 and beyond including: the completion of land acquisitions to protect ongoing airport operations and related strategic initiatives for lands adjacent to airport operating surfaces/boundaries (land southwest of the airport); and, developing a general aviation/corporate aviation strategy to develop airside access lots for hangar and commercial development. 2014 is already shaping up to be a busy year on all fronts. We look forward to the continued efforts of all of our staff and service providers at YQR in ensuring our facility welcomes and meets the needs of our increasing number of passengers."

Read it here http://www.yqr.ca/images/corporate/r...Newsletter.pdf

kalin_10 · #**683** Posted **May 2, 2014, 3:08 AM**

According to the report, further renovations will be taking place after the completion of Phase II of the expansion project. These include renovating the public area of the ATB to bring the interior design inline with the expansion design, further expansion to security areas, as well as, expansion and renovations of the check-in counter areas. Another interesting note, SAA expects capital expenditures in 2018 to be $35million - that's only about $10million less than the combined 2013/2014 expenditures during the expansion period. Any insiders at YXE have any initial information about what this 2018 expenditure would involve? My initial thoughts would be 2018 be the time in which the airport authority would be forced to construct a parkade if passengers volumes continue to rise.

kalin_10 · #**684** Posted **May 5, 2014, 7:12 PM**

By Scott Larson
The Starphoenix
May 1, 2014

The Saskatoon Airport Authority (SAA) is forecasting annual passenger traffic at the John G. Diefenbaker International Airport will be close to 1.6 million passengers by 2018.

"Over the past decade the number of people using our airport has increased by 82.6 per cent," SAA chair Ron Wa ldman told an audience at the authority's annual public meeting.

Wald - man, who is retiring from that position, said in 2013 a record 1.4 million passengers used the airport, a 4.7 per cent increase from 2012. That is the third highest growth by percentage in the country and makes the airport the 13th busiest in Canada.

SAA president and CEO Stephen Maybury said seating capacity also increased 4.6 per cent due mostly to larger aircraft coming to Saskatoon and the launching of WestJet's Encore service. The SAA is working with Regina Airport Authority and tourism agencies collectively to lure a European carrier to Saskatoon, but don't expect to jet off on a direct flight any time soon.

"On the international side it is becoming very apparent, from all the work we have done, that the European destination is the one we have prioritized," Maybury said.

But he said you have be realistic about an airline like Icelandair coming to the city.

"The catchment size (population base from which to draw from) of Edmonton is about five times the size of this airport ... and they just got that flight," he said, adding Winnipeg is almost three times the size of Saskatoon's airport and it doesn't have a direct flight to Europe.

Read more...

Interesting to note that Orlando, Los Angeles, and New York are the 3 of 5 top US destination UNSERVED direct routes from YXE - beating even the three current US destinations served by United/Delta Airlines. I have said it in the past and I will say it again, why hasn't any current airlines at YXE chosen to service the LAX market - you'd think Air Canada would attempt to break into the International US market from YXE as it seems as though their market share at YXE is beginning to lose ground to WestJet's expansion

.

Furthermore, Manila (influx of Philippine immigrants?) and London are of the top 5 international sunspot/international destinations not served by direct routes through YXE. Wouldn't London be a great European destination for YXE/YQR as a destination itself and a connector hub?

chris · #**685** Posted **May 5, 2014, 8:15 PM**

Quote:

Interesting to note that Orlando, Los Angeles, and New York are the 3 of 5 top US destination UNSERVED direct routes from YXE - beating even the three current US destinations served by United/Delta Airlines. I have said it in the past and I will say it again, why hasn't any current airlines at YXE chosen to service the LAX market - you'd think Air Canada would attempt to break into the International US market from YXE as it seems as though their market share at YXE is beginning to lose ground to WestJet's expansion .

Furthermore, Manila (influx of Philippine immigrants) and London are of the top 5 international sunspot/international destinations not served by direct routes through YXE. Wouldn't London be a great European destination for YXE/YQR as a destination itself and a connector hub?

Got stats to back up this info??

Robag · #**686** Posted **May 5, 2014, 9:38 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by kalin_10

Interesting to note that Orlando, Los Angeles, and New York are the 3 of 5 top US destination UNSERVED direct routes from YXE - beating even the three current US destinations served by United/Delta Airlines. I have said it in the past and I will say it again, why hasn't any current airlines at YXE chosen to service the LAX market - you'd think Air Canada would attempt to break into the International US market from YXE as it seems as though their market share at YXE is beginning to lose ground to WestJet's expansion

.

Furthermore, Manila (influx of Philippine immigrants) and London are of the top 5 international sunspot/international destinations not served by direct routes through YXE. Wouldn't London be a great European destination for YXE/YQR as a destination itself and a connector hub?

Air Canada will not be flying to any south destinations in the near future from Saskatchewan. They believe in their hub system and will be sticking with it for now from what I understand. As for Air Canada Rouge, that is a possiblity that they will fly from YXE/YQR in the future, but I still think that is a few years away. They are in the process of renewing their mainline fleet, and as they do that, more of their airbus 319 aircraft will move over to Rouge, but they will priortize the bigger centres first, such as YYC, YVR, YEG and so on.

casper · #**687** Posted **May 6, 2014, 1:36 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Robag

Air Canada will not be flying to any south destinations in the near future from Saskatchewan. They believe in their hub system and will be sticking with it for now from what I understand. As for Air Canada Rouge, that is a possiblity that they will fly from YXE/YQR in the future, but I still think that is a few years away. They are in the process of renewing their mainline fleet, and as they do that, more of their airbus 319 aircraft will move over to Rouge, but they will priortize the bigger centres first, such as YYC, YVR, YEG and so on.

For Vancouver Air Canada has switch the flights to San Francisco, LAX, Las Vegas, etc. all to the Rogue aircraft. I don't think Saskatoon is going to see mainline flights to California.

I believe United and Air Canada operate under some type of joint venture between the two countries. If they add a California destination, it will likely be a smaller United Regional CRJ type aircraft. Not a fun aircraft to be on for a long distance.

kalin_10 · #**688** Posted **May 6, 2014, 7:14 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by chris

Got stats to back up this info??

Quoting that information from the Star Phoenix New Release. Click the "Read more..." Link

Brutopian · #**689** Posted **May 6, 2014, 11:26 PM**

http://www.saskatoonhomepage.ca/airport-plans/itemid_29

kalin_10 · #**690** Posted **May 23, 2014, 4:23 PM**

According to an article posted by SAA on May 21, air traffic is up 6% YTD

"The Saskatoon Airport Authority (SAA) operates the John G. Diefenbaker International Airport (YXE), Saskatchewan’s busiest airport welcoming approximately 1.4M passengers annually at growth rates of over 6% year to date."

one_brick_at_a_time · #**691** Posted **May 29, 2014, 2:15 AM**

When it happens, what do you guys think the next airline to serve Saskatchewan to be? Porter, or do you think another airline will beat it's Canadian expansion plans?

casper · #**692** Posted **May 29, 2014, 4:24 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by one_brick_at_a_time

When it happens, what do you guys think the next airline to serve Saskatchewan to be? Porter, or do you think another airline will beat it's Canadian expansion plans?

I would expert it to be American Airlines. After the merger with US is complete they may have some smaller aircraft to either retire or experiment with on new routes. Alaska and American are the only two that have a remote chance of making something work year round.

SkydivePilot · #**693** Posted **May 29, 2014, 4:55 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by one_brick_at_a_time

When it happens, what do you guys think the next airline to serve Saskatchewan to be? Porter, or do you think another airline will beat it's Canadian expansion plans?

I can't see any domestic carrier changes for some time to come. Moreover, I can't see Porter coming here either for quite some time - even if they possess the Bombardier CS100-type aircraft. (Let alone the Q400s.)

kalin_10 · #**694** Posted **May 29, 2014, 6:20 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by one_brick_at_a_time

When it happens, what do you guys think the next airline to serve Saskatchewan to be? Porter, or do you think another airline will beat it's Canadian expansion plans?

My guess, if any domestic carrier expansion takes place, it would be air Canada/west jet expanding seasonal service to year round I.e. Ottawa and phoenix. Realistically, I think yxe is stuck with what its got for the next year or two.

PhotoJim · #**695** Posted **May 29, 2014, 8:46 PM**

My guess would be the next airport Regina/Saskatoon get would likely be SLC (Salt Lake City)... it's a convenient hub for the west and southwest US and has some advantages over Denver.

I think we're a long ways away from direct flights to LAX/EWR/JFK unless WestJet decides to experiment. I understand they're doing good connector business on their PHX/LAS flights, more than expected, so it might be tempting for them at some point. But not soon.

casper · #**696** Posted **May 30, 2014, 12:54 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by PhotoJim

My guess would be the next airport Regina/Saskatoon get would likely be SLC (Salt Lake City)... it's a convenient hub for the west and southwest US and has some advantages over Denver.

I think we're a long ways away from direct flights to LAX/EWR/JFK unless WestJet decides to experiment. I understand they're doing good connector business on their PHX/LAS flights, more than expected, so it might be tempting for them at some point. But not soon.

PHX is an interesting one. It was a hub for US Airways and now for American. With WestJet and American code sharing with each other PHX starts to be come interesting.

Delta appears to be expanding quickly in Seattle these days. That might be another option.

SaskScraper · #**697** Posted **May 30, 2014, 12:39 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by one_brick_at_a_time

When it happens, what do you guys think the next airline to serve Saskatchewan to be? Porter, or do you think another airline will beat it's Canadian expansion plans?

Alaska Airlines (Seattle hub) could be an interesting possibility.. Calgary, Edmonton, Kelowna have had this connection for quite some time.

SkydivePilot · #**698** Posted **May 30, 2014, 5:59 PM**

Heads-up here guys: The Snowbirds will be flying over the RCMP Training Depot at [literally] 1:36 p.m.

kalin_10 · #**699** Posted **May 30, 2014, 10:46 PM**

All photos courtesy of SAA Facebook Page

EpicPonyTime · #**700** Posted **May 31, 2014, 11:12 AM**

Internationally, it is really hard to find a remaining city which would make sense for a connection with Saskatoon. We're not a city which needs direct flights to Los Angeles or New York and we already have very good connections with regional/international hubs like Toronto, Vancouver, Chicago, Denver, Minneapolis, etc. Seattle and Salt Lake City are the only options that really make sense for expansion but I think it'd be hard to justify either given their roles as hubs are largely served by Vancouver and Denver, respectively.

Nationally, I think Saskatoon needs direct flights to the Eastern side of the country. I think it is very odd that, in this day and age, you cannot get a direct flight from Saskatoon to Montreal. Ditto Ottawa, Quebec City and Halifax. Given the strength of our economy, that's definitely something I think should happen soon.