Winnipeg James Armstrong Richardson International Airport

[SkydivePilot]

Originally Posted by cllew

James A Richardson Airport here in Winnipeg is named after the founder of Canadian Airways which became the government owned and operated Trans Canada Airlines which is now Air Canada.

Might be nice to see a Max Ward airport as Wardair did a lot for opening up the north before becoming a southern based scheduled airline.

Huh, I didn't know that. Thank you!

[RepomanYWG]

Been working out at YYZ for a few months so have not been keeping up with the site.
I do have in my hands a "holiday" schedule for New Leaf for flights starting Dec 19 - Jan 7. Not sure what their plans are after that but departures from YWG are as follows:

YWG - YLW (Kelowna, BC) 8:00 on Tue, Thur, Sun
YWG - YHM (Hamilton, ON) 14:30 on Tue, Thur, Sun
YWG - YOW (Ottawa, ON) 8:00 on Mon, Wed, Sat
YWG - YXX (Abbotsford, BC) 16:00 on Mon, Wed, Sat

[esquire]

^ Who on earth is going to be on their planes? You can't even buy a ticket on their website yet! Good luck filling planes to Kelowna on a week's notice.

I really wish them well, but this is not looking very good.

[RepomanYWG]

Originally Posted by esquire

^ Who on earth is going to be on their planes? You can't even buy a ticket on their website yet! Good luck filling planes to Kelowna on a week's notice.

I really wish them well, but this is not looking very good.

As far as I know they have actually lined up a ground handler. No clue about anything else. And as you mentioned the 19th is less than 2 weeks away. If anyone was planning to head to BC or ON for Christmas most assuredly they would have booked their flights by now.

That KLW flight does look promising for ski vacations however.

[CoryB]

Originally Posted by esquire

^ Who on earth is going to be on their planes? You can't even buy a ticket on their website yet! Good luck filling planes to Kelowna on a week's notice.

I really wish them well, but this is not looking very good.

You want to fill flights on short notice from YWG in winter? Schedule flights to AZA, FLL and LAS.

[RepomanYWG]

I heard today that New Leaf is delaying start up again. Until when, no clue. I've never started up an airline before but this is probably not the best way to go about it.

[The Jabroni]

Originally Posted by RepomanYWG

I heard today that New Leaf is delaying start up again. Until when, no clue. I've never started up an airline before but this is probably not the best way to go about it.

What a joke.

Over the years, I hear announcements of companies starting up here in which they'll either build great things, or do major business here with ambitious projects and whatnot.

They're all like Delissio pizza; they never deliver. I feel that New Leaf will NOT deliver on their empty promises.

I won't hold my breath on these people. Until then, I'll believe them when I see them.

[CoryB]

Originally Posted by RepomanYWG

I heard today that New Leaf is delaying start up again. Until when, no clue. I've never started up an airline before but this is probably not the best way to go about it.

New Leaf's main problem is publicly announcing a planned date to start flights when they were not absolutely certain they could achieve that. Any new airline shouldn't announce a planned date for flights to start unless they are going on sale tomorrow with flights at least a month out.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by CoryB

New Leaf's main problem is publicly announcing a planned date to start flights when they were not absolutely certain they could achieve that. Any new airline shouldn't announce a planned date for flights to start unless they are going on sale tomorrow with flights at least a month out.

Yeah, it's a pretty good way to demolish your credibility in a hurry. The funny thing is that I don't think anyone would have really held their comments from earlier this year against them if they failed to get off the ground by Christmas, but to continue to insist that it's on when it's obvious that there is no way they'll be in the air by next week (still can't buy a ticket on their website!) really makes you call this whole thing into question.

Like Jabroni said, I'll believe it when I see it.

[CoryB]

If we rewind back to the first New Leaf announcement, if they had said something like: They were starting an ultra low cost carrier to be based out of Winnipeg aimed at the leisure travel market similar to US based Allegiant. Here is a list of cities we plan to service. We hope to talk to you again soon about the planned start date of operations and when we will sell tickets.

Those small tweaks shift the conversation from "they said they would fly by August 2015 and the year's almost done and their not flying" to something a little more positive. Having now missed two very public planned launched dates their credibility is really starting to hurt.

[Riverman]

Have we heard anything from them?

[RepomanYWG]

They were at the WAA tenant lunch on Thursday so i assume they will start eventually... Still nothing concrete however.

[CoryB]

New Leaf is currently leasing office space from WAA it would be similar to Liquor Marts, Starbucks or Plaza Premium Lounge but less on the retail space side of things and more the invisible side. Not surprising they would be at a tenant lunch.

[Pinus]

Found this on the Hamilton Forum (yes, they have their own forum)


NewLeaf to announce new 'ultra low cost' airline in Hamilton Wednesday

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilt...sday-1.3389064

Travel company NewLeaf Travel is set to announce its promised new "ultra low cost" airline in Hamilton Wednesday.

According to a press release, the company plans to share information about pricing, booking details and non-stop routes at the John C. Munro Hamilton Airport at 11 a.m.

The launch will come months after initially planned, as NewLeaf had hoped to be operational by last summer. It missed the travel season while it was getting off the ground.

"The idea is that we are trying to lower the airfares," airline head Jim Young told CBC News back in April. "We're focusing on secondary airports. We don't like high-cost airports like Vancouver, Calgary, (Toronto) Pearson." In the west, Young is aiming to fly into Abbotsford, B.C., instead of Vancouver International.

Young has said the company hopes to look like the budget Ryanair in Europe, or Spirit or Allegiant airlines in the United States.

The company will sell packages with hotels and rental cars to Canadian and U.S. holiday destinations. But it will also hope to fill a low-cost flight niche for bare-bones customers looking for "a seat and a seatbelt" for casual travel.

These kinds of carriers typically have fewer daily flights, as well as no bonuses like in flight entertainment or frequent flyer points.

The company is partnering with Kelowna, B.C.-based Flair Airlines, a private charter airline, for aircraft, maintenance and crews. Rather than buying planes from scratch, partnering with Flair will cut out some of the operational hurdles to getting a new airline off the ground, Young said previously.

When reached Monday, a company representative said all details on flight destinations and prices are being saved for Wednesday's press conference.

Passenger numbers at Hamilton's airport have been dropping for years. For years the bulk of its traffic has been cargo rather than passenger.

"Strategically we see Hamilton International as an Airport well suited to an ultra-low cost carrier model, and would welcome New Leaf Travel Co. or any other low cost carrier to Hamilton Airport when looking to enter southern Ontario," airport marketing director Lauren Yaksich said in April.

[esquire]

I saw a similar local story on the WFP website last night, apparently there's going to be an announcement here too. I guess Newleaf is getting ready to take to the skies.

It'll be interesting to see how much of an appetite there is in Canada for LCC travel. At the very least it will be nice to have an alternative to the duopoly that exists in much of the country.

[SkydivePilot]

With such low fares, I can't help but wonder if NewLeaf has/will have another revenue stream, such as Canada Post/cargo contract of some sort.

[Cyro]

Originally Posted by esquire

I saw a similar local story on the WFP website last night, apparently there's going to be an announcement here too. I guess Newleaf is getting ready to take to the skies.

I believe the announcement is today @ YWG..

[SkydivePilot]

Originally Posted by Cyro

I believe the announcement is today @ YWG..

Yeah, Abbotsford; Kelowna; Regina; Saskatoon; Winnipeg; Hamilton; . . . and one other will be initially serviced by NewLeaf.

[trebor204]

Originally Posted by SkydivePilot

Yeah, Abbotsford; Kelowna; Regina; Saskatoon; Winnipeg; Hamilton; . . . and one other will be initially serviced by NewLeaf.

and Halifax

Doesn't service any city over a million. Unless you include Abbotsford or Hamilton (with Vancouver or Toronto)

[esquire]

Originally Posted by trebor204

and Halifax

Doesn't service any city over a million. Unless you include Abbotsford or Hamilton (with Vancouver or Toronto)

Halifax and Kelowna are definitely nice additions to the nonstop flight roster out of YWG. I'd love to go to either one for a family vacation.