Atlantic Canada airport thread

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by mmmatt

Do like us in the biz and simply call it YQM...much cleaner

I prefer GMIA, but I can deal with YQM.

[MonctonRad]

So, here's the link to the complete sun flight schedule for this year out of the GMIA (YQM)
http://www.cyqm.ca/site/media/gmia/2...16-2017(1).pdf

Orlando, Florida - Air Transat, Sunwing, WestJet
Cancun, Mexico - Air Transat, Sunwing, WestJet
Punta Cana, DR - Air Transat, Sunwing
Puerto Plata, DR - Sunwing
Varadero, Cuba - Air Transat, Sunwing
Montego Bay, Jamaica - Sunwing

No mention of the Celebrity Cruises flights to Miami from YQM. I wonder f they will be continued this year?

[jeddy1989]

New Roudabout and "Cellphone waiting lot" is opening at St. John's International on Monday. It is a part of the huge expansion that's happening at the airport. The first phase of the terminal expansion is well underway now, there is also a newly opened helipad terminal building and much much more. There is also a second hotel that has been approved for the airport (located within the airport complex, there are two others that are nearby that are marketed as airport hotels).

Roundabout and Cell Phone Waiting Lot

The new roundabout and cell phone waiting lot on World Parkway are designed to manage the anticipated increase in traffic flows, especially with a number of new developments planned for the area that include a service (gas) station, a rental car facility and two hotels. Roundabouts are safer for pedestrians and motorists due to slower speeds and one-way circulation. They are efficient and result in less noise, less fuel consumption and less air pollution.

The new cell phone waiting lot will allow people who plan to pick up passengers at the curb to wait in this free parking lot until the passenger arrives. Free Wi-Fi (coming soon) will be available in this parking lot while the drivers wait, allowing them to track the progress of the awaiting flight.

http://stjohnsairport.com/outside-terminal/

[J81]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

So, here's the link to the complete sun flight schedule for this year out of the GMIA (YQM)
http://www.cyqm.ca/site/media/gmia/2...16-2017(1).pdf

Orlando, Florida - Air Transat, Sunwing, WestJet
Cancun, Mexico - Air Transat, Sunwing, WestJet
Punta Cana, DR - Air Transat, Sunwing
Puerto Plata, DR - Sunwing
Varadero, Cuba - Air Transat, Sunwing
Montego Bay, Jamaica - Sunwing

No mention of the Celebrity Cruises flights to Miami from YQM. I wonder f they will be continued this year?

No Celebrity Cruises flights this year out of YQM. As far as i can tell only Hamilton and London will have this service. Not sure what happened but my travel agent said it was very popular and both times i tried to book it was completely sold out. Perhaps the aircraft were not available this year?

[J_Murphy]

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfou...ohns-1.3789312

The company will no longer service St. John's from Jan. 4 to April 11

[habs33]

Newleaf adds three Moncton-to-Calgary flights for the holidays
https://www.telegraphjournal.com/tel...422/?nopromo=1

[stephan.richard]

Just a heads up Delta is reinstating their Halifax to New York Kennedy run in the new years. The flight is effective on the 9th of Janurary and it will be operated with a CRJ 900 series and the departure time is 06:00.

[MonctonRad]

Renovations are apparently currently underway for the dual Tim Horton's outlets at the GMIA.

[MonctonRad]

I'm not sure what's going on, but the Arrivals/Departures board at the GMIA has fairly consistently shown a new Air Canada flight destination over the last month or so.



YQX corresponds to Gander NL. Flightaware also shows this information too, with the equipment used being a Beechcraft 190. Furthermore, Flightaware shows occasional scheduled flights from Deer Lake NL as well, also using a Beechcraft 190.



Does anyone have any info on this? It seems strange that on the arrivals board, the airport is listed as YQX, while all other destination on the board are named. Furthermore, it seems a peculiar destination. I'm a proponent for improved air connectedness from YQM to NL, but a flight to St John's would seem more natural than a flight to Gander.

Enquiring minds would like to know.........

[q12]

This is just aircraft being swapped/re-positioned by Exploits Valley Air Services based in Gander that currently operate all the Air Canada Express Beechcraft 1900D flights between Halifax Stanfield and other Maritime airports as well as between St. John's and other Newfoundland and Labrador airports.

[MonctonRad]

The new dual Tim Horton's outlets at the GMIA serving both the pre and post security lounges have now opened:


T&T photo

Supposedly the GMIA is the smallest airport in Canada to be sporting Timmies locations.

Apparently there is another new opening at the GMIA which might be more appealing to you if you have a slightly more sophisticated palate.

Cafe Cavu has also opened within the last week. offering "upscale sandwiches, salads, coffees and light munchies". Both these outlets will be welcome additions to hungry and/or bored travellers..........

[tekojim]

Adding Tims is ok but a lot was taken away. Once in the security area you can no longer have a beer or glass of wine. The restaurant was taken away and replaced with a coffee shop with soup and sandwiches. No more quick grab meals, no more snacks. I Was there Saturday and couldn't have a beer anywhere. Smallest airport to have a Tims but the largest airport that you cant have a beer in.

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by tekojim

Smallest airport to have a Tims but the largest airport that you cant have a beer in.

Well there is that bar/lounge upstairs on the second level, but it is in the pre security area and has really limited hours. In fact, it has never been open anytime I've ever walked by it.

I suppose since the vast majority of flights out of the GMIA are in the morning, this doesn't help.........

[jeddy1989]

A new hotel has surprisingly sprung up at YYT. There is a Comfort Inn that has been next to the airport for years and this past couple of years a hampton inn was added to the nearby stavanger drive shopping area which was made to also service the airport and a new holiday inn express was just built within the airport complex. There is a Best Western that looks half built just behind the holiday inn express and there is virtually no information online about it and no hype or real announcement either.

That will make it 4 hotels servicing the Airport now. I'm sure it is all a part of the huge expansion plans, I'm just surprised that the Best Western came out of nowhere and by the time we knew anything it was under construction lol.

I'm also kind of surprised that there are that many hotels specifically servicing the airport, there are not many stop overs that happen because we're kind of a destination spot as opposed to a hub but I guess having people come from all over the province to go pretty much anywhere other than the maritimes, would create some additional demand besides the businesses in the area.

Also, keeping in mind that YYT is built basically IN the east end is very close to Downtown (10-15 mins) which has lots of hotels and new ones being built, as well as a large 400ish room Holiday Inn between the airport and downtown.

I'll take it, either way lol

[MonctonRad]

There are (surprisingly) three hotels in close proximity to the Greater Moncton International Airport as well:

- Holiday Inn & Suites Dieppe/Airport
- Quality Inn Airport
- Fairfield Inn & Suites

At least two of these hotels allow airport passengers to park their cars long term if they are hotel customers and they operate shuttles to & from the airport.

Just like with St. John's, there is very little connecting service through YQM, but we have a lot of people who drive to the airport from northern NB or from PEI, and if they are catching an early morning flight, it would make sense for them to stay in a local hotel the night before.

[theshark]

Well things where not so great passenger number wise for the Bathurst airport, with the Fort Mac fires and the oil sector slowdown, numbers are down 14% to around 44 500 last year, better than i expected i have to say.

On the upside, the airport has finally been designated port of entry by CBSA so it will be able to accept international flights (private and commercial). It makes sense since there is a CBSA office in Bathurst.

Before that, they had to land in Fredericton, Moncton, etc.. to be cleared by customs before proceeding to Bathurst and most of the time they would just do the rest by car. they anticipate more traffic since they regularly get calls from the states to land there but they had to refuse.

Construction for runway extension and terminal expansion still on track to begin in the spring

[Freddypop]

Fredericton International Airport reported an increase of 8% for 2016 with 377,977 passengers having used the facility.

http://www.frederictonairport.ca/Lat...eaking-growth/

Up next is a terminal expansion planned to begin once funding is finalized (later this year ?)

[MonctonRad]

Interesting aerial photo of the GMIA looking northeastward



This is lifted from the revamped GMIA website:
http://cyqm.ca

From this altitude you can see all the way down the Northumberland shore as far as Cape Tormentine and PEI is visible in the distance. It makes everything seem so close.........

[q12]

https://hiaa.ca/2017/01/halifax-stan...-history-2016/

Halifax Stanfield Makes History in 2016

POSTED ON JANUARY 26, 2017

Halifax Stanfield served 3,908,799 passengers in 2016, making it the busiest year in the airport’s history.

“We had a tremendously successful year thanks to our passengers and to the support of our entire airport community, as well as government and stakeholders,” says Joyce Carter, HIAA President & CEO.

“Compared to the previous year, our 2016 passenger numbers were up 5.6%. We are set to hit four million passengers in 2017 and we look forward to achieving this milestone.”

The largest segment of air service traffic was in the domestic sector. Domestic traffic represented about 84% of all traffic and was up by 7.4% over 2015 (3,268,485 passengers). Contributing to this strong increase: WestJet’s four times weekly summer service to Winnipeg and Vancouver, WestJet Encore’s full year of operation with six additional daily flights, the launch of NewLeaf service to Hamilton, and Air Canada adding seat capacity to Montreal and Toronto.

Transborder activity represented approximately 8% of all traffic and was down slightly by 1.9% to 326,602 passengers. Positives in 2016 were WestJet’s new daily service to Boston, additional seat capacity to Florida by Air Canada and WestJet in the winter season, and WestJet’s addition of weekly year round service to Orlando. However, these gains were offset by the loss of both seat capacity and frequency reduction by US carriers, American Airlines, Delta, and United.

The international sector, which also represents about 8% of all traffic, was down by 4.2% to 313,712 passengers. This was mainly due to the loss of both WestJet’s winter service to Punta Cana and Air Transat’s summer service to London Gatwick and Punta Cana.

“In 2017, we will remain committed to growth and development of air services,” says Bert van der Stege, HIAA Vice President, Business Development and Chief Commercial Officer. “We will focus on participating with airlines, industry and tourism agencies; pursuing new market opportunities in Europe, Asia and the United States; and promoting our advantages as Atlantic Canada’s air gateway.”

Air cargo also saw substantial growth last year. In 2016, 33,329 metric tonnes of cargo was processed, up 4.1% over 2015. Much of that cargo was live lobster. In fact, an estimated $187 million in seafood and lobster exports were shipped from Halifax Stanfield in 2016 up approximately $40 million from 2015. As demand for lobster and seafood continues to grow, especially to Asia, Halifax Stanfield is poised for continuing growth in seafood exports.

In 2016, Halifax Stanfield was served by 18 scheduled and charter passenger airlines flying to 45 non-stop destinations. The airport served an average of 180 flights each day to various points within Canada, the United States, Europe, Mexico, and the Caribbean.

Destinations
Halifax Stanfield enjoys the best winter escape plan in the Atlantic region with direct service to multiple sun destinations in Florida, Bahamas, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, and Mexico provided by Air Canada, WestJet, Air Transat, and Sunwing.

Halifax Stanfield offers the most domestic service to and from the Atlantic region with Air Canada (operated by Air Canada and Air Canada rouge), Air Canada Express (operated by Jazz, EVAS and Sky Regional), WestJet, WestJet Encore, Provincial Airlines, Porter, and NewLeaf. Daily flights to Toronto, Toronto City Centre, Montreal, Ottawa, Calgary, Edmonton, Charlottetown, Deer Lake, Fredericton, Gander, Goose Bay, Hamilton, Moncton, Saint John, St. John’s, and Sydney are complemented by seasonal service to Vancouver, Winnipeg, and Stephenville.

With daily service to Boston, Newark and New York (JFK), weekly service to Orlando and seasonal service to Fort Lauderdale, St. Petersburg and Tampa provided by Air Canada, Air Canada Express (operated by Jazz), WestJet, Air Transat, Delta, Sunwing, and United, Halifax Stanfield provides the most direct access to the United States in addition to offering the only US Preclearance facility in Atlantic Canada.

Internationally, Halifax Stanfield enjoys Air Canada year-round service to London Heathrow and Air St. Pierre year-round service to St. Pierre & Miquelon, and seasonal service by WestJet to Glasgow, ASL Airlines France to Dublin and Paris, Condor Airlines to Frankfurt and Munich, and Icelandair to Reykjavik.

[MonctonRad]

from the CYQM website:

Growth in 2016 for YQM
JANUARY 31, 2017

Another positive year in passenger traffic growth at the Greater Moncton Roméo LeBlanc International Airport

DIEPPE, NB – Passenger traffic at the Greater Moncton Romeo LeBlanc International Airport (YQM) saw an increase in 2016, continuing a positive overall trend for New Brunswick’s largest and preeminent airport. In 2016, the number of passengers at the airport rose to 657,272, a 2% increase over 2015 (644,275). The passengers flew on YQM’s main airline partners, including Air Canada Express, the airline offering the most frequency from Greater Moncton, as well as Porter, WestJet and newly added NewLeaf offering a Hamilton service since the end of July 2016. The increase is also linked to WestJet adding extra flights to Toronto that started in July.

YQM is also served during winter months by airlines offering direct non-stop flights to southern destinations. This winter we are offering 13 flights per week. Transat Holidays is offering flights from Greater Moncton to Florida, Mexico, Cuba and Dominican Republic. Sunwing Vacations is offering direct flights to Florida, Cuba, Jamaica, Dominican Republic and Mexico with a new addition to Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic. Meanwhile, WestJet is also offering direct flights from Greater Moncton to Mexico and Florida. For details, check the YQM’s website (www.cyqm.ca) under the “Passenger” tab, contact the airlines directly or call your travel agent.

Cargo activity continues to be a top business priority for the airport ending the year with 25,022 tonnes of freight departing in 2016. Our business partners are also to thank for this continued success namely Cargojet, Purolator, FedEx and UPS who have installations on airport property. In 2016, we also welcomed dedicated air cargo freight carrier Lufthansa Air Cargo.

“As New Brunswick’s busiest airport, we’re very proud of what we have to offer and are dedicated to excellence for our travelers.” said Bernard LeBlanc, the airport’s President and CEO. “With yet another year of increased service, we continue to work hard on making the YQM the airport of choice for the Province. We are extremely grateful for the continued loyal support of our customers, airlines, and our partners in the business community and government, together we have made it possible for us to continue increasing our air service.”

So, passenger traffic is up by 2% over last year and now stands at 657,272. It could be worse........

Meanwhile cargo volume at the airport is virtually flat compared to last year (25,022 tonnes vs 25,129 tonnes last year). That's a 1% decline year over year. This isn't enough to cause panic, but is a bit of a cause for concern as the main reason for extending the main runway at the airport was to draw new international shippers to the facility. I see that the press release does extoll the arrival of Lufthansa Air Cargo, but this obviously hasn't had much of a positive effect so far.........