Atlantic Canada airport thread

[q12]

Passenger travel is up by more than four per cent and cargo shipments are up three per cent over last year.

I read this as passenger traffic at YQM being up for the month January 2016 over last year. This sounds like last year (2015) the numbers were possibly down.

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by q12

I read this as passenger traffic at YQM being up for the month January 2016 over last year. This sounds like last year (2015) the numbers were possibly down.

I don't think so, The article clearly states "over last year", which to me means "year over year". Also, it would be deliberately misleading on the part of the airport authority to compare monthly statistics rather than yearly statistics.

I'll go with a 4% annual increase and 705,000 PAX for now. We'll know for sure when the airport actually releases their annual report.

[q12]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

I don't think so, The article clearly states "over last year", which to me means "year over year". Also, it would be deliberately misleading on the part of the airport authority to compare monthly statistics rather than yearly statistics.

I'll go with a 4% annual increase and 705,000 PAX for now. We'll know for sure when the airport actually releases their annual report.

It's just surprising they wouldn't have released the full numbers if they were up last year as it would have been significant news for the airport.

This Globe and Mail Article seems to point to why they are likely down:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/repor...ticle28369693/

For instance, there used to be 14 charter flights from Moncton, N.B., into Alberta’s oil sands region every week, according to Scott Clements, president and chief executive officer of the Fort McMurray Airport Authority. Now there are none.

[MonctonRad]

I know what you mean, and I'm a little surprised too, but we have significant sun destination traffic out of the GMIA (up to 14 flights per week) in a season extending from October to April. This could make up for the difference.

Also, the line immediately preceding the one you quoted in the CBC article was:

The airport said it generates $665 million in economic activity annually

Why would the airport jump back and forth from quoting annual stats and monthly stats? As I said, that would be deliberately misleading.

[MonctonRad]

One other thing.

They interviewed the chair of the GMIAA on Information Morning on CBC Moncton this morning.

He stated that the GMIA and the St. John's International Airport were in active discussions with a Newfoundland based carrier for a Moncton/St John's route. I presume this is Provincial Airlines (PAL). They hoped to have news on this front later this year.

[stephan.richard]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

One other thing.

They interviewed the chair of the GMIAA on Information Morning on CBC Moncton this morning.

He stated that the GMIA and the St. John's International Airport were in active discussions with a Newfoundland based carrier for a Moncton/St John's route. I presume this is Provincial Airlines (PAL). They hoped to have news on this front later this year.

I hope we can land a Moncton - St, John's flight but I hope that whoever does the flight will make it affordable for everyone to go to the Rock unlike what PaScan offered.

And that is good news fro passenger volumes out of the GMIA and I hope that those numbers will go up again this year.

[Gnarly]

[QUOTE=What I would do IF i would be the minister of transport is take away the international designation of Fredericton and Saint John and make these regional airports".

Here is a better idea....make Moncton a regional airport, because nobody really wants to go there. I'm not fussy on the Habs either.

[homebody]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

Moncton is 2.5 hours from Halifax, and travel can be hazardous in the wintertime, especially over the Cobequid Pass. I wouldn't say that means "close proximity".

The GMIA isn't going anywhere, and will remain the major airport for the central Maritimes.

On the other hand, a combined airport for western NB does make some sense. Perhaps major operations in western NB should be concentrated in Freddy. The Saint John Airport is small, relatively isolated and has not been growing as fast as the Fredericton International Airport. Maybe it's time to make it official........

Just playing the Devils advocate here..........

I wasn't saying anything about it going anywhere. I just said Fredericton should be the lone international airport for the province. You don't have to leave to catch a flight. I just think that international flights should be handled out of YFC. Central to NB and furthest major city away from Halifax.

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by homebody

I wasn't saying anything about it going anywhere. I just said Fredericton should be the lone international airport for the province. You don't have to leave to catch a flight. I just think that international flights should be handled out of YFC. Central to NB and furthest major city away from Halifax.

Central to NB's....what, exactly?
204K live in Albert, Kent, Westmorland counties.
162K live in Carleton, Queens, Sunbury, York counties.
172K live in Charlotte, Kings, and Saint John counties.

Three airports for three spread out populations. In terms of the GMIA, they're situated in the area with the highest % growth in population over the past two decades and are central to the Maritime's economy because of proximity to PEI and NS.

It's foolish to think that we can move in a different direction from what we've been heading in the past few decades re: GMIA v YFC v YSJ. What difference does it make if NB's marquee airport is in one city or the other? Nothing but typical NB infighting over hurt feelings, IMO. As long as we're focusing our efforts on the largest airport in the largest market we'll be doing just fine, as well as supporting the smaller airports in the smaller markets through regional and domestic routes. Although Moncton is closest to Halifax the other two airports lose more business to Bangor when the dollar recovers, which it eventually will over time.

Given the state of NB's economy we should at least be grateful that all three airports are growing at modest rates.

[J81]

Originally Posted by homebody

Completely agree with this statement. It makes more sense to designate YFC as the lone international airport in New Brunswick due to Moncton's close proximity to Halifax.

Im curious why you think it works that way? There is not a higher authority who designates what airport gets what services. The airports are all run by private entities in a free market. An airport gains 'International' status once it gains Canada customs services present at the airport. That only happens if there are enough international services at a given airport to warrant it. So basically what you are proposing is to eliminate CBSA at GMIA which has 15 international flights per week and focus on Fredericton which has 3 per week i believe? That makes zero sense im sorry and accomplishes absolutely nothing.

[homebody]

Originally Posted by JHikka

Central to NB's....what, exactly?
204K live in Albert, Kent, Westmorland counties.
162K live in Carleton, Queens, Sunbury, York counties.
172K live in Charlotte, Kings, and Saint John counties.

Three airports for three spread out populations. In terms of the GMIA, they're situated in the area with the highest % growth in population over the past two decades and are central to the Maritime's economy because of proximity to PEI and NS.

It's foolish to think that we can move in a different direction from what we've been heading in the past few decades re: GMIA v YFC v YSJ. What difference does it make if NB's marquee airport is in one city or the other? Nothing but typical NB infighting over hurt feelings, IMO. As long as we're focusing our efforts on the largest airport in the largest market we'll be doing just fine, as well as supporting the smaller airports in the smaller markets through regional and domestic routes. Although Moncton is closest to Halifax the other two airports lose more business to Bangor when the dollar recovers, which it eventually will over time.

Given the state of NB's economy we should at least be grateful that all three airports are growing at modest rates.

No hurt feeling here JHikka. I simply feel that it would be better being further away from Yhz. I assume you read all prior posts on this discussion. your opinion is noted and I agree to disagree. I don't think that anything that anybody says here is foolish. Having three international airports this close together is foolish. There should be a greater distance. In my foolish opinion! Your a moderator. Not God!

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by homebody

No hurt feeling here JHikka. I simply feel that it would be better being further away from Yhz.... Having three international airports this close together is foolish.

Like J81 pointed out, Governments don't really classify airports as International based on their own choosing. They're based on how well these privately run airports do at maintaining routes and flights, as well as attaining CBSA and CATSA services. The Premier can't stand up in the Legislature tomorrow and remove International tags from airports. They really don't mean much. Having competition from other airports should, in an ideal world, push them towards specializing and finding their own niche markets.

And what would be the point of neutralizing GMIA for YFC? GMIA is the closest thing NB has to a major International airport, which receives appropriate Government funding and maintenance and routing, and we would...throw that away to begin again on a smaller airport with no guarantee of equal service or funding or accessibility? Why? It would be like neutralizing Port Saint John and focusing on Port Belledune because of Saint John's proximity to Boston and Halifax. Spooky.

Other than perhaps implying that the three NB airports are fighting for business and routes you really haven't made a convincing argument on why having three airports is foolish.

Originally Posted by homebody

In my foolish opinion! Your a moderator. Not God!

You're right...but I do swing a pretty big stick around here, don't I?

[stephan.richard]

The thing that I meant was for the province of New Brunswick and the government of Canada to model the New Brunswick airports like what they have in Nova Scotia. And for many Moncton may not be the favorable option but it's the closest thing that we have for an international airport that we have in the province and also the GMIA has the infrastructure needed to accommodate the bigger jets.

And now its up to the GMIA aiport authority to try to work in getting in new flight options for us to choose from cause some of the major airlines operate on the IF you use it we will keep using your airport of if the service falls below a certain level they will pull out.

[Phil_5]

According to l'Acadie Nouvelle passengers numbers for YQM are actually down from 678 000 in 2014 to 644 000 in 2015. This translates to a reduction of 5% or 34 000 passengers.

On an other note, SunWing had an increase in passenger traffic of 38% for their seasonal flights in 2015!

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by Phil_5

According to l'Acadie Nouvelle passengers numbers for YQM are actually down from 678 000 in 2014 to 644 000 in 2015. This translates to a reduction of 5% or 34 000 passengers.

Interesting.

This is what I was actually expecting, as like q12, I knew that the charter business to the west dried up due to the oil collapse.

I wonder where CBC came up with the figure of a 4% increase in traffic over the previous year? I wonder if they were using 2014 data rather than 2015? Another possibility is that the GMIA separated the scheduled passenger figures from the oil sands charter services and reported them instead. This could be possible.

In any event, I remain interested in seeing the annual report when it comes out so that we can get to the bottom of this mystery.......

[J81]

The oil sands charter flights to Alberta did not use the terminal to handle passengers so im not sure if they would be included in the passenger numbers. I dont know if the airport only counts passengers who pass through the terminal or the airport as a whole?

[Sunnybrae]

Originally Posted by J81

The oil sands charter flights to Alberta did not use the terminal to handle passengers so im not sure if they would be included in the passenger numbers. I dont know if the airport only counts passengers who pass through the terminal or the airport as a whole?

I don't know but you would think it would be to the airports advantage to report all passengers. What possible advantage would it be to report numbers without charters?

[MonctonRad]

GMIA video extolling the economic importance of the airport to the greater Moncton area.

Video Link

[jthetzel]

St. John's Board of Trade is considering a direct route from St. John's to Moncton. Tweet at https://twitter.com/stjohnsbot/statu...61446145867777 (lots of sevens in the tweet id, maybe a good omen). SurveyMonkey survey at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/MonctonSurvey .

[stephan.richard]

Originally Posted by jthetzel

St. John's Board of Trade is considering a direct route from St. John's to Moncton. Tweet at https://twitter.com/stjohnsbot/statu...61446145867777 (lots of sevens in the tweet id, maybe a good omen). SurveyMonkey survey at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/MonctonSurvey .

But for this flight to work it needs to be affordable and hope the population can support it to make it viable.

I am a bit disappointed with Westjet, Porter, and Air Canada for not taking the lead in this. They look like they are more focused on Halifax Then in the New Brunswick market.