Atlantic Canada airport thread

[sailor734]

Another issue would be how slow would a passenger train have to travel on rail lines maintained to freight standards. I suspect a direct SJ-YQM bus with at most a stop in Sussex would be a more workable service. Although, I suspect many would still choose to drive themselves (I know I would).

[Ire Narissis]

At the very least there would have to be a proper bypass line around the yards next to Rothesay Avenue (or failing that, a lot of work done on the current tracks). Took the train shuttle to the Dragon Boat Festival back in the day and the train had to CRAWL at literally walking pace through that section.

[KnoxfordGuy]

Deleted.

[theshark]

Propair has increased its flight from the Bathurst airport to two departures a day.

[MonctonRad]

This interesting post just popped up on the Canada section airport thread:



PD is Porter. It looks as if they are preparing to start serving Moncton, Halifax, Charlottetown and St. John's (NL) from YHU.

For Moncton, this would mean Porter service to YHU, YOW, YTZ and YYZ.

[Taeolas]

YHU is the other other Montreal airport for those who haven't peeked at the airport codes.

I'm a little disappointed that YFC didn't get in on that expansion wave as well, but hopefully if the service does well, Freddy can get a piece of that action too.

[OliverD]

Originally Posted by Taeolas

YHU is the other other Montreal airport for those who haven't peeked at the airport codes.

I'm a little disappointed that YFC didn't get in on that expansion wave as well, but hopefully if the service does well, Freddy can get a piece of that action too.

I would think it's inevitable as Porter continues to grow.

[MonctonRad]

Additional information:

New routes from MET / Start date / Frequency

Quebec City (YQB) / June 15 / 7x weekly
St. John’s (YYT) / June 15 / 7x weekly
Toronto City (YTZ) / June 15 / 27x weekly
Toronto Pearson (YYZ) / June 15 / 20x weekly
Vancouver (YVR) / June 15 / 14x weekly
Edmonton (YEG) / June 16 / 7x weekly
Calgary (YYC) / June 17 / 7x weekly
Halifax (YHZ) / June 17 / 14x weekly
Charlottetown (YYG) / June 18 / 7x weekly
Winnipeg (YWG) / June 18 / 7x weekly
Moncton (YQM) / June 19 / 7x weekly
Hamilton (YHM) / June 22 / 14x weekly

YYT, YQM, YYG & YWG are summer seasonal only.

Halifax will be 2x daily. The remaining Atlantic services will be 1x daily.

Surprisingly, Moncton, St. John's & Charlottetown will only be summer seasonal.

[sailor734]

Yeah, I'm a little surprised too about the summer only thing. Especially with the ability to connect onwards to multiple western Canadian destinations.
Perhaps that will change if the service is popular/well supported.

[sailor734]

The downside to Porter's use of YHU is that if you wanted to go transborder or to sun destinations you'd be facing a airport transfer to YUL.....not particularly appealing.

[J81]

Originally Posted by sailor734

The downside to Porter's use of YHU is that if you wanted to go transborder or to sun destinations you'd be facing a airport transfer to YUL.....not particularly appealing.

True that is not ideal. Although most transborder connections on Porter can be done through YTZ and YOW and in the summer months through YYZ.

[dhottawa729]

Found this contest link buried in a YSJ newsletter and not easy to share on social media unfortunately. They’re trying to understand the latent demand to improve service so if you are from SJ please consider filling it out!

Tell us why you Fly YSJ! Take 60 seconds to complete this short survey, and you can enter to win *a round-trip flight for two from Saint John to any Canadian destination. Your feedback will help inform how the Saint John Airport (YSJ) shows up for the community moving forward. This contest closes on May 31, 2026, 11:59 pm (AST), and the winner will be notified by June 3, 2026, 10 am (AST).* No purchase necessary. One entry per person upon completion of the YSJ community survey; entrants must be residents of New Brunswick and of the age of majority in New Brunswick. The prize is one round-trip Air Canada flight from Saint John (YSJ) to a Canadian destination (maximum value $1000 per person); must be booked at least 90 days in advance of travel; approximate value and travel terms to be confirmed. Survey responses may be used in aggregate to inform YSJ communications; personal information will be used only for contest administration and handled in accordance with YSJ privacy practices. Full rules and regulations available by emailing: [email protected]


https://forms.office.com/pages/responsep...OMThZUjVEWkJTSlNHVVhPNS4u&route=shorturl

[MonctonRad]

Air Canada has just announced a new seasonal air service from Halifax Stanfield to Bridgetown, Barbados.

https://www.aircanada.com/media/air-cana...re-vacation-options-from-coast-to-coast/

This is amongst a flurry of new route announcements by the airline to Europe, the Caribbean and Central America (anyplace but the USA).

An interesting announcement is new seasonal flights from Montreal and Toronto to Tenerife, Canary Islands.

The CEO of Tenerife Tourism, Dimple Melwani, said “The arrival of Air Canada with direct flights from Toronto and Montreal is a strategic boost for Tenerife, consolidating our destination as a global leader and bringing us closer to a high-value traveler for the island. This connection with Air Canada affords us the opportunity to give Tenerife a boost in these markets with growing demand, not only as a vacation destination, but also as a global hub in strategic sectors such as business and corporate tourism, the audiovisual and cultural industries, as well as cruise tourism with multi-stop itineraries.”

According to Melwani, “The island has spent several years working to improve its positioning in these markets, whose interest in Tenerife continues to grow, although there is still a long way to go. This direct flight makes it possible for Tenerife to reinforce our position as a gateway to Europe for North American travelers, while raising the profile of our cultural, culinary and leisure offering in priority source markets on the current roadmap. We are confident that this connection will increase the visibility of Tenerife as a comprehensive and competitive destination over other international options.”

Air Canada’s Tenerife flights will be operated with the airline’s brand-new Airbus A321XLR aircraft featuring lie-flat seats in the Business Class cabin, bringing a wide-body experience to a narrow-body jet. With capacity for 182 passengers in a configuration of 14 Signature Class seats and 168 Economy Class seats, the A321XLR also marks the beginning of the next era in Air Canada’s cabin interiors with the introduction of a new design standard for onboard experience.

Sounds like Tenerife is trying to position itself as a type of "southern Keflavik" for North American tourist looking to travel onwards into Europe.

I would think Tenerife would also be a no brainer for a service out of YHZ as well. I wonder if this is eventually in the cards???

[Arrdeeharharharbour]

I agree that Tenerife would likely do well out of YHZ. Many maritimers piece together their European flights/destinations flying first to London from YHZ and making flight bookings from London to their final destination on European carriers. I wonder if it's possible to track air traffic patterns of this type to demonstrate viable routes?

[sailor734]

Friend came back to SJ the other night via Toronto on that Rouge flight that's scheduled to come in at 23:52.......you know, the one that routinely arrives between 0200 and 0400.

Given the experiences he's had he's taken to calling it "the redeye"

[bingun]

Originally Posted by sailor734

Friend came back to SJ the other night via Toronto on that Rouge flight that's scheduled to come in at 23:52.......you know, the one that routinely arrives between 0200 and 0400.

Given the experiences he's had he's taken to calling it "the redeye"

I was on that flight a week or so ago! They had a single baggage handler in Toronto loading all the bags; it must have taken him an hour, and we'd already boarded. Poor guy was working his ass off. We landed in Saint John at about 2 AM.

[bridgeoftea]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

Air Canada has just announced a new seasonal air service from Halifax Stanfield to Bridgetown, Barbados.

https://www.aircanada.com/media/air-cana...re-vacation-options-from-coast-to-coast/

This is amongst a flurry of new route announcements by the airline to Europe, the Caribbean and Central America (anyplace but the USA).

An interesting announcement is new seasonal flights from Montreal and Toronto to Tenerife, Canary Islands.



Sounds like Tenerife is trying to position itself as a type of "southern Keflavik" for North American tourist looking to travel onwards into Europe.

I would think Tenerife would also be a no brainer for a service out of YHZ as well. I wonder if this is eventually in the cards???

The Barbados capture is great for Halifax. They are really flexing their international destinations. By my count from FlightConnections this would make their 37th international destination.

[darkharbour]

Originally Posted by sailor734

Friend came back to SJ the other night via Toronto on that Rouge flight that's scheduled to come in at 23:52.......you know, the one that routinely arrives between 0200 and 0400.

Given the experiences he's had he's taken to calling it "the redeye"

That only happened to someone I was picking up once (arrived at 3:00 am), but in the many times I have taken it the flight was always on-time.

And yes, I realize by saying that I just jinxed myself for my next flight in early May.

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by Leroy321

We should see something on the airport hotel project soon if the construction is slated to begin in September...

Reposted from the Dieppe thread.

This gives more specific information regarding the proposed $20M airport hotel for the Greater Moncton Romeo LeBlanc International Airport (YQM).

It will be built on the north side of Aviation Avenue, just to the east of the exit off of Highway 15. It will have tremendous visibility for traffic travelling on the highway, and no doubt will do double-duty as a standard hotel for highway travellers too,

[sailor734]

I think YSJ continues to struggle on two fronts. One is that the cost of a flight vs YFC or YQM is often not competitive. The other is a lack of flights often resulting in an inconvenient departure or arrival time.

A family member recently had to fly home from the west coast on fairly short notice. A one way fare into YFC from YVR on Porter was approximately $800 cheaper than the fare to YSJ. Going back the only cost competitive flight from YSJ involved a 05:30 departure. They elected to depart YQM at 1600 on Westjet connecting in Calgary instead.

One more passenger arrival and departure lost by YSJ because they were non competitive. I get this is more about the choices made by airlines than YSJ but if a solution can't be found they will continue to struggle with passenger numbers.