Atlantic Canada airport thread

[bridgeoftea]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

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,

This is a big win for Moncton! I also think this will start to take more passengers from the other areas with a convenient hotel.

[bridgeoftea]

Originally Posted by 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.

Very much agree! 1/5 of my starting flights is from YSJ this year. And it's only because the Pascan flight to Halifax was cheap and convenient for a European connection out of Halifax.

I've said it a bunch of times before on here. When you factor in gas and parking for 1-2 weeks and it's still cheaper to fly out of Halifax, Moncton, Fredericton than why wouldn't you? Fredericton / Moncton's porter flights are very reasonable. WestJet usually has great summer deals heading out west (maybe not this year with the Fuel increases).

If the Flair flights were daily, you'd definitely see people using it more. Why isn't there a "weekend in Toronto" flair option. Leave Friday at 4pm and return to SJ Sunday night?

[nwalbert]

Originally Posted by bridgeoftea

Very much agree! 1/5 of my starting flights is from YSJ this year. And it's only because the Pascan flight to Halifax was cheap and convenient for a European connection out of Halifax.

I've said it a bunch of times before on here. When you factor in gas and parking for 1-2 weeks and it's still cheaper to fly out of Halifax, Moncton, Fredericton than why wouldn't you? Fredericton / Moncton's porter flights are very reasonable. WestJet usually has great summer deals heading out west (maybe not this year with the Fuel increases).

If the Flair flights were daily, you'd definitely see people using it more. Why isn't there a "weekend in Toronto" flair option. Leave Friday at 4pm and return to SJ Sunday night?

I guess the short answer is because it adds a long drive to a travel day.

For me, Halifax and Bangor can make sense because they offer direct flights I can take advantage of. On occasion I have used YFC cause the times are better, but I have never found a situation where Moncton has made more sense.

If Pascan can continue to maintain reasonable fares to Halifax, that will be strategic.

[sailor734]

I agree the drive is a significant negative factor for a very early departure or a late night return. In this case (going west) driving to YFC or YQM for a mid/late afternoon flight is actually more convenient than anything out of YSJ where the two AC departures are the only choice.

[EnvisionSaintJohn]

If YSJ is going to remain such a third rate option compared to YFC and YQM, then we at least need the province to better fund better bus service between the tri cities (and Halifax, as much as NB Airport Authorities don’t want that).

I’m still cautiously optimistic YSJ’s new CEO will deliver on his goal to increase the number of flights in and out of the airport, and hopefully his connections with Air Canada can help deliver some improvements.

Would be great to see Court Edeburn on the Port Podcast to give an update on the situation at YSJ.

[bingun]

Originally Posted by EnvisionSaintJohn

If YSJ is going to remain such a third rate option compared to YFC and YQM, then we at least need the province to better fund better bus service between the tri cities (and Halifax, as much as NB Airport Authorities don’t want that).

I’m still cautiously optimistic YSJ’s new CEO will deliver on his goal to increase the number of flights in and out of the airport, and hopefully his connections with Air Canada can help deliver some improvements.

Would be great to see Court Edeburn on the Port Podcast to give an update on the situation at YSJ.

He posted this today, if you are able to access it. Not a lot of substance, but he's trying to make some noise and put himself out there.

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/earning-more-flights-saint-john-saint-john-airport-inc--izg6e

Another - https://www.linkedin.com/posts/saint-joh...=ACoAAB60-LYBLJx341_6NGaWezg48llkr3M8m-Y

[sailor734]

Originally Posted by bingun

He posted this today, if you are able to access it. Not a lot of substance, but he's trying to make some noise and put himself out there.

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/earning-more-flights-saint-john-saint-john-airport-inc--izg6e

Another - https://www.linkedin.com/posts/saint-joh...=ACoAAB60-LYBLJx341_6NGaWezg48llkr3M8m-Y

Meh.....offer me flights to where I want, when I want and at a competitive price and I'll be happy to support YSJ. Don't really care for philosophical arguments about supporting the region or about building relationships with airlines. For me as a customer it's a business relationship.....what best serves my needs gets my business.

[nwalbert]

Originally Posted by sailor734

Meh.....offer me flights to where I want, when I want and at a competitive price and I'll be happy to support YSJ. Don't really care for philosophical arguments about supporting the region or about building relationships with airlines. For me as a customer it's a business relationship.....what best serves my needs gets my business.

I will pay more to support local, as will many. But more importantly I want to take-off and land without losing time in a car and will take an extra hour in the lounge in YYZ over a bunch of car time.

YSJ provides basically the same services as the other two NB airports, flights to YYZ and YUL. I like that we have the Halifax connection as well.

It is difficult to predict how the NB airports will grow over the coming years. With changes in population growth rates, and a very aggressive Halifax airport expansion it will certainly apply pressure.

Hopefully all three can continue to support their communities since a central airport seems like it's not in the cards any time soon. Although I still believe it will ultimately happen, though potentially not in most of our life times.

[magee_b]

Pascan schedule adjustments appear to have been made for YSJ this summer. And they are positive!
Up 2 flights daily to Montreal MET (YHU) during the week starting June 18th

P6 954 - YSJ 06:55 - 07:30 YHU (Daily)
P6 951 - YHU 8:30 - 11:00 YSJ (M-F)
P6 950 - YSJ 14:00 - 14:30 YHU (M-F)
P6 953 - YHU 20:45 - 23:15 YSJ (Daily)

Halifax flight will remain a mid-day departure (11:30am) Monday-Friday

The added YHU flights will hopefully allow for some feed into the new Porter network being built out of the new terminal at YHU - Still limited connections available at this time, but will be interesting to see how it runs. The ability to connect to Porter from Pascan in Halifax was often touted by the YSJ team, but the actual options were limited and not well timed. So having up to 2 daily options at YHU (and assuming they have the interline setup properly) could be more successful.

Air Canada is still only maintaining a single daily later afternoon YUL flight from YSJ (was 3x daily pre-Covid), so it's nice to see an alternative with greater frequency.

EDIT: The new flights are bookable through the Porter website. Decent connections via YHU for Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, and Winnipeg, as well as Toronto (Island) and Hamilton

[dhottawa729]

Originally Posted by magee_b

Pascan schedule adjustments appear to have been made for YSJ this summer. And they are positive!…….

Not bad! Just checked a random mid-week in August from SJ to Vancouver via YHU and it is comparable price ($900-ish) to Air Canada from Moncton via Toronto, with a similarly short 1-hour layover. Now if you consider that the SJ option does not have you go through Pearson but instead a shiny new airport in Montreal, this is a huge plus!! Let’s just ignore that fact that $900 to fly across the country and back is quite high, but that’s the Canadian domestic air travel situation for ya!

Great news!

[sailor734]

Being able to fly to much of Canada from YSJ with just one connection is a big improvement and some welcome competition for Air Canada.

Not having to connect through Pearson is a bonus in itself.

[dhottawa729]

The more I look into it, the more incredible I realize this is! They timed the flights perfectly to match YHU departures.
Saint John to destinations like Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, and Vancouver are each around $900 return and the layover in Montreal is only 45-75 minutes somehow. This is super appealing for cross-country travel! I like this!
Now Pascan just needs to do the same thing for Porter departures out of Halifax to connect more seamlessly to Ottawa and St John’s.

[bingun]

Originally Posted by dhottawa729

The more I look into it, the more incredible I realize this is! They timed the flights perfectly to match YHU departures.
Saint John to destinations like Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, and Vancouver are each around $900 return and the layover in Montreal is only 45-75 minutes somehow. This is super appealing for cross-country travel! I like this!
Now Pascan just needs to do the same thing for Porter departures out of Halifax to connect more seamlessly to Ottawa and St John’s.

Hopefully, they try to make some publicity or advertising around this; if I hadn't read this on the forum, I would have no idea.

[nwalbert]

Originally Posted by bingun

Hopefully, they try to make some publicity or advertising around this; if I hadn't read this on the forum, I would have no idea.

Agreed, hopefully this is heavily marketed and could certainly draw additional passengers.

Combined with Halifax to EU connections, YSJ is putting together a compelling argument.

[magee_b]

Originally Posted by nwalbert

Agreed, hopefully this is heavily marketed and could certainly draw additional passengers.

Combined with Halifax to EU connections, YSJ is putting together a compelling argument.

While I like the enthusiasm, I’d pump the breaks on the idea of using Pascan for “connections” to Europe. They don’t have an interline agreement with Air Canada or WestJet through Halifax - so you would have to buy both tickets individually and “self connect”. Is it theoretically possible? Yes, but it would come with risks and is not an option that will pop up or be sold via an airline website / flight search (google flights/kayak/expedia/etc).

[sailor734]

Originally Posted by magee_b

While I like the enthusiasm, I’d pump the breaks on the idea of using Pascan for “connections” to Europe. They don’t have an interline agreement with Air Canada or WestJet through Halifax - so you would have to buy both tickets individually and “self connect”. Is it theoretically possible? Yes, but it would come with risks and is not an option that will pop up or be sold via an airline website / flight search (google flights/kayak/expedia/etc).

I'd agree that it continues to make more sense to drive SJ-Halifax than risk a self connect. The time probably isn't even hugely different for that matter. Maybe 60 minutes or so to drive.

Pascan connecting to Porter on the other hand, for Saint Johner passengers wishing to travel within Canada, is a big step forward.

The only downside is the Pascan Saab 340's are known for being noisy and having a lot of vibration....even compared to the Dash-8 Q400. They are late 70's design with Pascan's average fleet age running around 33 years old. Still, YSJ-YUL on one is only about 90 minutes so.....

[homebody]

Originally Posted by sailor734

I'd agree that it continues to make more sense to drive SJ-Halifax than risk a self connect. The time probably isn't even hugely different for that matter. Maybe 60 minutes or so to drive.

Pascan connecting to Porter on the other hand, for Saint Johner passengers wishing to travel within Canada, is a big step forward.

The only downside is the Pascan Saab 340's are known for being noisy and having a lot of vibration....even compared to the Dash-8 Q400. They are late 70's design with Pascan's average fleet age running around 33 years old. Still, YSJ-YUL on one is only about 90 minutes so.....

Another example of something so positive turning to the negative. Put some AirPods in and enjoy the flight!!

[nwalbert]

Originally Posted by magee_b

While I like the enthusiasm, I’d pump the breaks on the idea of using Pascan for “connections” to Europe. They don’t have an interline agreement with Air Canada or WestJet through Halifax - so you would have to buy both tickets individually and “self connect”. Is it theoretically possible? Yes, but it would come with risks and is not an option that will pop up or be sold via an airline website / flight search (google flights/kayak/expedia/etc).

You may be correct on that one for the average flyer. This scenario does not bother me at all, but my mother would not do this

Hopefully it can soon be sold as a single ticket.

[sailor734]

Originally Posted by homebody

Another example of something so positive turning to the negative. Put some AirPods in and enjoy the flight!!

No, not negative at all.....just taking off the rose coloured glasses and seeing both the pros AND the cons of things

Great news that we can connect to Porter through YHU? Absolutely!
Would it be preferable to have the route operated by better equipment (or even better by Porter itself)? Absolutely!

I just don't see things as black and white or all good or all bad.

[sailor734]

Originally Posted by nwalbert

You may be correct on that one for the average flyer. This scenario does not bother me at all, but my mother would not do this

Hopefully it can soon be sold as a single ticket.

Agreed, Pascan having even a basic interline agreement with AC and Westjet would help with flying through Halifax a lot.