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Originally Posted by homebody
I totally disagree. Moncton could not support that type of flight on its own without taking in the rest of the population of the province. I was simply stating a fact that if you had the flight out of Fredericton, then it would make it much easier to sell it to a company like Air Canada or Air Transat because it was further away from the hub in Halifax. Also, it would be much easier for everybody in the province of New Brunswick to get to Fredericton as opposed to driving to Moncton from Edmunston for example you don’t need a huge airport in order to support a two or three time weekly flight to Paris. The runway at Fredericton international is plenty long enough and I’m quite sure that the terminal could handle the passengers that would be using said flight. Yes, the company might be based on a Moncton but right now the employees are travelling to Halifax or having to do a connecter flight out of Moncton to get to Paris so what would be the difference if they drove an hour up the road to Fredericton as opposed to the two hours to Halifax on a bad day.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by homebody
True enough, but you have to consider Fredericton has very easy access as well off the Trans Canada highway. Current aviation trends don’t really play into the reason why Moncton should be the go to place for a flight like this. As far as the cultural argument goes. If culture had anything to do with it why wouldn’t WestJet put a flight from Moncton- Paris, as opposed to Halifax - Paris it just started recently? Because there’s more French culture in Halifax and there would be in Fredericton? As it stands right now, Charlottetown can travel to two hours to Halifax, maybe even three or do the same amount of travelling to Fredericton. So that argument is kind of a wash.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by homebody
So this whole flight to Paris thing is based on a Francophone company based out of Moncton that you and some of the people are going to its bidding for?Good luck with that lol. When it comes to distances between cities, I was making reference to the fact that Fredericton is about an hour drive away from both Moncton and Saint John two hours from Edmonton. By locating it further away from Halifax, which, by the way has the only direct flight to Paris (very sore point for Monctonians), the province as whole (Not only Moncton) might have a better chance of securing something like this because it’s not YHZ’s catchment area, Or pretty close to YHZ. All airlines care about is their bottom line and whether or not they are going to make money? This pie in the sky idea that this Francophone company that you mentioned has come up with is never gonna fly(pardon the pun) there’s just not enough people in this company, Moncton, or within an hour of Moncton to warrant a a flight. Especially when you have multiple choices at YHZ. Have a great weekend.
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homebody has long displayed a severe allergy to YQM, as most people who have followed this thread over the years are well aware.
He is however playing fast and loose with some facts in his arguments.
- The distribution of the francophone population in the province is indeed a factor to be considered in the location of any terminus for a Paris bound flight. About 30% of NBs population is francophone. This is slightly over 250,000 people. Of this, about 110,000 are in southeaster NB. The majority of the rest live on
la Peninsule and in the Chaleur region. Their regional service centre is Moncton, not Fredericton.
- Homebody makes the argument of it being a long drive from Edmundston to Moncton. It is, but, it is also a long drive to Fredericton - just as long as the drive from Edmundston to Quebec City. Do you think more people in Edmundston choose to fly out of YQB or YFC? I think you know what the amswer will be.
- He is quite right that WestJet chose to have a direct flight from YHZ to Paris, rather than one from YQM. There is one simple reason for this however, and it was not a snub to YQM. WestJet has chosen YHZ as a hub of sorts for European flights using the 737 Max. There are multiple European destinations operated by WestJet out of YHZ. Using a hub and spoke model, multiple flights from elsewhere in Canada converge on Halifax to make connections with these multiple flights to Europe. This is the reason why the YHZ/CDG flight exists. It makes logistical sense.
- IF a YQM to Paris flight were ever to happen, it would probably be summer seasonal, and probably on a carrier like Air Transat. Neither Air Canada or WestJet would be interested. They are both hub and spoke airlines. Air Transat would be looking at both sides of the equation, not just NBers wanting to go to Paris, but also French citizens wanting to visit Atlantic Canada. Now, you tell me which city and region of the province would be more interesting for a French national to visit - Moncton and the southeast of NB or Fredericton? I think it is pretty obvious.
- Finally, you were playing pretty fast and loose with travel times between Maritime cities. Perhaps you don't know. I will give you the benefit of the doubt, but, it is a two hour drive through the wilderness to get to Fredericton from Moncton, not an hour like you stated. Also, YQM is much more convenient to the provincial freeway system than YFC is. In fact, there is a direct airport exit off of Highway 15 right in front of the terminal, and this exit is only about one km from the TCH interchange.
Have a good evening.
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