Winnipeg James Armstrong Richardson International Airport

[The Jabroni]

Originally Posted by factis

Anyone know how often do they have do it? Pretty sure they had that one closed down within the last 7 or 8 years.

The last time they re-paved 18/36 is 10 years ago, according to Google Earth satellite maps from that time.

If I recall, I remember flying up to Flin Flon a couple times that year in 2014, seeing the longer runway being worked on as we were taxiing onto the other runway.

[FactaNV]

Took a sold out flight to Toronto at 5 am this morning...getting to the airport at 330 am was just as busy as 330 pm. Crazy how busy our lil airport is getting again

[bomberjet]

IIRC they did the runway paving with the new terminal. Or immediately afterwards.

[yellowbean]

Originally Posted by FactaNV

Took a sold out flight to Toronto at 5 am this morning...getting to the airport at 330 am was just as busy as 330 pm. Crazy how busy our lil airport is getting again

Agreed. Flew back from Toronto this Sunday, arrived around 7-8 pm and every gate was pretty packed, tons of people also waiting around the hug rug, uber was having a hard time getting to the pick up spot due to many busses and cabs being in the way. Pretty cool to see our airport buzzin!

[factis]

Originally Posted by Myst

There’s different amounts of rework that might be done at different times.

I think last time it was 13/31 that was done. I think it’s been 15 to 20 since 18/36 was done.

18/36 resurfacing is less disruptive than 13/31, because the portion where they intersect gets redone as part of 13/31. It is done that way because 18/36 is longer, but while the intersection is done 18/36 is shortened and can limit payload.

Thanks for the info. I likely got it confused with 13/31.

[Myst]

If anyone is interested, passenger load factors to and from the US for January (source US Bureau of Transportation Statistics)

YWG-ATL 87.7%
ATL-YWG 74.1%
YWG-LAS 89.5%
LAS-YWG 73.2%
YWG-LAX 90.8%
LAX-YWG 81.8%
YWG-MCO 83.2%
MCO-YWG 74.9%
YWG-MSP 95.3%
MSP-YWG 92.9%
YWG-PHX 95.7%
PHX-YWG 78.3%
YWG-PSP 81.0%
PSP-YWG 64.5%
YWG-SFB 59.1%
SFB-YWG 31.6%

That should put January transborder numbers at 34,590 revenue passengers. WAA numbers will include nonrevs I think, when they come out. That’s up 30% from last January, and at about 72% of the level of January 2020. Having ORD and DEN back should put us pretty close to fully recovered traffic levels.

MCO numbers are combined Westjet/Sunwing.

Orlando Sanford is Flair. They only started at the end of January, so you can pretty much ignore northbound figures, but southbound are not good, especially for starting at what should be high season.

MSP is chockablock full.

ATL southbound being that much higher than northbound is interesting. I don’t think snowbirds account for all of it, I think YYZ or YYC return routings are likely also part of it.

[Justanothermember]

My understanding is that they are not bringing back the Vegas and Orlando Flair flights. Orlando was a disaster for Flair and I think they are getting rid of it altogether, but I'm disappointed they aren't bringing back the Vegas flight for YWG, it only started in February and wasn't really given a chance to take root here, but it is what it is. And it is Flair, so I don't think it's much to get upset over considering their future is far from certain.

[TimeFadesAway]

Originally Posted by Myst

Orlando Sanford is Flair. They only started at the end of January, so you can pretty much ignore northbound figures, but southbound are not good, especially for starting at what should be high season.

Anecdotally, a lot of people I know are striking Florida off their potential destination list due to the political situation there.

[pspeid]

Originally Posted by TimeFadesAway

Anecdotally, a lot of people I know are striking Florida off their potential destination list due to the political situation there.

Not just travellers:

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/eco...ida-rcna142316

[Myst]

If anyone is interested, WAA has posted Q1 traffic numbers.
https://www.waa.ca/assets/pages/YWG_...cs_Q1_2024.pdf
Generally higher than last year, overall Q1 at about 85% of 2019

It’s a bit early for carriers to be done their winter schedule, but it looks like the 3rd MSP flight may run through the winter. With that plus ORD and DEN, and assuming we hold the same load factors, that would put next January traffic at about 46,000 to the US without any further schedule enhancements.

For this summer, the ATL, ORD and DEN additions should add about 15,000 passengers per month compared to last year. Which would be about 40,000 in August, which won’t quite make a record August but does get past 2019 levels.

I don’t keep as close track of domestic schedules as I used to, but hopefully we see a virtuous cycle on all sectors of more traffic driving more service driving more traffic.

[Justanothermember]

I definately feel there is enough of a case for ATL and LAX to go daily. If WS uses the Boeing 737-700, this would be a ame capacity to cater to the market. And as passenger numbers grow, eventually another daily flight can be added to suite the higher travel season. The market will grow and more flights added over time, it's just a matter of ensuring proper aircraft help cater to this growth without going overboard.

I still wonder if WS is considering DTW summer seasonal, although it may be too late for this summer seeing as how it's almost May.

[Justanothermember]

Originally Posted by Jammon

Exactly. it could be worse- you could live in Saskatchewan.

No doubt. Also with regards to WS, they are sandwiched between a hub and two focus cities in Alberta and Manitoba, so they likely will get very minimal growth since there are already larger cities close by they can connect through.

I honestly don't see any airline (apart from provincial airlines based in Sask) wanting to bolster either Saskatoon or Regina into much more than what they are now, small insignificant spokes. Saskatoon may end up with a few more routes due to its larger business community and population, but not much more at all.

[Myst]

YQR and YXE are both significant centres in the country, and any really national carrier has to serve them in some way. I suspect we’ll see Porter add YQR-YYZ prior to YWG-YUL. It is true that Sask airports are not among the 10 busiest routes in the country (the ones that tend to attract the new entrants that want to skim traffic) but that doesn’t mean they do not have demand or opportunities. While I do not think DEN or ORD will be quick to return to Sask, I would point out that YYZ used to be a YYZ-YQR-YXE triangle that shared flights, and nowadays YYZ, YUL and YVR are all much better served than they used to be, at the cost of competition to YYC and YWG.

Like Winnipeg, I’m sure the Sask airports would like the sexy new route announcements. Like Winnipeg, scheduling could do as much for connectivity… consider this schedule for a day in July on WS -

Timetable for YWG:
Eastbound & southbound
Arr from YQR 13:00
Arr from YXE 10:58 and 19:45
Dep to YOW 17:15
Dep to YUL 09:35
Dep to YHZ 15:10
Dep to ATL 08:00

Northbound & westbound
Arr from ATL 15:22
Arr from YUL 16:30
Arr from YOW 23:26
Arr from YHZ 15:17
Dep to YXE 15:30 and 19:00
Dep to YQR 14:10

The only routing a connection works both ways is YXE-YHZ. And that’s with a 4:12 layover on the eastbound. Even routings that work one way like YXE-YOW is a long layover. Want YWG to handle more connections - or to be able to improve service to the prairies overall - timetable…