7636 replies to this topic

[rchauhan]

Is the Master Plan available in .pdf?

[Ben Smith]

I'm a pilot-in-training, so this comes to me as great news!

I have a video of myself and my flight instructor over the city in a Cessna 172, but I am a newbie at hosting videos, if one of you helps me out and tells me how I can host a video, I'll post it up in the Photo forum!

The airport has 1 more runway that CYVR (Vancouver International), but all of our runways are significantly shorter. The largest plane our airport can take in is the Airbus A321 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airbus_A321 which is slightly larger then the infamous Boeing 737-800 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_737.
Vancouver, as we all know was one of the landing locations for the new Airbus A380 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A380 which is eons larger then either A320/21 or 737.

There you go, some totally useless information for you

[LJ]

"The airport has 1 more runway that CYVR (Vancouver International)," quote Ben Smith

It actually has the same number, 3, as YVR.

The plan is to extend the main Rwy 09/27 by 1500'. This could be accomplished by adding some to each end or adding it all to one end.
Most likely scenario would be to extend to the east (towards the hiway) as the airport already owns enough land to extend the full 1500' that direction. Preferential rwy would be 09 with approaches over Pat Bay as they would not be able to extend approach lighting on the west end, after the extension to the rwy.

Tentative plan to add another rwy - wont happen - demand not forecast to require it over next 20 years.

Rwy 02 probably change to departure only to allow development of airport land on the southwest corner of the airport, and may close entirely sometime in the future.

[Mike K.]

LJ, do you know more about specific dates regarding the runway extension?

[LJ]

There are no specific dates at this time.

[rchauhan]

Restaurant closes Sunday Feb 25th to make way for White Spot Limited Edition
Feb 21, 2007 9:35am

On Sunday February 25th, the existing Garden Cafe airport restaurant will close to undergo major renovations to create a White Spot Limited Edition. The new dining option will provide customers with full service family seating, counter bar seating, and a lounge area complete with televisions and fireplace.

During Construction, customers will have the option of Tim Horton's, our Capital Brew Coffee Bar or Airside Cafe which offer various Grab & Go choices.

Improvements to the airport's food and beverage program have been a priority for the airport authority over the past year. The opening of Tim Horton's in October 2006 premiered the improvements and the new White Spot Limited Edition along with enhancements to the Airside Cafe will complete the program in 2007.

[VicHockeyFan]

Ya, the Garden Cafe sucked. I did some work out at the airport a year or more ago (testing the new baggage security equipment), and found it lame.

[rchauhan]

VAA Chair comments on the subject of Pat Bay Highway Interchange
Mar 5, 2007 7:55am

VAA Chair, Gordon Denford, comments on the subject of Pat Bay Highway Interchange in the Times Colonist Newspaper March 2, 2007.

http://www.victoriaa... ... 202007.pdf

[Mike K.]

I don't think this individual takes any of the "international" flights out of the airport during peak travel times. That place is buzzing when several flights arrive at once.

I agree that an interchange is not necessary over the Tillicum/HWY1/Admirals interchanges but bashing the entire airport expansion is pretty sad.


Our airport is too grand
Re: “Airport interchange should be a priority,” March 2

Our airport authority seems to be following a familiar policy of empire building.

First they adopt a grandiose name for Victoria Airport by adding the word “International.”

Then, at the expense of travellers, they construct a terminal that is so overbuilt that most of the time it is just filled with echoes; witness the picture that accompanied the article and compare this to overcrowded facilities at, for example, Royal Jubilee Hospital or the passport office.

Now, to complete the policy, they want their road junction access from the Pat Bay Highway to be improved at public expense and ahead of more deserving cases such as, for example, McKenzie Avenue at the Trans-Canada Highway.

Surely airport authority energies would be better spent on finding alternative ways to work within the existing infrastructure, such as toward greener solutions to its problems. Cliff Bancroft,

Victoria.

[m0nkyman]

Well, we could have underbuilt it, and then this guy would be complaining in five years about the lack of planning, and how we're spending double what we should have if we had done it right the first time.

[aastra]

Too grand?? I'd say it's finally just about functional for the amount of traffic it serves. For crying out loud, Victoria's airport is on par with the ones at Kelowna and Comox. This is "overbuilt" for a city of 350,000??

It always seems to be crowded when I'm there, although I admit that isn't often.

So how can an "overbuilt" airport still have a parking problem??

[aastra]

"Too grand." Rattenbury is doing a half gainer in his grave right about now.

Might as well mention that fancy newfangled arena. What is this, Hollywood?

I'd bet a donut this writer is the same sort of person who considers a 450 square foot condo with ensuite washer and dryer to be "luxurious."

Versailles this ain't:

[Holden West]

"When I was a boy we simply waited in the muddy field for the aeroplane and we liked it, dagnabbit!"

:smt091

[G-Man]

I think the TC puts a letter in there like that every so often just because it is funny.

[rchauhan]

The VAA has now put out a questionnaire of the issue of the McTavish / Highway 17 Intersection. This questionnaire can be found here:
http://victoriaairpo...x.php?pageid=72

[Mike K.]

Under the new Open Skies agreement US carriers are able to stop in Canadian airports between the departure airport and the final destination. Could this lead to an increase in air service from Victoria's airport?

Canada-U.S. deal expected to increase air travel choices
Last Updated: Monday, March 12, 2007 | 5:17 PM ET
CBC News

Canada and the United States have agreed to an air travel deal that's expected to create more competition for airline carriers and provide greater flight choices and cheaper fares for passengers.

The new Open Skies agreement, which took effect Monday, will let Canadian passenger and cargo carriers use the U.S. market as a platform to serve a third country and vice-versa.

That means that a Canadian carrier making a stopover at a U.S. airport, for example, can now pick up passengers and take them to the flight's final destination in another country, which previously was not permitted.

"Our new aviation relationship will stimulate stronger partnerships, innovation, more choices and lower prices, to the benefit of both of our citizens and both of our countries," U.S. Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters said in Washington, D.C.

"The time is right for this agreement," said Canadian Transport Minister Lawrence Cannon, who was in Washington for the announcement.

Flights between Canada and the U.S. were previously governed by a 1995 air transportation agreement, which restricted Canadian and U.S. air carriers' access to each other's international markets. The new Open Skies agreement lifts that restriction.
Continue Article

"We saw that increased competition could lead to lower prices following the 1995 agreement, as it created a more creative and open regime for operations in the transporter market," Cannon said. "We are optimistic that today's agreement will provide similar benefits in our respective international markets."

Under the Open Skies agreement, air carriers of both countries will also be able to:

* Operate stand-alone all-cargo services between the other partner's territory and a third country.
* Offer the lowest prices for services between the other partner's territory and a third country.

The new agreement does not allow a U.S. carrier to carry domestic traffic between Canadian cities or vice versa, a practice known as cabotage.

Canadian and U.S. transportation officials will meet with their Mexican counterpart to bring that country into the agreement as well, the CBC's Henry Champ reported. There are European Open Skies agreements as well, and Canadian and U.S. governments want open skies with the rest of the world, he said.

Transport Canada estimates that the Canada-U.S. air transportation market generated about 19.8 million passengers in 2005, making it the largest international air transportation market in the world.

[Ben Smith]

I don't think this individual takes any of the "international" flights out of the airport during peak travel times. That place is buzzing when several flights arrive at once.

I agree that an interchange is not necessary over the Tillicum/HWY1/Admirals interchanges but bashing the entire airport expansion is pretty sad.


Our airport is too grand
Re: “Airport interchange should be a priority,” March 2

Our airport authority seems to be following a familiar policy of empire building.

First they adopt a grandiose name for Victoria Airport by adding the word “International.”

Then, at the expense of travellers, they construct a terminal that is so overbuilt that most of the time it is just filled with echoes; witness the picture that accompanied the article and compare this to overcrowded facilities at, for example, Royal Jubilee Hospital or the passport office.

Now, to complete the policy, they want their road junction access from the Pat Bay Highway to be improved at public expense and ahead of more deserving cases such as, for example, McKenzie Avenue at the Trans-Canada Highway.

Surely airport authority energies would be better spent on finding alternative ways to work within the existing infrastructure, such as toward greener solutions to its problems. Cliff Bancroft,

Victoria.

:roll: The word I consider when thinking about our airport here is hardly "grand". I would consider calling it an undiscovered gold mine. See, many people Fly from distances greater than the East Coast to Vancouver, and than ferry over here because Victoria is what they came for. However, If you are looking to fly to the East Coast from here, your almost out of luck, other than the twice-weekly Air Canada flight from here to Toronto, there's squat.

The ferry over to Vancouver is unnessesary, the only people who would be angered over an airport upgrade in capacity would be BC Ferries.

[Mike K.]

It's a daily flight now! My family uses that sucker all the time and word is there might be another year-round Toronto flight coming

[DelsterX]

I was just there on Tuesday. It was the first time I have been there since they completed the departures area. It looks fantastic. The new parking approach flows a lot better now and the signage makes more sense. They even constructed two long canopies in the parking lot so you do not get rained on while walking to the terminal. It looks like they are renovating that observation deck as well. It was closed to the public and the have a dumpster infront of it on the tarmac. The terminal is clean bright and airey what more could you want? Well maybe bring back a lounge so you can get hammered before your flight. 8)

[aastra]

You're right, a few beers would really take the stress off during that long leg to Vancouver.

So you say they're doing work again up in the observation room? My dream for that room was to extend it across the roof so that it ultimately looked down into the main hall area. That way it wouldn't feel so cut off from the rest of the place.

I wonder what else they could be doing up there, if not that. The bathroom was tiny but then it didn't need to be any larger. The room itself was spacious.

Maybe they're reworking the stairway to make it feel less "out of bounds"?