5371 replies to this topic

[shoeflack]

^FYI, Mike...Stapleton closed in 1995. The airport that replaced it is simply Denver International Airport.

[Mike K.]

Interesting! That’s what was quoted as the airport name. Thank you for the correction.

[tjv]

Victoria - Montreal is a seasonal service as well it ends October 9th

 

https://www.newswire...-661240093.html

[Missed Approach]

There is alot of seasonal fights coming to a end in the fall - WJA, Flair, AC Jazz and Rouge. 

[Missed Approach]

Saskatoon airport getting a Air Canada lounge.... a airport larger than Victoria but less passengers per annum. 

 

 

https://canadianavia...tional-airport/

[shoeflack]

I don't really blame them for putting one at YXE over YYJ. Air Canada flies to 5 destinations year round out of YXE (upwards of 20 flights per day) and also serves as a connection point for some flights. Many daily flights on jets with business class.

 

St. John's is another smaller airport that has a Maple Leaf Lounge, though that's warranted through the trans-Atlantic service to London alone. Regina also has a MLL.

 

YYJ has 3 year-round destinations on Air Canada and the bulk of that traffic is Vancouver (where most business travelers just roll up to the gate at the last minute...they aren't spending enough time at the airport to warrant a lounge visit). I don't think there's much demand for a MLL at YYJ. Only one year-round flight even has business class seating, and it's on Rouge once (sometimes twice) daily to Toronto.

 

YYJ would be better served with a Plaza Premium lounge that could serve multiple airlines via Priority Pass or existing airline agreements (i.e. WestJet). They could also go the route of what is in Quebec City, with an independently operated lounge that has agreements with each airline/lounge program at that airport. That's what I would think we're more likely to see in the future at YYJ. It's a little sad that both Victoria and Kelowna, two of the largest airports in the country, don't offer a lounge.

[aastra]

Re: the passenger volumes at VI airports, recent news articles and/or reports indicate the yearly numbers to be:

 

Victoria airport: ~2 million
Comox: ~360,000
Nanaimo airport: ~360,000
Victoria Harbour and Nanaimo Harbour: ~300,000 put together?

 

Anyway, it's now around 3 million passengers annually for Vancouver Island airports combined. In just a few years Nanaimo airport has climbed from hardly relevant to neck-and-neck with Comox. Victoria airport alone is predicted to top 3 million by 2030.

 

So what's going on? Vancouver Islanders have suddenly fallen in love with their local airports, rather than driving to YVR? Are the harbour-to-harbour numbers dropping? The 2015 air carrier traffic report indicates 200,000 passengers through Victoria harbour, whereas the 2006 air carrier traffic report indicated almost 300,000, and almost half that number again through Nanaimo harbour.

Edited by aastra, 21 September 2018 - 08:01 PM.

[Mike K.]

Retirees and newcomers to the Island are having none of it when it comes to the Island tradition of making life as hard as possible for one self by first travelling to Vancouver and only then flying out as a means of saving $50.

Even then there are so many locals who still do that trek that it keeps our numbers massively under inflated.

[sdwright.vic]

Last year when we went to Cabo, we flew Victoria to Calgary to meet and "pick up" the sister in law there before continuing on. We paid $75.00 each less per ticket then she did leaving directly from Calgary.

[Victoria Watcher]

by 2030 almost all business travel should be unnecessary. step into a vr suit at your chicago office and you are "inside" a vr robot on the factory floor in china ready for your equipment inspection.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 22 September 2018 - 07:45 AM.

[Mike K.]

Is that you, Lisa Helps?

[Victoria Watcher]

i guess china gave it away.  i mean the factory floor in mexico.

[tjv]

So what's going on? Vancouver Islanders have suddenly fallen in love with their local airports, rather than driving to YVR? Are the harbour-to-harbour numbers dropping? The 2015 air carrier traffic report indicates 200,000 passengers through Victoria harbour, whereas the 2006 air carrier traffic report indicated almost 300,000, and almost half that number again through Nanaimo harbour.

I think the first is we are in a boom economy, everyone is flush with cash and working, restaurants are full, malls are full, etc, etc.  No one cares about penny pinching right now

 

Second, we have the arrival of Delta and they are offering rock bottom deals to everywhere.  $200 CDN to the US east coast!  It used to be $250-$300 just for the flight to Seattle with Alaska

 

Most Canadian airlines are also offering flights from YYJ for the same price as YVR

[G-Man]

I am flying on Alaska from YYJ to Newark and the one round trip I had to pay was $450. The other tickets were on points but still a good price. If I were paying for all the tickets it would have come out about even to take the ferry drive to Seattle and park the car for the week. So I think that airlines are starting to price things a little more fair for Victoria. 

[Nparker]

Plus you would likely have to add an extra day to drive to-from Seattle and possibly include an overnight stay to get the flight times you wanted. Not starting one's air travel from YYJ seems counter-productive to me unless the cost savings are significant.

[G-Man]

With my flight times I could make it to Seattle on both my flight day and return day but it would make for a much less relaxing time. Right now I stroll into YYJ at 330pm. If I was leaving from SEA I would be up at 6am to be on the 9am ferry so that I could make it through the border in Blaine and drive the two hours find parking and take the shuttle to arrive at a terminal stressed out and just make the flight.

[Nparker]

And then repeat that stressful process on your return trip.

[tjv]

Thank goodness for delta arriving to yyj. Now Alaska cost you more money. Before delta it was worth the ferry trip and drive

 

Edited by G-Man -

[sdwright.vic]

malls are full

Did you really just type those words?!? 🤣

[Nparker]

...malls are full, etc, etc...

Did you really just type those words?!? 🤣

Not every mall is flourishing

...Only nine of 517 retail spaces in the New Horizon Mall have opened for business since owners were allowed to take possession in May...

https://globalnews.c...zon-mall-empty/