Hamilton International Airport

[Jon Dalton]

The government is so committed to air travel that it's thinking ahead to 2027, but it won't commit to rail transit that's already 30 years overdue. Think of how much capacity would be available at the existing airport if high speed rail linked Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa. HSR also complements airports by connecting with them, reducing the overall travel time for longer flights. Weren't the Feds supposed to by studying this? (again)

[HillStreetBlues]

The latest of many feasibility studies was released in late 2011- it found that it would be even more expensive to develop the system than when the possibility was last studied.

The report found that Quebec City-Windsor would not have a net positive benefit, but that Toronto-Ottawa-Montreal definitely would.

From an environmental perspective, replacing any proportion of short-haul and commuter flights with rail makes a big difference.

[drpgq]

Originally Posted by HillStreetBlues

Region approves $400,000 subsidy for American Eagle

"WATERLOO REGION — The local airport will celebrate one year with American Eagle by providing the airline with $400,000 to compensate it for empty seats.

Regional council agreed to the subsidy to lure the airline to the Region of Waterloo International Airport. American flies to and from Chicago."

Link

I thought you all might be interested in this, since I've occasionaly heard Waterloo International Airport mentioned as a possible future relief airport for Pearson. $150,000 is from local businesses who want the connection to Chicago, and the subsidies could be as high as $1.4 million if certain sale thresholds are not reached (it doesn't say what those thresholds are).

This seems like a lot of money to me…does John C Munro do anything similar for any of its carriers, or has it in the past? It doesn't seem like the most sensible way of doing things…it could disincentivize the airline from being well-priced and attracting as many passengers as possible.

That's interesting. I've never heard of Hamilton's airport doing that. I assume the main business contributing would be RIM, as a direct connection from Chicago to Waterloo would be really useful for them. KW also has Bearskin servicing Ottawa which would be nice for Hamilton to have.

I'm still hoping that with Westjet getting Turboprops that opens up Hamilton to Ottawa and Montreal.