Hamilton International Airport

[drpgq]

What's left for airshows in Ontario anyways? Does London still have one?

[LikeHamilton]

Received this today.

Hamilton International Airport
Airport Operations Bulletin

March 22, 2011 Volume 11, Issue 3

PUROLATOR APRON CONSTRUCTION

Purolator Courier will be starting construction of a new apron on the property
located south of their current building. The new apron will butt up to the Kelowna
Flightcraft apron and Delta taxiway to the west and Centre Road to the east.
This expansion will result in the permanent closure of West Cargo Road. Access to
Hangar Road facilities will be via Centre Road. Construction is scheduled to start
next week. West Cargo Road will be closed April 1.
As a result of this expansion, Delta taxiway will be widened to 23 m. That
construction will start in mid April. A separate ops bulletin will be issued once
specific dates are confirmed.

This would be the part in the infrastructure request for a new "Cargo Apron and Taxiway - $6,000,000". I guess they could not wait for the feds.

This would be between Airport Rd and Purolator building and from the end of the Kelowna apron and the road next to the terminal parking lot.

[SteelTown]

http://www.thespec.com/news/business...jobs-wikileaks

[markbarbera]

Well another serious setback with YHM passenger service as Panorama Travel and Tours shutters itself before even beginning its Eastern Europe service. This is particularly frustrating for folks like me who have flown from YHM and desperately want more passenger service from this airport.

Perhaps YHM brass should stop chasing the fly-by-nights and build up the basic facilities legit airlines expect from a modern passenger airport, like sky bridges. Gotta take passenger facilities seriously if you want to attract serious airlines.

I have a feeling YHM is going to focus on the cargo side of the business for the immediate future. That is where they are currently making their money, and that's what all the expansion projects are geared towards. Just don't forget about your future (legitimate) passenger business prospects in the meantime.

[bigguy1231]

Originally Posted by markbarbera

Perhaps YHM brass should stop chasing the fly-by-nights and build up the basic facilities legit airlines expect from a modern passenger airport, like sky bridges. Gotta take passenger facilities seriously if you want to attract serious airlines

I am glad you said that. I have been saying it for years. I have said it here and was roundly critcized.

I have always thought that the terminal was nothing more than a glorified bus terminal. I picked a friend up there last week and it just confirmed what I was saying. I can't see any real airline using the place. I think the only reason Westjet is still there is for sentimental reasons. It helped them get a foothold in this area before they got into Pearson.

[SteelTown]

Good chance the city will apply for P3 for the airport expansion plans

http://www.thespec.com/news/local/ar...ine-approaches

[SteelTown]

Getting really annoyed with WestJet. I've tried booking flights from Hamilton to Moncton and it's booked solid. Ugh maybe you should add more flights or perhaps have year end service?

[LikeHamilton]

Complain to Westjet. Complain on their Facebook page. They seem to answer there farely quickly.

[hammerton]

http://www.flycentraleurope.com/index.html

What happened in the end with these guys? They were advertising pretty heavily on CHML, a few of my relatives were looking at using them at one point.

[bigguy1231]

Originally Posted by hammerton

http://www.flycentraleurope.com/index.html

What happened in the end with these guys? They were advertising pretty heavily on CHML, a few of my relatives were looking at using them at one point.

It turns out they didn't have the capital needed to run the service. There were stories in the news about it a month or so ago.

[SteelTown]

Passengers, more cargo continue to be the theme at Hamilton International Airport

http://www.thespec.com/news/business...tional-airport

Despite a slight decrease in profit, the John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport paid $217,000 in rent to the City of Hamilton in 2010 – a 22 per cent increase from the year before.

In its 2010 annual report released Friday, the company reported a net profit of $2.38 million, down 7 per cent from $2.56 million in 2009.

The company’s report this year told the same story that it did in 2009. It is still recovering from the recession along with its airline partners, continuing to see a decline in the number of passengers and seeing an increase in cargo activity. Just like last year, Richard Koroscil, president and CEO of the airport, says he remains “cautiously optimistic.”

The city-owned airport is privately operated by Hamilton International Airport Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tradeport International Corporation. The city entered the public-private partnership for a term of 40 years in 1996.

Since then, Hamilton has been able to avoid the $1 million a year in losses that it experienced when it operated the airport. Instead, it now gets about $1.1 million in property taxes from businesses that operate within the airport.

The total number of passengers in 2010 was 387,831 – down 10 per cent from 431,251 in 2009.

Koroscil explained that the passenger drop was primarily because of reduced flights offered by WestJet, as well as the 2009 bankruptcy of Flyglobespan, a UK charter that offered seasonal flights between Hamilton and Britain.

Despite the drop in passenger volume, Koroscil said he wants Hamilton’s airport “to be the second-largest passenger airport in Ontario,” next to Toronto’s Pearson International Airport.

The airport’s cargo activity fared significantly better with an increase in 12 per cent from 2009 to 2010. In 2010, 417 million tons were flown through the airport.

The total number of landings that generated revenue was also up by 13 per cent. Last year saw 12,984 landings which does not include touch-and-go landings.

The increase in cargo revenue came about as the automotive and manufacturing industries started to see economic growth after the recession. As well, there was an increase in volume from existing cargo fliers like DHL, Canada Post and UPS.

The airport also benefited from ORNGE Air Ambulance moving its base to the Hamilton International Airport. Koroscil said the move brought 80 jobs to the Hamilton region.

So far in 2011 and looking forward, Cathie Puckering, the director of finance and corporate controller at Hamilton International Airport said, “We will expect a decline in passenger traffic this year for 2011, but cargo has continued to out-perform our expectations.”

[thistleclub]

Wind Farm Hits Airport Turbulence [Matthew Van Dongen, Hamilton Spectator, June 28, 2011]

Niagara Region Wind Corp. won a provincial green energy contract in February for a 230-megawatt wind farm. The $550-million, 80-turbine project is centred in West Lincoln, but the Oakville-based company has amassed contract options on properties extending towards Glanbrook, Haldimand, Wainfleet and Pelham.

The massive wind project is opposed by a vocal association of residents in West Lincoln and rural Hamilton who don’t want 150-metre-high turbines sprouting in their back yard.

They appear to have an unlikely ally: Nav Canada.

A March letter from the operator of Canada’s civil air navigation service, obtained by The Spectator, outlines flight safety concerns related to how Niagara Region Wind turbines might affect the use of radar at Hamilton airport.

[DC1983]

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/...ontent=2094266

[drpgq]

Would a Pickering airport really have that negative effect on the Hamilton airport? Getting across the whole of Toronto is such a big hassle that I can't see how people who would prefer flying from Pickering over Pearson or Hamilton would ever want to fly from Hamilton.

[thompsdk]

The executive study of the Transport Canad study is:

http://www.tc.gc.ca/eng/ontario/pickeringstudy.htm

YHM is slated for 7 million passengers a year. Maybe Bob is right with light rail to the airport (after the B-line is done)....

[DC1983]

Originally Posted by thompsdk

The executive study of the Transport Canad study is:

http://www.tc.gc.ca/eng/ontario/pickeringstudy.htm

YHM is slated for 7 million passengers a year. Maybe Bob is right with light rail to the airport (after the B-line is done)....

Important part of your quote.. "AFTER B-Line is done"!!!

We need to stop resting our hopes and dreams on a sprawling 'airport' and AEGD - the most flawed piece of BS I've ever looked over (imagine, employment lands completely occupied by Veterinarians, Car Dealers, Mechanic Garages.. isn't that Barton St? lmao)

Build B-Line LRT, clean up the Industrial North brownfields and promote the hell out of them as employment land minutes from Light Rail Rapid Transit.

[markbarbera]

City seeks P3 cash for sludge, airport
...

Another city-related application was submitted by the private operators of the Hamilton airport, however.
President and CEO Richard Koroscil said TradePort is asking the federal government to cover 25 per cent of the costs of airport upgrades worth almost $100 million, including a runway extension, a “cross-dock” cargo facility and a major rebuild that would double the size of the existing passenger terminal.
Koroscil said the airport’s long-term plan calls the new terminal a necessity to serve a growing customer base.
A new Transport Canada study suggests that passenger capacities for the Hamilton airport could rise to anywhere between seven million and 10 million passengers annually by 2027.

...

As reported by Matthew Van Dongen July 13 on thespec.com
http://www.thespec.com/news/local/ar...sludge-airport

Of particular interest is the inclusion of terminal expansion in this P3 funding request, sorely needed for YHM. This is another good news story. Hopefully the federal funding will come through. This expansion will help YHM reach its true potential and will do immeasurable good for the local economy.

[bornagainbiking]

We use HI on a regular basis and have tried Porter in the off season for the Maritimes as Westjet stops Oct-May.
Porter has grabbed the little market with excellent service and great prices if you book early enough and use the 30% off option they have in the newspaper or email to you. If you go last minute it can be expensive.
Someone called Munro a bus depot. What exactly is required to drop someone off or pick up?
Hi has good parking, no frills and quick turn around. If Toronto Island has the great connections from GO, and Subway. What about people who have to drive they have NO parking within reason.
HI could pick up plenty of business if they advertise their strengths. But would GTAA allow it especially if they take our airport over. They have a HUGE investment in PIA. We lose lots of traffic to Buffalo with the cheap fares.
I personally hate to pick up anyone in Toronto and to fly out of their is labour intensive with all the poorly implemented security. I picked up a friend at HI and it was like under 30 mins from the time I parked till we pulled out.
I still hope our airport takes off (pun intended).
Maybe this is a plot like getting a hockey team, Toronto doesn't want us to get a successful airport as it will rob business from PIA.
What would you suggest to make HI the preferred GTA airport. We could service Brantford to St Catharines to Oakville.

[durandy]

the growth projections that were in place for the Aerotropolis expansion have been found to be exaggerated - yet of course now that we have the aerotropolis we need a mid-pen to connect it to the States - so I wouldn't be surprised if the numbers for the airport are equally flawed. Given the state of our highways, I can see HI drawing from Burlington, Halton, and Hamilton, but surely no one's expecting anyone to travel much further than that in gridlock. We already have one western GTA airport.

Tradeport and HI feel like a pyramid scheme being run very adeptly by Koroscil, built on good lobbying.

[SteelTown]

I'd be shocked if the Airport didn't get the P3 funding. It meets all of the qualifications.