Saskatoon and Regina Air Service

[kalin_10]

Originally Posted by The Bess

Hey Kalin, i see they are putting steel up at airport, do you have any inside shots of this?

Of Course!!!

[kalin_10]

Originally Posted by casper

Kalin - I came across this article that says the plan is for the current part under construction to open in Aug 2013; then they start on the north part of the airport. Is that still the plan? Still on schedule?

http://www.saskatoonhomepage.ca/airp...dule/itemid_21

What is also impressive is the Westwind terminal. Having never been in their I was surprised by the amount of seating that is in the photos. I am assigning that where the charters up north depart from: http://www.pwa.sk.ca/index.php?optio...&id=7&Itemid=7

I received a summer update awhile back that neither stated the expansion was on time or delayed, however the initial construction of the temporary customs ramp was the factor of the initial delay; whether this has created a domino effect up to this point I do not know.

[kalin_10]

Originally Posted by Hawker

Did a quick in and out trip to yxe this week, other than the lower gates being blocked off I didn't feel any difference from the construction from a pax perspective.

And good news for yxe...there will be an extra daily Edmonton-Saskatoon flight, and the Q400's will be used on Calgary-Saskatoon in Feb., hopefully also upping the number of seats on that route. The same changes also apply to Regina.
http://aircanada.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=43&item=590

As shown in earlier photos, the main construction inconveniences to PAX are passengers departing to US destinations and arriving as the 'B' Gates have mainly been closed off as well as seating has been limited. The customs area is seeing major construction right now; however this isn't really noticeable as it is behind a temporary wall. The customs area has been modified to continue to process passengers.

From my personal perspective, I believe YXE will have a difficult task of accommodating charter flights this up-coming season with limited seating as well as being down two international gates. I guess this is why I hear they are limiting charter flights 20-30%. Some charters airlines are bringing in larger Aircraft to accommodate passenger growth while departing less often. Air Transat is bringing in their double aisle A310's & A330's.

[The Bess]

Thanks Kalin for the inside pic's and info

[casper]

Originally Posted by The Bess

Thanks Kalin for the inside pic's and info

Yes, thank you...

In late Aug, I arrived off the mid-day Denver flight. We had to deplane using stairs and walk into the terminal building. So slight impact.

[kalin_10]

Originally Posted by Hawker

Did a quick in and out trip to yxe this week, other than the lower gates being blocked off I didn't feel any difference from the construction from a pax perspective.

And good news for yxe...there will be an extra daily Edmonton-Saskatoon flight, and the Q400's will be used on Calgary-Saskatoon in Feb., hopefully also upping the number of seats on that route. The same changes also apply to Regina.
http://aircanada.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=43&item=590

Two thoughts - Air Canada is playing hardball, adding additional flights and capacity to it's regional market prior to Westjet's launch of Encore. Maybe regional prices will actually come down once Westjet announces Encore's flight schedule and it's service market.

- The airlines in cooperation with SAA have added, including Air Canada's announcement, 3 additional flights for YXE in 2012. Westjet added an additional flight to Vancouver (x2 weekly) as well as an additional flight to Las Vegas (x1 weekly). This is definitely positive news as passenger traffic is obviously increasing. Sit in departures for a 10 hour period and you'd be surprised how many over-sales happen.

Now Westjet Encore needs to start servicing some additional communities from Saskatoon such as Ft. McMurray, Kelowna, Ottawa, and even Montreal.


Side note, I've built a charter schedule from information online and I'm not so sure of the decrease in chartered flight as 24 have been scheduled. I'm still waiting to see if Westjet is flying to other destination other than Cancun and Peurto Vallarta (I'll get in contact with them tomorrow). SO maybe what I was hearing a 20-30% decrease is in fact false. Does anyone have numbers from last year on the amount of chartered flights?

I will post the charter schedule once I've concluded whether Westjet is or is not flying to other destinations from YXE this year.

[casper]

Originally Posted by kalin_10

Two thoughts - Air Canada is playing hardball, adding additional flights and capacity to it's regional market prior to Westjet's launch of Encore. Maybe regional prices will actually come down once Westjet announces Encore's flight schedule and it's service market.

- The airlines in cooperation with SAA have added, including Air Canada's announcement, 3 additional flights for YXE in 2012. Westjet added an additional flight to Vancouver (x2 weekly) as well as an additional flight to Las Vegas (x1 weekly). This is definitely positive news as passenger traffic is obviously increasing. Sit in departures for a 10 hour period and you'd be surprised how many over-sales happen.

Now Westjet Encore needs to start servicing some additional communities from Saskatoon such as Ft. McMurray, Kelowna, Ottawa, and even Montreal.
....

I will post the charter schedule once I've concluded whether Westjet is or is not flying to other destinations from YXE this year.

The number of flights on the charter airlines are hard to compare from one year to the next given the airlines operate on behalf of the tour companies and the tour companies sometimes use their own service and sometimes someone else. For example, the smallest airlines Air Transat has is a A310; so for years they contracted WestJet to fly smaller planes for them; I think now they are using CanJet for the smaller planes.

Air Canada already does Saskatoon to Ottawa in the summer. Going from sessional to year round would be nice.

Westjet dropped the Saskatoon to Winnipeg flight when they added the non-stop to Toronto. Brining back the Winnipeg flight would be nice as it offered nice connections to Ottawa, Montreal, etc.

I remember last Feb around the family day holiday weekend you could not find a seat on virtually any flight in/out of Saskatoon for a good three/four days. More capacity is a good thing.

[kalin_10]

[casper]

Originally Posted by kalin_10

....

Interesting Air Transat only operates wide-body aircraft. This means we will have 7 wide-body flights a week during the charter season.

[casper]

One of the things I notice that is odd about the Saskatoon airport in comparison to the major airports in Canada is the lack of bilingual way-finding signs. My English is far better than may minimal French; that said, as the airport grows it hopefully should start to take on the appearance of a national airport.

Hopfully it does not get in trouble with these guys: http://www.ailia.ca/article170

[kalin_10]

Originally Posted by casper

One of the things I notice that is odd about the Saskatoon airport in comparison to the major airports in Canada is the lack of bilingual way-finding signs. My English is far better than may minimal French; that said, as the airport grows it hopefully should start to take on the appearance of a national airport.

Hopfully it does not get in trouble with these guys: http://www.ailia.ca/article170

YXE is a class 2 airport, thus no requirement for bilingual services. Take a look around, most signage at YXE are symbols instead of words. This minimizes the need for french captions. As well, with YXE servicing mainly English speaking passengers, there is little need to incorporate (cost wise) french services. There are a few employees who work within the airport community who speak french and thus, if someone really requires french corespondents, this can be offered (as long as the passenger doesn't mine, "Un moment s'il vous plait")

Air Canada is now offering boarding information via computerized french audio.

[kalin_10]

Financial Post
October 27, 2012
Scott Deveau

Government taxes and fees have long carried the blame for the noncompetitive nature of Canadian airports and for the bleed of nearly 5 million passengers a year in search of cheaper flights south of the border.

But not everyone agrees taxes and fees are the primary source of what ails the air travel industry in Canada. Howard Eng, chief executive of the Greater Toronto Airport Authority, which oversees the country’s busiest airport, Pearson International, is one of them.

Mr. Eng argues that while reducing various government fees — such as airport rents, security charges, and fuel excise taxes, will certainly help — the federal government would be better served focusing on a national strategy to increase the number of passengers flying to the country. This would include the elimination of red tape for passengers transferring onto other destinations, streamlining the customs process, and making the country a focal point for travel in emerging markets like India and China.

“They’re looking at the cost disadvantage between Canadian airports and U.S airports,” Mr. Eng said in an interview at Pearson earlier this week. “But it’s more than that. What I would like to see is [a focus] on the opportunities around the world. This is a global business.”

...More

[kalin_10]

[kalin_10]

Originally Posted by casper

The number of flights on the charter airlines are hard to compare from one year to the next given the airlines operate on behalf of the tour companies and the tour companies sometimes use their own service and sometimes someone else.

After reviewing the 2011 Annual report for YXE, 16 charter flights were scheduled in 2011. This year, 19 (not including Vegas and Phoenix as these are considered non-stop seasonal service). So 3 additional charter flights and 3 additional international/domestic flights raises YXE an additional 6 weekly flights for the 2012 year.

[Ruckus]

[kalin_10]

I guess I don't need to upload my new pictures

[Ruckus]

Originally Posted by kalin_10

I guess I don't need to upload my new pictures

haha you can take care of the tarmac and interior

[kalin_10]

[kalin_10]

Will Chabun
Leader-Post
November 15, 2012

Back to the future, airline-style. Air Canada says it will start replacing its small, aging regional jets with brand new turboprops on its Western routes - including some into Regina and Saskatoon - over the winter.

For travellers, the Q400 turboprops will be slightly slower than the 15-year-old regional jets, and even older Dash 8s, now used. But they'll be quieter, with wider seats and more headroom.

Over relatively short routes like Regina-Calgary and Saskatoon-Calgary, the difference in flying times will be mere minutes, industry sources say.

Also, the new aircraft can be "bridged", or linked to terminals via walkways, says Regina Airport CEO Jim Hunter, who said he's been told the new Air Canada Express Q400s should start appearing around February.

And Air Canada's online reservations system shows it will have 244 seats per day between Regina and Calgary in mid-March versus 200 this month.

This could bring lower fares - at least for a while.

An analysis of the Canadian airline industry released Tuesday by the Australian-based CAPA Centre For Aviation says Air Canada's addition of more flights and new aircraft is intended to counter WestJet's much-touted new regional airline, WestJet Encore, expected to start flying next summer.


Read more: http://www.leaderpost.com/Airlines+fight+with+turboprops/7550465/story.html#ixzz2Cam9eUVe

[kalin_10]