Calgary International Airport

[harls]

Originally Posted by circle33

Elitist? I was actually coming from the other direction.

I know.

[JBB]

I always have had my own categorization of Canadian Airports. It is as follows:

Primary Airports- Toronto and Vancouver

Secondary Airports- Montreal and Calgary

Tertiary Airports- Edmonton, Ottawa, Winnipeg and Halifax

Quarternary Airports- Saskatoon, Regina, Victoria, Moncton, London, Hamilton, St. Johns... and others

[Plus15]

Don't forget Kelowna (YLW). It is on track to surpass 1 million this year, more than Regina or Saskatoon.

[Edmonchuck]

Kelowna is on FIRE! Oh, not literally again...

Rumors of a YLW - YUL direct are rampant, as well as YLW - PDX.

Too bad YYF and the Penticton band can't get along as YYF would be another great entry to the Okanogan.

[IntotheWest]

Originally Posted by JBB

I always have had my own categorization of Canadian Airports. It is as follows:

Primary Airports- Toronto and Vancouver

Secondary Airports- Montreal and Calgary

Tertiary Airports- Edmonton, Ottawa, Winnipeg and Halifax

Quarternary Airports- Saskatoon, Regina, Victoria, Moncton, London, Hamilton, St. Johns... and others

I'd agree - except for YVR...it is a mid-size airport (yes, a Canadian "gateway" to Asia), and gets half the volume YYZ gets. Toronto is the primary hub in Canada - YUL, YYC, and YVR are in the same league. I have personally and unforunately been a victim of YYZ-as-hub quite a few times.

[CMD UW]

/\ What??

YVR is our gateway to the Pacific!!! Check out the airlines that serve it and most DO NOT serve any other airport in the country, except, maybe YYZ.

Until YYC has as many international routes as YVR, then perhaps it's in the same league. For now, it's not.

[evolv]

I think YYC is under-served, I tried to get a flight to Frankfurt in February this past august and it was already sold out. I think YYC is on the radar screen for major airlines they just don't have the planes to fly the route. Once the 787 comes into service I think YYC will get a lot more direct international traffic.

[Bokimon]

Kelowna is even getting flights to Hawaii via Harmony..
Amazing for a city like that. A small airport like YLW will soon be seeing 757s over the usual Dash 8, and 737s.

YVR is getting better all the time. Hopefully Qantas can return one day.
I also hope that YVR will get a couple of those 1/8mi visibility fog so they can send some planes to YYC. A mixture of Asian heavies would be a pleasant sight at this airport.

[Hardhatdan]

Originally Posted by evolv

I think YYC is under-served, I tried to get a flight to Frankfurt in February this past august and it was already sold out. I think YYC is on the radar screen for major airlines they just don't have the planes to fly the route. Once the 787 comes into service I think YYC will get a lot more direct international traffic.

Give Edmonton a direct flight to Frankfurt and I guarantee there will be alot more room on the Calgary flights.

Edmonton has go to be the most underserved airport, and its our own fault for dicking around with 2 airports for so long.

Thank goodness things are starting to get much better.

[The Chemist]

Originally Posted by evolv

I think YYC is under-served, I tried to get a flight to Frankfurt in February this past august and it was already sold out. I think YYC is on the radar screen for major airlines they just don't have the planes to fly the route. Once the 787 comes into service I think YYC will get a lot more direct international traffic.

The 777 would be suitable for most international flights to and from Calgary, as is the A330 that is currently used for flights from Calgary to Frankfurt and Calgary to London.

I'd love to see a scheduled flight to Calgary served by a Triple 7 - those planes are seriously impressive, especially the engines

[CMD UW]

Originally Posted by Bokimon

Kelowna is even getting flights to Hawaii via Harmony..
Amazing for a city like that. A small airport like YLW will soon be seeing 757s over the usual Dash 8, and 737s.

YVR is getting better all the time. Hopefully Qantas can return one day.
I also hope that YVR will get a couple of those 1/8mi visibility fog so they can send some planes to YYC. A mixture of Asian heavies would be a pleasant sight at this airport.

Quantas still serves YVR? No?

[Edmonchuck]

Originally Posted by The Chemist

I'd love to see a scheduled flight to Calgary served by a Triple 7 - those planes are seriously impressive, especially the engines

Yes, amazing and the ETOPS range on this thing is amazing.

Still my favorite plane to date. The 787 needs to seriously be cool.

[Edmonchuck]

Originally Posted by evolv

I think YYC is under-served, I tried to get a flight to Frankfurt in February this past august and it was already sold out. I think YYC is on the radar screen for major airlines they just don't have the planes to fly the route. Once the 787 comes into service I think YYC will get a lot more direct international traffic.

2 things:

As of 11:37 tonight on http://www.aircanada.com

Fares as low as $828 (median average) and seats availabe every day in February returning every day in February YYC-FRA. Highest return fare was $984 leaving Feb 11 and returning Feb 26 according to their grid. Even the employee site has seats available - can't give you that URL.

You were booking way too far ahead and more than likely the seats, schedules, and fares were not published yet.

YYC is on the radar screen for major airlines and yes, equipment is a factor. However, the 787 will be a REPLACEMENT for most fleets, not fleet augmentation. Don't expect the 787 to be the magic bullet for YYC.

[IntotheWest]

Originally Posted by CMD UW

/\ What??

YVR is our gateway to the Pacific!!! Check out the airlines that serve it and most DO NOT serve any other airport in the country, except, maybe YYZ.

Until YYC has as many international routes as YVR, then perhaps it's in the same league. For now, it's not.

I believe I stated it was a gateway for Canadians. However, from YYC we can also use SFO instead for asia flights - and sometimes its cheaper that way. As well, LAX is also an option.

Regardless, the point of contention was the "categorization" of Canada's airports.

IATA ranks YVR as a "medium-sized" airport - those serving 10-30 million. YYC will more than likely make the 10 million mark this year, while YVR continues to serve around 16 million. YUL is also well over 10 million now, putting the three clearly into the medium-sized airports category.

YYZ is clearly in a different league (for Canada), and should top 30 million this year - establishing itself as a "large-sized" airport.

[marts1x]

Originally Posted by Edmonchuck

Yes, amazing and the ETOPS range on this thing is amazing.

Still my favorite plane to date. The 787 needs to seriously be cool.

Well if Air Canada gets another deal done with its pilots and boeing there could be a heck of a lot of 787 and 777's flying into canadian airports.

However I was talking to some AC mechanics and they have no faith in the 787. they complain that the aircraft will be a maitnence nightmare because it is a 'plane made of plastic'

[slide_rule]

from YYC we can also use SFO instead for asia flights

wouldn't this entail a big detour? you COULD fly via san francisco or even los angeles, but if you can go through vancouver, why waste extra time?

[Glacierfed]

Looking at the vancouver airport website, yvr.ca about 2.5 million of Vancouver's 16.5 million passengers this year will be to/from Asia and the Pacific, easily the most in Canada, with non-stop flights to 9 different cities, and Vancouver is a NA hub for Cathay Pacific, you can fly daily from Van to NYC on cathay.

It is worth while noting that up until this year Toronto was also in this "medium" size airport category. Vancouver and Toronto are international hubs, while Calgary and Montreal are not, these facts are undeniable.

also I feel like Calgary and Montreal numbers have been inflated in this thread, a quick check of the websites and some math show that Montreal will have about 10.9 million passengers this year, and Calgary about 10.176 million.

[The Chemist]

Originally Posted by marts1x

Well if Air Canada gets another deal done with its pilots and boeing there could be a heck of a lot of 787 and 777's flying into canadian airports.

However I was talking to some AC mechanics and they have no faith in the 787. they complain that the aircraft will be a maitnence nightmare because it is a 'plane made of plastic'

According to what I've been reading over on airliners.net, a new deal HAS been reached, and a few used 777s could be added to AC's fleet as early as next year. The first new 777s are expected to arrive in AC's fleet in early 2007.

I would suggest that AC's mechanics should wait until they actually SEE a 787 before complaining about it, though. There hasn't yet been one even built at this stage, so I think complaints about its construction are just a wee bit premature.

YVR is definitely an airport of higher importance for Canada than YYC - that point is indisputable. Sure, from YYC we could fly to SFO or LAX to fly to Asia, but that requires going through US Customs, as well as the fact that the flights to LAX or SFO are 2.5 to 3 hours, compared to an hour to YVR. YVR is a far more convienient gateway to Asia for western Canadian travellers than SFO or LAX are. Calgary's got all of two international destinations (not including transborder) - Vancouver has a hell of a lot more than that. Not only that, but not a single international airline (i.e. not Canadian or American) serves Calgary on a regular schedule, but several serve YVR.

[Edmonchuck]

Originally Posted by The Chemist

According to what I've been reading over on airliners.net, a new deal HAS been reached, and a few used 777s could be added to AC's fleet as early as next year. The first new 777s are expected to arrive in AC's fleet in early 2007.

I would suggest that AC's mechanics should wait until they actually SEE a 787 before complaining about it, though. There hasn't yet been one even built at this stage, so I think complaints about its construction are just a wee bit premature.

As would I. If the AC boys at the old CAI hanger are the source of this complaining, I take it with a grain of salt. They bitched about everything and anything, including the 'plastic tail" on the AirBuis's.

From what I gather on the '87, it should be a neat triumph in design, and with the weight advantage and the new wing, something that actually achieves teh 20% increase in efficiency over the '67.

I have not heard anything concrete from the pilot's union on this. They are keenly trying to get some info here, so I'll ask again today.

[CMD UW]

Originally Posted by IntotheWest

I believe I stated it was a gateway for Canadians. However, from YYC we can also use SFO instead for asia flights - and sometimes its cheaper that way. As well, LAX is also an option.

Regardless, the point of contention was the "categorization" of Canada's airports.

IATA ranks YVR as a "medium-sized" airport - those serving 10-30 million. YYC will more than likely make the 10 million mark this year, while YVR continues to serve around 16 million. YUL is also well over 10 million now, putting the three clearly into the medium-sized airports category.

YYZ is clearly in a different league (for Canada), and should top 30 million this year - establishing itself as a "large-sized" airport.

As mentioned earlier by another forumer, Canadian airports are relatively small, notwithstanding YYZ.

However, I admit that YVR does not handle a huge amount of passengers, however, its role as being one of the major gateways to the Orient makes it an important airport along with SFO and LAX (the other major gateways).