Calgary International Airport - New Terminal, Runway, Control Tower

[calgarygeologist]

Originally Posted by Jimmy Stang

Last night my arrival gate was one of those A01-A06 WestJet Encore gates. It has been a while since I got to walk through that sad little shed. I would've thought that with so much moving down to D and E, and C still seeing a lot of action, that there would be extra capacity in the proper A wing and B, and the temporary(?) A01-A06 gates would be redundant, or made to be a bit nicer.

Does anyone know what the deal is with those gates? I mean, I'm landing from Saskatoon and I don't expect a red carpet, but it feels pretty bush league down there.

I definitely don't have a specific answer but pre-Covid I worked with the WestJet operations team and it was a preference to use those ground loading gates out of convenience. It is significantly easier on the teams to bring in/push out the Q400s on those ground loading gates because the procedure is significantly longer/more involved when it comes to hooking up bridges and power on the regular gates.

So it might be that the airline is preferentially asking to use those gates out of ease.

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by Jimmy Stang

Last night my arrival gate was one of those A01-A06 WestJet Encore gates. It has been a while since I got to walk through that sad little shed. I would've thought that with so much moving down to D and E, and C still seeing a lot of action, that there would be extra capacity in the proper A wing and B, and the temporary(?) A01-A06 gates would be redundant, or made to be a bit nicer.

Does anyone know what the deal is with those gates? I mean, I'm landing from Saskatoon and I don't expect a red carpet, but it feels pretty bush league down there.

Is it sadder than the Westjet gate at LAX?

[Bigtime]

Hmm, YYC-KEF in the future?

"Application by WestJet (applicant) pursuant to subsection 69(1) of the Canada Transportation Act, SC 1996, c 10 (CTA)

Case number:
23-50040
The applicant has applied to the Canadian Transportation Agency (Agency) for a licence to operate a scheduled international service, large aircraft, in accordance with the Arrangement between the Government of Canada and the Government of Iceland, set out in an agreed minute signed on July 11, 2007 (Arrangement)."

https://otc-cta.gc.ca/eng/ruling/a-2023-209

[sleepingmoose]

Originally Posted by Bigtime

Hmm, YYC-KEF in the future?

"Application by WestJet (applicant) pursuant to subsection 69(1) of the Canada Transportation Act, SC 1996, c 10 (CTA)

Case number:
23-50040
The applicant has applied to the Canadian Transportation Agency (Agency) for a licence to operate a scheduled international service, large aircraft, in accordance with the Arrangement between the Government of Canada and the Government of Iceland, set out in an agreed minute signed on July 11, 2007 (Arrangement)."

https://otc-cta.gc.ca/eng/ruling/a-2023-209

That would be awesome. Iceland is great, and a great stopover for the rest of Europe.

I’m actually surprised that IcelandAir never tried YYC - I know they did YEG for a while, but I think Calgary could’ve done much better for them.

[Lubicon]

Originally Posted by Bigtime

Hmm, YYC-KEF in the future?

"Application by WestJet (applicant) pursuant to subsection 69(1) of the Canada Transportation Act, SC 1996, c 10 (CTA)

Case number:
23-50040
The applicant has applied to the Canadian Transportation Agency (Agency) for a licence to operate a scheduled international service, large aircraft, in accordance with the Arrangement between the Government of Canada and the Government of Iceland, set out in an agreed minute signed on July 11, 2007 (Arrangement)."

https://otc-cta.gc.ca/eng/ruling/a-2023-209

That's almost the same distance as Hawaii from YYC. That's a long flight on a narrow body. I did HUX this winter (6 hours) and that was long enough, this is another 500nm. I know the Max8 has the range, it just feels cramped on such a long flight.

[Bigtime]

Originally Posted by Lubicon

That's almost the same distance as Hawaii from YYC. That's a long flight on a narrow body. I did HUX this winter (6 hours) and that was long enough, this is another 500nm. I know the Max8 has the range, it just feels cramped on such a long flight.

True, but these longer flights on the single-aisle aircraft are becoming more and more common. I did YYC-OGG on the MAX 8 two years ago. It was ok, but I was definitely missing the widebody feel.

[Lubicon]

Originally Posted by Bigtime

True, but these longer flights on the single-aisle aircraft are becoming more and more common. I did YYC-OGG on the MAX 8 two years ago. It was ok, but I was definitely missing the widebody feel.

Yeah, almost as bad as the plague of ULCC's are becoming .

Seeing lots of the A321XLR's being deployed on trans Atlantic routes now to the east coast of North America. They're good for opening gup more point to point service or increasing frequency but man they just feel cramped compared to widebodies even though seats and everything are the same.

[bizaro86]

Originally Posted by Lubicon

Yeah, almost as bad as the plague of ULCC's are becoming .

Seeing lots of the A321XLR's being deployed on trans Atlantic routes now to the east coast of North America. They're good for opening gup more point to point service or increasing frequency but man they just feel cramped compared to widebodies even though seats and everything are the same.

I don't know. Sure a wide body is nicer, but I'd take the non-stop narrowbody compared to connecting to through a hub to ride a widebody every time.

[Amethyst]

Originally Posted by Bigtime

Hmm, YYC-KEF in the future?

"Application by WestJet (applicant) pursuant to subsection 69(1) of the Canada Transportation Act, SC 1996, c 10 (CTA)

Case number:
23-50040
The applicant has applied to the Canadian Transportation Agency (Agency) for a licence to operate a scheduled international service, large aircraft, in accordance with the Arrangement between the Government of Canada and the Government of Iceland, set out in an agreed minute signed on July 11, 2007 (Arrangement)."

https://otc-cta.gc.ca/eng/ruling/a-2023-209

How long do these type of applications take? Iceland is on my list and a direct flight from Calgary could bump it up in consideration. Do you think it could be a possibility for summer 2024, or would it be farther off, if approved?

[calgarygeologist]

Originally Posted by Bigtime

Hmm, YYC-KEF in the future?

"Application by WestJet (applicant) pursuant to subsection 69(1) of the Canada Transportation Act, SC 1996, c 10 (CTA)

Case number:
23-50040
The applicant has applied to the Canadian Transportation Agency (Agency) for a licence to operate a scheduled international service, large aircraft, in accordance with the Arrangement between the Government of Canada and the Government of Iceland, set out in an agreed minute signed on July 11, 2007 (Arrangement)."

https://otc-cta.gc.ca/eng/ruling/a-2023-209

There is also a determination issued this year for a license to fly to Hong Kong and Singapore.

[Bigtime]

WestJet has removed London Gatwick from their schedule for next year. Freeing up a 787 frame, so the question is what do they do with it? Bump up frequency on another route (Narita?) or add a new destination?

[Weitz]

Wrong thread.

[Lubicon]

Originally Posted by Bigtime

WestJet has removed London Gatwick from their schedule for next year. Freeing up a 787 frame, so the question is what do they do with it? Bump up frequency on another route (Narita?) or add a new destination?

Would like to see them increase frequencies on Rome and Barcelona. Or Narita I suppose.

[Bigtime]

And here is one that we thought was coming, YYC-Reykjavík starting May 15 next year. 4x weekly. I believe this will be served with the 737 MAX.

https://twitter.com/user/status/1724544372710973916

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by CroFlames

Frankfurt to Whitehorse existed? Lol.

I swear you can find a German tourist in every single nook and cranny of the globe. They sure are a well traveled people.

Just a little Lebensraum

[Lubicon]

Originally Posted by Bigtime

WestJet has removed London Gatwick from their schedule for next year. Freeing up a 787 frame, so the question is what do they do with it? Bump up frequency on another route (Narita?) or add a new destination?

Originally Posted by Bigtime

And here is one that we thought was coming, YYC-Reykjavík starting May 15 next year. 4x weekly. I believe this will be served with the 737 MAX.

https://twitter.com/user/status/1724544372710973916

Interesting that they seem to be looking at adding LGW from Halifax and St Johns (both good moves) while cutting LGW from YYC. But it also doesn't seem to make sense to have both of LHR and LGW. LHR seems more lucrative but LGW is a leisure destination which seems to be the focus now so I'm not sure what to think.

And I see potentially DUB and Edinburgh from YYZ? Assuming that would also be on the MAX8.

[bizaro86]

Originally Posted by Bigtime

WestJet has removed London Gatwick from their schedule for next year. Freeing up a 787 frame, so the question is what do they do with it? Bump up frequency on another route (Narita?) or add a new destination?

Looks like they're holding the Gatwick slot with 737 flights from the east coast (Halifax/St Johns)

Does the 737Max have enough range for YYC-KEF? If so I'm sure they do that, and then use the 787 elsewhere.

[bizaro86]

Originally Posted by Lubicon

Interesting that they seem to be looking at adding LGW from Halifax and St Johns (both good moves) while cutting LGW from YYC. But it also doesn't seem to make sense to have both of LHR and LGW. LHR seems more lucrative but LGW is a leisure destination which seems to be the focus now so I'm not sure what to think.

And I see potentially DUB and Edinburgh from YYZ? Assuming that would also be on the MAX8.

London slots are worth a lot of money. If they aren't flying it from Calgary it makes sense to fly it from somewhere else to keep the asset. I'm sure if they could trade it for an LHR to not run a split operation they'd do that.

[Maritime Q-Scout]

Kind of weird to not just cut but slaughter your network in the East but offer flights from YHZ and YYT to LGW.

There's going to be zero connecting traffic.

[Bigtime]

Originally Posted by bizaro86

Looks like they're holding the Gatwick slot with 737 flights from the east coast (Halifax/St Johns)

Does the 737Max have enough range for YYC-KEF? If so I'm sure they do that, and then use the 787 elsewhere.

Yes, the Max can handle YYC-KEF no problem.