MacLac
Senior Member
Ahhhh….and now it makes sense….another MOU by the AB govt. Saddlebags Smitty buying the route…..all good…glad the province is getting it to be honest
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- Thread starter Daveography
- Start date
Oilers99
Active Member
I imagine Calgary will get a Delhi flight at some point. It makes sense for Westjet to do that. I am surprised they chose the Seoul flight over going to Delhi first.
ABAviationFan
New Member
What did we pay to BUY the route??
MacLac
Senior Member
Stay on the YYC forum bro.......
Oilers99
Active Member
I know its shitty that these flights are going through Calgary but I still think of it is an overall win. The amount of direct flights that are through Calgary is a pretty big win. It's unfortunate we don't get the same in Edmonton but at the end of the day we can easily take advantage of Calgary's wins.
ABAviationFan
New Member
Why
blue12
Active Member
Another MOU? I don't doubt there were some talks in private with Etihad and the Alberta Government but nowhere have they advertised an MOU being signed. Launching this was a sovereign decision from EY.... and an on character one for them too, given they've been targeting more "secondary" markets recently such as CLT or LUX, which YYC fits right in with.
I know it really sucks that YEG wasn't the one getting this service but we've got to think rationally. Not every good thing for our neighbour is inherently an attack on Edmonton. If I was an executive at Etihad, I hate to say it, but I too would be picking YYC not YEG.
MakeYEGGreatAgain
New Member
So AC is bringing back flights from Calgary to various Mexico destinations, WestJet going to Sao Paolo and Etihad makes this announcement - all in a matter of one week. + Fairmont's second hotel property in Calgary.
YEG - we have new seasonal service to Kamloops.
There you have it! Calgary has eaten Edmonton's breakfast, lunch and dinner -
YEG - we have new seasonal service to Kamloops.
There you have it! Calgary has eaten Edmonton's breakfast, lunch and dinner -
Oilers99
Active Member
Whether people want to believe it or not, yes Calgary has eaten our lunch and we are second rate in comparison.
yeggator
Senior Member
I think this strengthens the argument for building HSR between our Downtowns and airports. People complain that it will kill YEG, but our airport is already not doing well and the local business community and travellers have to suffer a 3h drive or a short-haul flight and layover that’s just as long and really uncomfortable. Once you build the bullet train, our airport will likely still struggle, but you can still tell people who want to visit for tourism and meetings/conferences, move here, and set up businesses that we’re a 60 or 90-minute train ride from flights to several continents. From my experience travelling to Italy, I can definitely say that getting on a bullet train after a tiring long-haul flight is a much less miserable experience than rushing through customs or dealing with a long layover to fly on a cramped plane. Or imagine being a tourist trying to figure out car rentals.
We kind of have a chicken and egg problem right now where we struggle to attract businesses and tourism because of our airport’s lack of connectivity, but it’s hard to build up that connectivity without the former. Like you said, we should just make it easier for us to take advantage of Calgary’s wins, use that to develop our own local economy and incentivize more flight options through sheer demand at YEG.
I’m also skeptical that our airport will die completely. Edmonton’s 2 million future residents would likely pick a 60-minute bullet train over the YEG-YYC drive/flight and layover, but they’ll still pick a direct flight over a train connection. Meanwhile, YYC will eventually run into capacity issues. Might improve airline competition too.
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yeggator
Senior Member
Ignore him bruh. We’re all Edmonton boosters here, but MacLac has a weird and unproductive Calgary Derangement Syndrome that’s honestly annoying.
MacLac
Senior Member
You're siding with the brand new poster from YYC over me? Haha!!!! Ok.....go for it
AntonK
Active Member
That's kind of what I was saying. They don't have to be wide-bodies, but anything with enough range to do London. I'm confident we'll get a London flight at some point, it could be AC or WS, I don't know but there's enough demand to get one, it's a matter of some spare frames.AC Air Canada new Airbus A321XLR planeshave the range to do Edmonton YEG to London UK
/ Europe .
But they’re basing the A321XLR’s out of Toronto YYZ /Montreal YUL 1st to do transatlantic flights/ few domestic rotations to Vancouver YVR & Calgary YYC.
AntonK
Active Member
They've always had a geographical advantage for flights and tourism due to the Rockies, it's one of those unfortunate situations. Maybe we look at HSR as a way around it? A one hour train trip to YYC would be the equivalent of driving from St Albert to YEG. YYC could kind of be used as Edmonton's airport? It's not ideal, but I see YEG doing okay for domestic with slow steady increases, and maybe some trans-border increases but not much more.Whether people want to believe it or not, yes Calgary has eaten our lunch and we are second rate in comparison.
David A
Senior Member
WestJet seems like an abusive partner that vacillates between occasionally giving us more service and cutting it back. To some extent I get that they favour where they are based, almost every company does pay more attention to where they are headquartered.
I realize it is discouraging now for Edmonton, between our provincial government and the airline both are trying to boost or prop up what I feel is a somewhat artificial hub at our expense, but I do remain hopeful we will get better service. It may even be from WestJet, but probably it will be some other airline. Heck maybe even Air Canada will wake up and realize we exist. There is increasing competition in Canada now with newer airlines, even though the duopoly still dominates.