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^Nice to see and both important connections for us.
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rdnewsnow.com

Red Deer Regional Airport expansion set to take flight

Alberta's government has announced a $7.5-million grant to help expand infrastructure and services at Red Deer...
rdnewsnow.com rdnewsnow.com


Province is helping Red Deer airport expand to accommodate low cost carriers.

This will be a challenge for both YYC and YEG, as some traffic could get siphoned off, but I would say it is a much bigger threat to YYC than YEG given Red Deer Airport's location south of Red Deer.
 
With Fort Mac and Grande Prairie having operational airports, I think Red Deer could benefit from expansion. General aviation could see the greatest benefit, but I think that there could be routes like Red Deer-Kelowna or Red Deer-Saskatoon as well as the Alberta routes. Red Deer sometimes has different weather patterns than Edmonton or Calgary.
 
I don't think that YQF will make a go of it. GP and FtMack are further away from a major centre. and even they have a hard time competing with people that drive south. I have flown into both airports numerous times and still find it is best just to drive some days. They have dedicated travelers that need air connections.
Red Deer is to close to YYC and YEG. AC didn't get anything going before. I think this is just the UCP showing the base they are thinking of them.
 
Airboy said:
I don't think that YQF will make a go of it. GP and FtMack are further away from a major centre. and even they have a hard time competing with people that drive south. I have flown into both airports numerous times and still find it is best just to drive some days. They have dedicated travelers that need air connections.
Red Deer is to close to YYC and YEG. AC didn't get anything going before. I think this is just the UCP showing the base they are thinking of them.
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You nailed it.
 
occidentalcapital said:
They are trying to position as a low-cost secondary airport (i.e. for travellers from Calgary, Edmonton).
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Not going to happen. As I indicated above. We just don't have the population or the desire to drive 1.5 hours for slightly lower cost. And I don't think there is enough population in Red Deer to cover the costs. That is a very small catchment area.
 
This article points to a future that we were trying to get across to the former mayor and council when we were talking about repurposing the Coliseum site as a VTOL Hub and a major transit hub with LRT, buses, and other ground formats. It could work in conjunction with EIA and airports at smaller centres across central and northern Alberta -- feeding into business aviation, pleasure craft and tourism (the possibility of opening and advancing countless tourism locations would lift the entire Alberta economy in that sector). I could see VTOL hubs (primary destination) at Coliseum, EIA, Red Deer, Grande Prairie, Ft. McMurray, and Jasper, with minor hubs at Cold Lake, Lloydminster, Camrose and other similar-sized locales plus tourist destination sites at many of Alberta's lakes and geographical wonders.
www.seattletimes.com

Flying cabs steal thunder at air show as clean future beckons

Electric flying taxis took center stage at the Singapore Airshow as airlines invested in short, battery-powered hops to spur future growth.
www.seattletimes.com www.seattletimes.com
 
Airboy said:
Not going to happen. As I indicated above. We just don't have the population or the desire to drive 1.5 hours for slightly lower cost. And I don't think there is enough population in Red Deer to cover the costs. That is a very small catchment area.
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I am guessing there is about a population of 250,000 people within 45 minutes of the Red Deer Airport. That alone could probably handle a couple low cost weekly flights to Vancouver and/or Toronto and maybe a seasonal 1 weekly sun destination but the problem is the alternatives with the frequencies at YEG and YYC.

I don't think YEG and YYC make this completely unviable though as they could get creative and offer competitive advantages like free parking. It is a challenge as it would be heavily weighted as an origination airport. If you market yourself as an airport that can offer flights for x% less and offer free parking that savings could add up and make a family from Airdrie consider driving the hour north rather than the 20 minutes south.

Don't think it will ever become a major draw away from YEG or YYC but I do think within the next 5 years with the abundance of ULCCs (Swoop, Lynx, Flair, Canada Jetlines) making a go of it they will be getting creative and Red Deer could benefit from that opportunity.
 
It is common in europe for some of the low-cost airports to be 1 even 2 hours outside the cities they purport to serve. e.g. Memmingen airport 110 km outside of Munich marketed as a secondary airport for Munich. Numerous other examples.

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occidentalcapital said:
It is common in europe for some of the low-cost airports to be 1 even 2 hours outside the cities they purport to serve. e.g. Memmingen airport 110 km outside of Munich marketed as a secondary airport for Munich. Numerous other examples.

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Yes but that’s not a great comparison since Munich’s metro area has a larger population than Alberta and their main airport ha 47 million passengers in 2019. Edmonton already serves as a low cost hub for Flair and Swoop, another an hour and a half south wouldn’t make any sense.
 
I'm not concerned with YEG's viability, I agree that YEG is poised for major growth and is already offering a lot of destinations for travellers at a low cost. This is a big reversal from just a few years ago when YEG was almost always more expensive to fly from. Just noting that Red Deer is trying to compete. I think YEG will become a bigger and bigger draw over time from travellers from all over Alberta, including Calgary, if ULCCs continue to grow here. Already you can get to more provinces from YEG than YYC, and now often at lower prices (which is novel, and very welcome).
 
Westjet is going all-in on the leisure market by buying Sunwing:

News release

Westjet maintains its headquarters in Calgary, while the Sunwing will remain in Toronto (with a regional office in Laval).

An interesting note from the release:

The WestJet Group of companies will expand to include Sunwing Airlines. This will add increased capacity, dedicating otherwise seasonal aircraft to operate year-round in Canada, instead of Sunwing supplementing seasonal demand with imported aircraft, which translates into more jobs for Canadians. This acquisition will improve the WestJet Group's ability to offer more affordable fares by immediately expanding its low-cost footprint in Canada.
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