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Edmonton International Airport (EIA/YEG)

CaptainBL said:
In an effort to reach airport management and the Board on my personal concerns over YEG's continued decline in air service since well before the pandemic, I have penned and sent the letter below. I am sharing with this forum and encourage others to reach out as well.

I would like to begin by thanking the Board and management for your service and commitment to ensuring the health and safety of all passengers during the pandemic. I have utilized the airport on a few occasions recently and truly feel that my health and safety were the utmost priority.

I am writing to the Board and management to flag my concern with the decline of airline relationships and key global routes that service EIA and its customers. This concern has been negatively impacting the greater Edmonton region for several years even before COVID-19 and has disadvantageously positioned EIA and the Edmonton region at risk of not reaching its full economic recovery potential in a post-pandemic and increasingly competitive world.

In EIA’s Airport City Fact Sheet, EIA notes that air service is “at the core of our business”. While I acknowledge positive strides have been made such as the retention of KLM to Amsterdam and the establishment of Flair’s operational base, I am more concerned than ever about EIA’s emerging relegation to a large regional and LCC airport. This disappointing trend is evident when considering the following:

  • From 2015 to 2019, annual passenger totals remained relatively flat fluctuating around ~8.0MM passengers, yet transborder passengers declined (21%) from 1.2MM to 0.97MM and international passengers declined (15%) from 526K to 450K while domestic passengers increased 13% from 5.5MM to 6.2MM
    • For perspective, the combined decline in transborder and international passengers (333K) was more than offset by the increase in domestic passengers (710K)
  • In that same time frame the airport lost key global air service connections to LAX and DFW on American Airlines; SFO, ORD, EWR on United Airlines; LHR on Air Canada, SEA on Delta Airlines; and experienced reductions in seats or frequencies to other key global routes
  • Unprosperous public relationships with airline partners over the past several years demonstrating unconstructive developments or outlooks
    • Air Canada Vice President Derek Vanstone’s 2013 comments regarding disappointment towards EIA with regards to the LHR route and Icelandair before canceling the route in 2015
    • Air Canada’s reference to Edmonton as a secondary city in 2019 concerning A220 use
    • American Airlines June 2021 announcement of 80 years of service in Canada with commitments to continued or expanded air service in Montreal, Toronto, Calgary, Vancouver, Halifax, Quebec City, and Ottawa
    • Delta Airlines withdrawal from Edmonton after several decades of route service to MSP
    • Air Canada’s lack of long-term commitment to key domestic routes such as Saskatoon, Regina, Kelowna, or Victoria, for example
I acknowledge that I am not privy to non-public discussion and the above is based on public information and observations; however, as a concerned frequent user of EIA and by virtue of the declining state of air service at EIA, a now supporter of connecting in Toronto, Vancouver, and Calgary, I would very much appreciate the opportunity to learn how the Board and management plan to strategically position the airport to reverse the decline in air service and improve relationships with our biggest airline partners, especially Air Canada. Additionally, I encourage the Board and management to recognize the bigger picture impact my concern has on the Edmonton regions future post-pandemic economic development.
Click to expand...
 
Thanks for sharing. Well done in summarizing that recent history at EIA and highlighting the concerns many in the Edmonton region feel.

I read there is a petition to get a direct flight from YYC to India and that such petitions if enough signatures can be gathered at least prompt the airlines to further investigate such routes. Of course Edmonton's population and demographics are being used to support this YYC flight.

And as Edmontonian I think I would rather fly through Toronto than Calgary if I'm going to have one stop - breaks up a long flight a bit more.
 
Likewise, if traveling across the Pacific it would make more sense if traveling from Edmonton to connect in Vancouver rather than Calgary. Also generally both have more choices and connections than the mini Hub YYC.
 
2 days in a row they’ve been taking soil samples of the now defunct Jets 2Go parking lot…the one across from the Costco
 
Meanwhile in Calgary

S22:

AC FRA 1x daily
AC LHR 1x daily
WS LGW 1x daily
WS CDG 1x daily
KL AMS 1x daily
EW FRA Up to 5x weekly
WS FCO 3x weekly
WS DUB 3x weekly
DE FRA 3x weekly
WK ZRH 2x weekly
 
occidentalcapital said:
Yawn. Out of that list, the only things that are new are WestJet's flights. Flair has a lower cost structure than Westjet and will eclipse Westjet at some point in the future. In the meantime fly KLM from YEG and let's see what else pops up as things recover.
Click to expand...
I just flew Flair direct to YKF roundtrip for $160 and it was great. My friend from Ottawa will likely be flying direct on Flair to visit for the FIFA games in November since it's quite cheap right now as well. Low cost flights do attract people and I am bullish on Flair (especially if they can get some tropical destinations lined up over winter at some point!).
 
From Flair's Press Release:

Edmonton Base Opening in December
In December, Flair will be opening a base in Edmonton with the addition of a new aircraft and adding new nonstop service
to Hollywood-Burbank, Las Vegas, Palm Springs and Phoenix-Mesa. The spring addition of routes to Nashville, San
Francisco, Comox, Regina, Montreal, Winnipeg and Saskatoon will join the nonstop flights Flair currently provides to 7
domestic destinations from Edmonton.
“Grab a guitar and get ready to go! Edmonton loves country music and we're excited to have Nashville joining our list of
non-stop destinations. All new and added service supports our recovery which is important for both our business
community and leisure travellers. I want to thank Flair for adding these American destinations along with significant
increases in service for several Canadian cities. I'm confident our community will embrace these flights and this increased
service from Flair," said Tom Ruth, President and CEO, Edmonton International Airport.
 
Some additional details - see bold parts:

New Routes
USA
• Toronto – Nashville (YYZ-BNA) - 2x weekly starting April 14, 2022
• Toronto – Denver (YYZ-DEN) - 3x weekly starting April 15, 2022
• Edmonton – Nashville (YEG-BNA) - 2x weekly starting April 14, 2022
• Edmonton – San Francisco (YEG-SFO) - 2x weekly starting April 14, 2022
• Vancouver – San Francisco (YVR-SFO) - 3x weekly May 17, 2022

CANADA

• Calgary – Comox (YYC-YQQ) - 3x weekly starting March 29, 2022
• Edmonton – Comox (YEG-YQQ) - 3x weekly starting March 29, 2022
• Edmonton – Regina (YEG-YQR) - 2x weekly starting April 14, 2022
• Edmonton – Montreal (YEG-YUL) - 3x weekly starting April 15, 2022
• Edmonton – Winnipeg (YEG-YWG) - 3x weekly starting April 15, 2022
• Edmonton – Saskatoon (YEG-YXE) - 3x weekly starting April 15, 2022
• Toronto – Victoria (YYZ-YYJ) - 1x weekly starting May 7, 2022
• Vancouver – Kelowna (YVR-YLW) - 3x weekly starting May 16, 2022
• Kelowna – Victoria (YLW–YYJ) - 3x weekly starting May 16, 2022

source: https://storage.googleapis.com/flyf...air_Airlines_grows_schedule_33_5c278c55a0.pdf
 
I'm banking on Flair becoming a fairly large company within the next half decade or so.
Love the new destinations and, for me, the only things missing are a direct flight to the US Mid-West and East Coast.
I don't have delusions that we'll ever have as many flight destinations as YYC, for obvious reasons, but there's strong evidence that we could support at least one 2x/week flight to ORD or MSP and one 2x/week flight to LGD, JFK or EWR.
 
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