Edmonton International Airport (EIA/YEG)

[MacLac]

Screams of desparation

WestJet rolls out BNPL option with Flex Pay

WestJet has chosen Flex Pay, Upgrade’s Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) solution, to provide flexible payment options to travellers when booking flights. Customers can now use Flex Pay to spread the cost of their flights into monthly installments.

www.paxnews.com

 

[IanO]

I honestly try and fly Porter as much as possible - the experience is above and beyond what is offered by WS or even AC. If Flair flies to the same location and is at least 25% cheaper than Porter, I'll go with them.

Porter is great; be sure to check out their CC partner options. Just signed up for their World Elite MC and it has some serious benefits and points for joining!

 

[Offworld]

Great! And I'll still be purchasing Porter and Air Canada flights whenever possible.

Good luck with AC. They're painting Edmonton red with their Rouge program, and Rouge has garbage seat pitches just like Westjet tried to push on the public.

 

[Markyeg]

I like Porter but the problem in YEG is that they only fly East. It would be my airline of choice if they flew direct to Vancouver, Victoria and Kelowna from here.

 

[IanO]

They are staring YEG-YYC-YVR (assuming maybe Vic too) right away/Q1.

 

[IanO]

Holy moly security was busy this morning at 640am; lined up past the swipe gates a little even.

 

[Markyeg]

They are staring YEG-YYC-YVR (assuming maybe Vic too) right away/Q1.

If it’s starting, nothing is bookable yet. Looked up two random Friday departure/Sunday returns in April and nothing shows up for Porter on either their website or Google flights.

 

[Windermere]

Looks like United will bring back ORD flights this summer - limited frequency and limited time range. Came up while booking a flight. I hope that is not a glitch!

Wednesdays and Saturdays... the same two days WestJet has scheduled.

 

[MacLac]

Holy moly security was busy this morning at 640am; lined up past the swipe gates a little even.

Same thing happens to me last Thursday…same time……only 3 lines open out of 7?

 

[Ned]

Interesting Reddit post from January 2025 which is legitimate. Edmonton Airports approached Kumamoto Prefecture with visits in 2023, 2024 and an upcoming visit at the time of writing for January 2025. The plan at that time was to test viability with a 2026 charter with the potential of launching scheduled flights in 2027. One of the reasons quoted by Edmonton Airports for the exploration of a connection with the area is the opening of a semiconductor factory in the area. Does anyone know if there is anything more happening behind the scenes with this and how many months in advance would a charter flight typically be announced?

https://www.reddit.com/r/Edmonton/comments/1hzt3zb/possible_future_direct_flights_between_edmonton

 

[blue12]

Interesting Reddit post from January 2025 which is legitimate. Edmonton Airports approached Kumamoto Prefecture with visits in 2023, 2024 and an upcoming visit at the time of writing for January 2025. The plan at that time was to test viability with a 2026 charter with the potential of launching scheduled flights in 2027. One of the reasons quoted by Edmonton Airports for the exploration of a connection with the area is the opening of a semiconductor factory in the area. Does anyone know if there is anything more happening behind the scenes with this and how many months in advance would a charter flight typically be announced?

https://www.reddit.com/r/Edmonton/comments/1hzt3zb/possible_future_direct_flights_between_edmonton

It was a total joke, never had a shot at ever happening. The first time I saw it, I thought it actually was a joke. Just a big PR move.
YEG can definitely sustain a few weekly flights to Japan, but to Kumamoto? Not at all. From the Kumamoto end, a flight to Edmonton before any major North American hub makes less than zero sense.
Plus, neither cities are particularly huge players in the semiconductor market so business traffic couldn't even slightly sustain this route.

 

[IanO]

Probably picked up by Calgary to compliment their NRT flight.

 

[MacLac]

Wednesdays and Saturdays... the same two days WestJet has scheduled.

Sounds like we’re getting UA ORD back and WJ/SLC - didn’t know we lost SLC

 

[IanO]

I cannot stress enough the importance of ORD to our business community.

SLC was neat, but I just didn't see it sticking around and am regretting not taking it to see some hockey while it lasted.

 

[MakeYEGGreatAgain]

^SLC is returning also twice a week for the summer.

At this point, you take what you can get even if the frequencies are less than ideal.