Originally Posted by
StevenSeagalFan
The only reason AS even had that big of an operation at BLI previously was because Canadians would avoid the high cost of tickets in YVR and make the drive to BLI. Now that fares have come down in Canada due to low cost carriers coming to fruition and legacy Canadian airlines tweaking pricing, the Canadians don’t need to go to BLI to fly as much anymore.
Maybe not as much, but BLI still reports 56% of pax are Canadian in the year ending in Q3 2023. But yes, Abbotsford (YXX, right across the border) has done extremely well, by total pax numbers over the past few years (though none of its commercial flights are US-bound anymore), and YVR has more low-cost-carrier competition than before. Still crossing fingers for more AS flights out of BLI, but earlier AS nonstop destinations like Las Vegas, Portland and Hawaii are likely not going to return due to various factors, including the flights AS has added about an hour south from PAE when it opened to commercial passenger jet service five years ago. Hopeful, though.