ridefar

Please don't indulge in inductive reasoning with respect to what I like or don't like.

My point was mostly that YYC is a corporation. Having loyalty for an airport is ridiculous. To my way of thinking, even more so than having loyalty to AC. At least AC returns some benefits.

Having said that, I think I am relatively sanguine about what is good and bad about Calgary. And traveling for 15 years has certainly made me a much more proud Canadian. So... I am a bad Calgarian because my favourite city is Montreal? Seriously? Thinking that there is equivalence between having pride in your country (which is an ideal, a constitution, a history, a collection of people and beliefs) and pride in your home airport is ridiculous. Sorry, Stranger, I respect your posts here and I respect you but I think that notion is silly.

Stranger

I don't believe I did.

I thought I had already agreed on that. Did you miss it?

Again, i quite agree on misplaced pride being silly. Not sure if you read what I said above...

However I disagree when you claim YYC as an airport is poor.

tcook052

Let's return this discussion to it being about the new YYC terminal and leave the debating about Calgary as a city for the Canada forum.

tcok052
AC forum moderator

lespoir

I participated the second wave of the trial runs at the YYC new international terminal today, and was really impressed by the new check-in hall, as well as the arrival hall immigration plus the luggage pick-up area, although less impressed by the gate waiting areas, particularly the D concourse.

While talking to the Air Canada checkin desk, I was told that for all three international flights, London-Heathrow, Frankfurt, and Tokyo-Narita, the way to use the existing domestic MLL is to go back to the C concourse to pass the security and use the MLL. There is a back-alley corridor that you can use to go through to the D concourse and reach to the Gate 70/71. This back-alley corridor is a one-way connection from the MLL to the gates, with someone checking your boarding pass. But if you use the international departure security to reach the D concourse first, you will not be allowed to use this corridor to reach the MLL.

Not sure what the long term solution (years down the road), but sounds like an inconvenience anyway. I hope AC allows us to use the Aspire Lounge in the D concourse.

YEGTigger

That's good to know. I normally transit through YVR to the US because of how bad the YYC transborder area is, and I never use the YVR connections hall because there is no NEXUS, and the lines are often long for connecting passengers.

rehoult

There is a GE machine at YVR TB connections now. Still no priority security though.

canadiancow

Or NEXUS security. How dare they ask that I remove my shoes!

YEGTigger

Good to know. I had just given up on it.

muskoka

I've searched to find out where the lounges will be located in the new YYC Intl/US terminal will be located. Cant find any info. I assume there will be a MLL. Also wondering if there will be a Plaza Premium lounge as well as I use both. Anyone know?
(It opens Oct 31! Yahoo!)

yyznomad

A quick search by thread title using the word "international" yields the following as the the third item returned in the list:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/air-c...t-31-16-a.html

The answer is no.

lespoir

There will be no lounge services at the USA departure gates, as it is now.

For NRT/FRA/LHR departures, you need to go back to the domestic departure at the Concourse C, and clear the security there to use the existing MLL. Then use the air-side walkway to return the International departure at Concourse D, to board your flights. When exiting through the air-side walkway, there will be someone to allow you through. It seems to be a one-way traffic (not confirmed).

The bottomline is that there will be no dedicated lounge in the new terminal, either D or E.

There is an Aspire Lounge at the Concourse D, and not sure if AC makes arrangements to allow AC passengers to access it.

Stranger

Sounds unlikely since they provided for access to the existing MLL.

BTW I can live with that.

cur

wow brand new billion dollar terminal that's a year late and already above capacity.

wow.

they'll prob keep one flight at the b/c terminal.

this and no dining options more sophisticated than tim hortons and chili's.



yyc isn't a corporation. it's a "not-for-profit" old boys club run by the same inter-generational losers who have no experience--nor accountability--beyond yyc itself.

that's why the airport has this absolutely useless parallel runway (that ws' encore planes land on), and why the airport was able to extort a free 6 lane freeway and tunnel from taxpayers with $0 spent on their end.

corporations are at least accountable to someone. i guarantee you there is the same level of anti-competitive/protectionist/cronyist behaviour that is seen with yvr and its airside catering situation, something even the canadian "competition bureau" took notice of.

Stranger

Above capacity? Really?

cur

ok i must be missing or misunderstanding something because i read WR Cage's post re gate 70/71 to mean that ac only has one widebody gate that has any access to its mll, and ac has had two overseas flights that depart roughly the same time at least since canadian air folded. which definitely sounds like the type of problem yyc would impose onto itself, judging how they still can't construct security checkpoints without lineups down a hallway until they finally redid the ac concourse last year