YXUFlyboy

AC does

And it would seem WS is trying to direct more traffic thru YYC.

Plumber

Sometimes, fares to Tokyo from the east (ie YOW) are way cheaper through YYC than through YYZ or YVR.....sometimes the YYZ and YVR flights to Tokyo have very little availability in Business, yet the YYC flight is wide open (thus leading to availability of P or Z fares).

TemboOne

When the YYC-NRT flight (AC9) originated in YYZ it was usually quite busy in all classes. I think the idea of a break and the ability to continue on to NRT on the same plane appealed to some folks. We tried it a couple of times - then the service ended; pity!

Adam Smith

I can't speak to HU to PEK, but others have made some interesting comments.

As for AM to MEX, could be for connections to elsewhere in LatAm as suggested, or it could be due to increased demand for O/D YYC/MEX due to the number of Canadian energy companies looking to do business down there. Or a combination of the two.

The fact that AC has not only continued but increased service on this route suggests it's doing just fine. I know an SD who flies it regularly and she says most of the J cabin are businesspeople flying between YYC and TYO.

I won't bother to quote your multiple hyperbolic posts, but do you realize that YYZ, YUL and YVR all charge AIFs to passengers with domestic connections over 4 hours?

And, OMG, it's the same on both AC and WS!

I'm not going to waste my time looking to see whether they also charge AIFs for international connections over 24 hours, because I'm sure it will generate the same result.

Please, get your facts straight before you get so outraged.

TemboOne

I'm not sure what posts you are referring to - as I was responding to the OP comment regarding AC not treating YYC as a hub in the same class as YYZ or YVR. I did however refer - correctly - to the fact that YYC charges the same $30 AIF fee to passengers connecting between two short-haul flights within Canada - as to someone connecting to NRT! I believe that the other airports you refer to charge AIFs on a sliding scale proportinate to the point of orign and destination.

And for the record, I have never personally connected between flights in YYC other than passing through on AC9/10. As such I certainly am not personally outraged, but I do feel for those who have no option but to connect through YYC!

Diabeetus

If I needed to fly a connecting flight, airport-wise, I would rather have to connect at YVR than YYC.

And I'm from YYC.

YXUFlyboy

For the record, I never said that. It is very clear that YYC is AC's smallest hub and it makes sense why it is. My point was (if you read the post) was that YYC got 1/30 new international destinations in 2 years and thought it was odd that even as the smallest hub the new routes were so out of whack especially with other carriers expanding in YYC.

FWIW I also feel sorry for all the people stuck transiting YYZ and have no other option

YXUFlyboy

LOL I have admittedly haven't connected thru YYC in years since I was YXU based, but do think the whole "I have to walk a lot" thing was overblown.

Diabeetus

The walking distance thing is overblown. It's no worse than walking distances encountered for transborder and international connections at YVR/YUL/YYZ. And those distances are nothing compared to major international airports.

There's a large population in Calgary that gets upset if they can't go door-to-door in a 5000+ lb vehicle and/or have to walk more than 100m.

YXUFlyboy

One other thought on this - does anyone know if the capacity is increasing on existing routes? I didn't consider that. For example, FRA and LHR are on 777 aircraft (both 77L and 77W) in the summer at least.

wolvie007

it all depends for me. Ever do the fun intl to dom connection at YVR when arriving at gate 48 and leaving from gate 45? It is a very long walk from 48 to Cdn customs only to have to walk the entire distance back to dom gates. I'll take YYCs transfer over that any day

gcashin

Being YYC based, I think AC has pretty a pretty good route network for domestic and overseas destinations given that market. Can't really say the same for their YYC-US or YYC-Sun destinations routes, which are pretty minimal IMO.

A few notable gaps or areas where AC lags:
YYC-YYT (WS route, but seems to be lots of AC traffic on this route)
YYC-IAH is very poorly served by AC (CRA on a 4+ hr flight while both UA and WS offer mainline service)
YYC-DFW (realize this is AA/WS served, but it's a big market with no Star Alliance service)
Most UA hubs are poorly served by AC or not at all (although this may be a conscious decision)
Many U.S. leisure destinations have little service on AC but are well served on WS - Palm Springs, Hawaii, San Diego, schedules are limited for Phoenix/Vegas
Sun Destinations - Costa Rica, Mexico, Belize

In general, I find AC lags WS out of YYC as far as service to the U.S. and Sun Destinations. That being said, many of these would be potential rouge destinations, so I guess we need to be careful what we wish for.

From what I see, YYC still has a very strong business travel and leisure market and is still very heavy with Super Elites, even with the oil downturn.

YXUFlyboy

Most of my travel is domestic/TB. Domestic I agree it's well served. TB is pretty crappy; I almost always fly UA because if I want to fly anywhere east of Nevada I have to transit YYZ on AC.

Adam Smith

I'm referring to posts #72 and #75 where you complained with many exclamation marks! about the YYC AIF for connecting passengers.

Here is the reality. Your original complaint related to AIFs for connecting passengers.

1. Technically, a "connection" is under 4 hours domestic or 24 hours international.
2. The only Canadian airport that charges an AIF on tickets with a connection, as defined above, is YYZ ($4/pax).
3. YYZ, YUL, YVR, YYC and YEG all charge AIFs on connections that do not meet the above requirement. I imagine the rest of the airports with AIFs would as well.

Now you're saying the problem is the YYC AIF is the same regardless of where one is flying. That's a different complaint, but again, here's the reality: every major airport charges the same AIF to every passenger, with the exception of YVR charging BC/Yukon-bound pax only $5 vs $20 for everywhere else, according to this page from AC.

So, if you book YAM-YYZ-YGK and the connection is more than 4 hours, you will pay the same YYZ AIF as someone who's flying YYZ-SYD! If you fly YAM-YYZ-LHR, you will pay the YAM AIF plus $4 YYZ AIF!

Now, your next post will probably shift once again and say that your complaint was really with the $30 AIF and how high it is, regardless of who is and isn't paying it. So let's just address that now. Yes, YYC ($30) is higher than YYZ ($25), YUL($25) or YVR ($20). But it's $5-10 per ticket, which is not huge. Also, YEG and YMM are also $30, YQB and YYT are $35 and ZBF is $40! There are no jetbridges at ZBF! How can they charge $40!

Bottom line: YYC is really not much different from the other AC hubs when it comes to AIFs. If you want to rag on YYC, criticize it for the piece of stinking garbage that is the new terminal (I'm not sure the people who designed it have ever even been in an airport, let alone designed one). Mock the fact that instead of building a people-mover like real airports do, we have a stupid set of king-sized golf carts shuttling people from terminal to terminal. Marvel at how long the luggage takes to get delivered a very short distance on the fancy new baggage system. And so on. But AIFs, you have no idea what you're talking about.

Diabeetus

I propose that AC should cancel all non-YEG-YYC flights out of YEG. All travel out of YEG must connect through YYC.

#makeYYChubagian