tcook052

http://www.thestarphoenix.com/news/W...671/story.html

Saskatoon residents looking to escape to warmer climates this winter will now be able to fly directly to Arizona.

WestJet announced Wednesday it is launching seasonal non-stop service to Phoenix from Saskatoon this winter. The service between the two cities will begin Dec. 17 and run through April 29, 2011.

“Phoenix is one of the most poplar destinations for western Canadians looking for a quick and affordable winter getaway,” stated Hugh Dunleavy, WestJet’s executive vice-president strategy and planning.

“We look forward to adding this new non-stop service to our growing list of WestJet destinations available from the Saskatoon John G. Diefenbaker International Airport.”

The flight will leave Saskatoon on Fridays at 4:50 p.m., arriving in Phoenix at 7:02 p.m. The return flight leaves Phoenix at 11:45 a.m. on Fridays, arriving in Saskatchewan’s largest city at 3:57 p.m.

airbus320

If this list is current, there is no preclearance to the USA from Saskatoon.

http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/toolbox/c..._locations.xml

TheGreatestX

I'm excited about YEG to MCO!

PhotoJim

YQR-PHX and PHX-YQR on Saturdays, too.

Regina's gone from 14 US flights a week in 2007 to 51 this winter (to MSP, DEN, ORD, LAS and PHX). Not bad.

PhotoJim

With a non-stop, preclearance isn't a big issue. It's not like you can miss a connecting flight due to clearing Customs at a US airport.

I'm hopeful YQR (and YXE) will have US preclearance one day soon, but it's not in the immediate future.

HangTen

I hope they get it ahead of YTZ!

N830MH

correct! I believe when they will arrived in PHX and they will have go to CBP facility. I knew there is no preclearance in YXE. It is further north of Edmonton, Canada, am I correct? I think those passengers will have be in PHX to clearance at Customs & Immigrations.

I believe the routes will done extremely performance very well and it will kept those routes will goes for year-rounid long. Maybe if WS will have increase the frequency from 1x weekly to 3x weekly frequencies.

YEG USER

Incorrect. Saskatoon is quite a bit further south of Edmonton. If you look at a map, you'll see that Saskatoon is about as far north as Red Deer, AB (which is 1/2 way between Edmonton and Calgary).

AFAIK how far an airport is from the US border really does not have anything to do with whether there will be a US pre-clearance or not, it is likely more to do with the total number of transborder pax flying through the airport (to make it worthwhile for the USA to man a facility). Regina is further south than Calgary and it does not have those facilities.

tcook052

YXE is quite a bit further south than YEG? IMHO 90 miles (the distance YEG is north of Red Deer) ain't really that much further south.

WR Cage

Deciding factors in location of US CBP Preclearance include:
- Airlines willing to pay for the service.
- Longterm (e.g. 2 year) commitment from airlines or history of airlines providing a minimum level of service to USA destinations. There is a minimum passenger count for nonstop travel to USA.
- Aiports willing to provide space for facilities and personnel (IIRC there is a requirement for officers to haver reserved parking close to their place of employment).
- Minimal amount of seasonal swings in traffic (e.g. winter and summer schedule cannot be materially different.

Above all the airport must be able to handle enough USA bound traffic to make it worth while for a minimum staff complement to be occupied per day.

YEG USER

No, 90 miles isn't much, but it depends on how you look at it. I used an online tool (http://www.daftlogic.com/projects-go...calculator.htm) to come up with the following approximate distances:

YEG-US Border (radius to 49th parallel) ~ 300 miles
YXE-US Border (radius to 49th parallel) ~ 220 miles

YEG is about 33% farther from the US border than YXE.