Moderators: richierich, ua900, PanAm_DC10, hOMSaR
Western727 wrote:wedgetail737 wrote:Wneast wrote:I’m not sure but I’m hearing rumors from a reliable source that BLI to Hawaii is happening with them wanting to step in and fill the void left by Alaska whenever they start I think in the June 10th extension we might see it added
I think WN is keeping on eye on when Canada will open up the borders for non-essential travel. Belllingham, and the surrounding area, really could not support WN by itself.
I still BLI will be a flop for them...but maybe not.
I have my doubts about BLI as well. Having grown up in SEA, the airport has naturally been a source of fascination for me. Attracting Canadian passengers tends to, naturally, be heavily influenced by exchange rates which currently favor Canadians. But if/when it doesn't favor them anymore...
As for the border, I wonder if it's going to become the other way around: will the US want to open the border to nonessential travel? Only 5.5% of Canadians have been fully vaccinated (https://ourworldindata.org/covid-vaccinations). My in-laws, who live in YVR, got their first shot 2 months ago and are finally getting their 2nd shots in two weeks, only because they're senior citizens. The US, on the other hand, has 40% of its population fully vaccinated, trailing only 3 countries: Israel (59%), Bahrain (46%) and Chile (42%).
Prost wrote:Here is a Port of Seattle video of the facility.
https://youtu.be/A56eEljgwzQ
czbb wrote:Western727 wrote:wedgetail737 wrote:
I think WN is keeping on eye on when Canada will open up the borders for non-essential travel. Belllingham, and the surrounding area, really could not support WN by itself.
I still BLI will be a flop for them...but maybe not.
I have my doubts about BLI as well. Having grown up in SEA, the airport has naturally been a source of fascination for me. Attracting Canadian passengers tends to, naturally, be heavily influenced by exchange rates which currently favor Canadians. But if/when it doesn't favor them anymore...
As for the border, I wonder if it's going to become the other way around: will the US want to open the border to nonessential travel? Only 5.5% of Canadians have been fully vaccinated (https://ourworldindata.org/covid-vaccinations). My in-laws, who live in YVR, got their first shot 2 months ago and are finally getting their 2nd shots in two weeks, only because they're senior citizens. The US, on the other hand, has 40% of its population fully vaccinated, trailing only 3 countries: Israel (59%), Bahrain (46%) and Chile (42%).
Your take on BLI doesn't really reflect what the issues are. Firstly the CAD v USD is at the highest point it's been for the past 5 yrs; and while exchange rate is a driving factor, it's not the largest (by a big margin). Canadians use BLI as a gateway to US destinations, because the US impose of a lot of 'crossing the border by air' taxes (around $45), that simply don't exist driving across the border. That gives BLI a huge advantage over YVR(and YXX) so price sensitive destinations (LAS/PHX/etc).Not to mention that for a lot of people, BLI is actually closer to home than YVR (for me, door to door, it's about 10 mins difference)
As for the border re-opening, I would expect it will mostly open in late July (existing closer is until July 21 IIRC), with announcements on procedures as early as tomorrow.
Lastly, for vaccination rates, Canada leads by 14points, the USA's in percentage who have had one dose (68.6% v 54.5%), and is quickly catching up in the fully category (34.2% v 46.9%); I expect Canada 'fully vaccinated' rates to pass US rates in the next 6 weeks; given the current rate of change. Canada's strategy was just different to the United States, concentrating on getting 1st shots in arms to as many as possible, given a constricted supply of vaccine due to countries confiscating contracted sales to Canada for their own domestic consumption.
czbb wrote:Western727 wrote:wedgetail737 wrote:
I think WN is keeping on eye on when Canada will open up the borders for non-essential travel. Belllingham, and the surrounding area, really could not support WN by itself.
I still BLI will be a flop for them...but maybe not.
I have my doubts about BLI as well. Having grown up in SEA, the airport has naturally been a source of fascination for me. Attracting Canadian passengers tends to, naturally, be heavily influenced by exchange rates which currently favor Canadians. But if/when it doesn't favor them anymore...
As for the border, I wonder if it's going to become the other way around: will the US want to open the border to nonessential travel? Only 5.5% of Canadians have been fully vaccinated (https://ourworldindata.org/covid-vaccinations). My in-laws, who live in YVR, got their first shot 2 months ago and are finally getting their 2nd shots in two weeks, only because they're senior citizens. The US, on the other hand, has 40% of its population fully vaccinated, trailing only 3 countries: Israel (59%), Bahrain (46%) and Chile (42%).
Your take on BLI doesn't really reflect what the issues are. Firstly the CAD v USD is at the highest point it's been for the past 5 yrs; and while exchange rate is a driving factor, it's not the largest (by a big margin). Canadians use BLI as a gateway to US destinations, because the US impose of a lot of 'crossing the border by air' taxes (around $45), that simply don't exist driving across the border. That gives BLI a huge advantage over YVR(and YXX) so price sensitive destinations (LAS/PHX/etc).Not to mention that for a lot of people, BLI is actually closer to home than YVR (for me, door to door, it's about 10 mins difference)
As for the border re-opening, I would expect it will mostly open in late July (existing closer is until July 21 IIRC), with announcements on procedures as early as tomorrow.
Lastly, for vaccination rates, Canada leads by 14points, the USA's in percentage who have had one dose (68.6% v 54.5%), and is quickly catching up in the fully category (34.2% v 46.9%); I expect Canada 'fully vaccinated' rates to pass US rates in the next 6 weeks; given the current rate of change. Canada's strategy was just different to the United States, concentrating on getting 1st shots in arms to as many as possible, given a constricted supply of vaccine due to countries confiscating contracted sales to Canada for their own domestic consumption.
Western727 wrote:czbb wrote:Western727 wrote:Bottom line being, only the relatives who live in Delta and Ft. Langley have told me they'd consider use BLI again if exchange rates go down to early-2010s level encouraging more travel to the US. I imagine if more of them lived closer the border like you do, the scales might get tipped for them sooner. My point being, exchange rates do matter, especially for those in Vancouver/Burnaby/Langley and especially points north (like West and North Van), from where BLI is quite a distance away compared to YVR.
czbb wrote:Western727 wrote:czbb wrote:
That's the thing, I don't live that close to the border, I'm in East Burnaby. It's a 50 minute drive (w / nexus) to BLI's parking
and only 30 mins to YVR. That difference is easily made up with the difference in the time it takes to negotiate the parking & airport itself. Given it's both cheaper (for US destinations only) and faster, I tend to use BLI more than YVR
BLI : 55 min + security
50 min drive (incl Nexus border)
2 min park
2 min walk into terminal to security
<security>
1 min to gate
YVR: 60 min + security
30 min drive
5 to park
10 for shuttle/skytrain to terminal (probably more than 10)
5 walk into terminal to security
<security>
5 mins border crossing (w/ Nexus)
5 walk to gate
If you're on the north shore, Vancouver city, or Richmond; YVR makes more sense.
Burnaby is a tossup, depending on the part you live in.
If you're in New West/Coquitlam/PoCo BLI is marginally faster (see math above)
If you're in Surrey/Langley or further east, BLI is a no brainer. This is also the fastest expanding (population) part of metro Vancouver
In summary, BLI really is "South Vancouver Airport"
DenverTed wrote:As far as BLI goes, I moved from Denver to BLI 30 years ago. I fly to Denver and Chicago at least twice a year. I would have happily paid a 100 dollar premium to fly out of BLI. I can't take a flight that doesn't exist. Luckily PAE-DEN is now up and running, so I've taken that and avoid SEA.
flyinggoat wrote:As someone who lives in the San Juan Islands, I would love to see more flights out of BLI. A DL ATL-BLI flight would be fantastic, especially if on a A220-300.
Part of me wonders if DL could make that work. They could market it to the Canadians as a one-stop flight to Florida or Caribbean. A 2x or 3x weekly flight from BLI-MCO might even work.
Wneast wrote:flyinggoat wrote:As someone who lives in the San Juan Islands, I would love to see more flights out of BLI. A DL ATL-BLI flight would be fantastic, especially if on a A220-300.
Part of me wonders if DL could make that work. They could market it to the Canadians as a one-stop flight to Florida or Caribbean. A 2x or 3x weekly flight from BLI-MCO might even work.
I think we WN grow there next year with DEN,PHX, HNL
wedgetail737 wrote:very true hopefully it works outWneast wrote:flyinggoat wrote:As someone who lives in the San Juan Islands, I would love to see more flights out of BLI. A DL ATL-BLI flight would be fantastic, especially if on a A220-300.
Part of me wonders if DL could make that work. They could market it to the Canadians as a one-stop flight to Florida or Caribbean. A 2x or 3x weekly flight from BLI-MCO might even work.
I think we WN grow there next year with DEN,PHX, HNL
That's only if the Canadians will bite.
wedgetail737 wrote:Wneast wrote:flyinggoat wrote:As someone who lives in the San Juan Islands, I would love to see more flights out of BLI. A DL ATL-BLI flight would be fantastic, especially if on a A220-300.
Part of me wonders if DL could make that work. They could market it to the Canadians as a one-stop flight to Florida or Caribbean. A 2x or 3x weekly flight from BLI-MCO might even work.
I think we WN grow there next year with DEN,PHX, HNL
That's only if the Canadians will bite.
MIflyer12 wrote:wedgetail737 wrote:Wneast wrote:I think we WN grow there next year with DEN,PHX, HNL
That's only if the Canadians will bite.
Hmm... and how strong is WN's Canadian point-of-sale? When the border reopens fully to vehicle traffic Canadians will again to ready to drive to a proximate U.S. airport (from Vancouver, Windsor, Hamilton, Montreal...) to save on customs/inspection fees that apply to air travel but not land crossings. I don't think WN is positioned to be a big beneficiary of that, however.
czbb wrote:For those speculating on DL to BLI-ATL or BLI-MCO, it's not going to happen. If DL return to BLI it's going to be a regional jet to SLC; to connect to the rest of the Delta network.
As for WN's point of sale in Canada, I'm pretty sure we use the same internet (the only way WN sell tickets) that Americans use.
DenverTed wrote:For BLI, how many non west coast flights have they had? I remember flying to SLC in the early 2000s. Frontier briefly flew to Denver a few days a week, probably only one summer.
DenverTed wrote:For BLI, how many non west coast flights have they had? I remember flying to SLC in the early 2000s. Frontier briefly flew to Denver a few days a week, probably only one summer.
jplatts wrote:DenverTed wrote:For BLI, how many non west coast flights have they had? I remember flying to SLC in the early 2000s. Frontier briefly flew to Denver a few days a week, probably only one summer.
WN adding BLI-DEN nonstop service is a possibility with WN planning on significantly expanding at DEN along with the connecting opportunities that are available through DEN on WN.
Western727 wrote:jplatts wrote:DenverTed wrote:For BLI, how many non west coast flights have they had? I remember flying to SLC in the early 2000s. Frontier briefly flew to Denver a few days a week, probably only one summer.
WN adding BLI-DEN nonstop service is a possibility with WN planning on significantly expanding at DEN along with the connecting opportunities that are available through DEN on WN.
DEN-BLI flights were done by F9 in the summer of 2012. We were bummed that it was seasonal because by the holidays F9 was nowhere to be found. I don't think they've done BLI since but I welcome corrections.
wedgetail737 wrote:I haven't seen anything on this page, but Westjet will start flying to SEA from YYC in November with 4X weekly. It will eventually go to 2X daily by late Spring.
sprxUSA wrote:wedgetail737 wrote:I haven't seen anything on this page, but Westjet will start flying to SEA from YYC in November with 4X weekly. It will eventually go to 2X daily by late Spring.
Encore or the real deal?
jbs2886 wrote:sprxUSA wrote:wedgetail737 wrote:I haven't seen anything on this page, but Westjet will start flying to SEA from YYC in November with 4X weekly. It will eventually go to 2X daily by late Spring.
Encore or the real deal?
Encore. https://westjet.mediaroom.com/2021-08-0 ... le-service
wedgetail737 wrote:jbs2886 wrote:sprxUSA wrote:Encore or the real deal?
Encore. https://westjet.mediaroom.com/2021-08-0 ... le-service
Maybe for the summer season, Encore will be replaced with the real deal. It would cool to see their 737-600's at SEA.
jbs2886 wrote:wedgetail737 wrote:jbs2886 wrote:
Maybe for the summer season, Encore will be replaced with the real deal. It would cool to see their 737-600's at SEA.
Per planespotters, the 737-600 is retired. https://www.planespotters.net/airline/Westjet
wedgetail737 wrote:jbs2886 wrote:wedgetail737 wrote:
Maybe for the summer season, Encore will be replaced with the real deal. It would cool to see their 737-600's at SEA.
Per planespotters, the 737-600 is retired. https://www.planespotters.net/airline/Westjet
Retired or stored? LH said they were retiring their 744's, A346's and A380's...but now LH is returning them to service. So Westjet could bring them back.
dc10lover wrote:Both ykm & eat to Sea are 2× a day? No wonder people in ykm drive to psc and fly out.
wedgetail737 wrote:dc10lover wrote:Both ykm & eat to Sea are 2× a day? No wonder people in ykm drive to psc and fly out.
You mean QX flights?
dc10lover wrote:"WN adding BLI-DEN nonstop service is a possibility with WN planning on significantly expanding at DEN along with the connecting opportunities that are available through DEN on WN."
There are just so many larger Cities Southwest can serve and hopefully with frequency since they don't have Regional Jets to add the smaller Cities to their route map.
sprxUSA wrote:dc10lover wrote:"WN adding BLI-DEN nonstop service is a possibility with WN planning on significantly expanding at DEN along with the connecting opportunities that are available through DEN on WN."
There are just so many larger Cities Southwest can serve and hopefully with frequency since they don't have Regional Jets to add the smaller Cities to their route map.
Well since WN is adding BLI in November, may as well link it with their largest connecting point. Only doing OAK and LAS seems somewhat if a waste to me.
dc10lover wrote:GEG-SNA - 4482 passengers, 7007 seats, 63.96% load factor
When did Southwest Airlines start this route? Allegiant Air flies this route 2 times a week I think.
Wneast wrote:dc10lover wrote:GEG-SNA - 4482 passengers, 7007 seats, 63.96% load factor
When did Southwest Airlines start this route? Allegiant Air flies this route 2 times a week I think.
It was a summer seasonal
Chugach wrote:Looks like the Kraken are using AC to get over to Spokane today. Appears to be a normal AC A320 and not one of the AC Jetz frames that VIP configured and used by many NHL teams.
BFI-GEG isn’t showing on FlightAware yet, but here’s the inbound from YVR: http://flightaware.com/live/flight/ACA7 ... /CYVR/KBFI