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Calgary International Airport

Really good numbers. Still a ways behind YUL, but I don't expect we'll pass them any time soon. Interesting to see that Calgary has gained 600K pax from 2019 and Edmonton has lost 650K pax since then. That airport that's suffered the most is YOW. They've lost 1.1M pax since 2019.

YYZ
YVR24.9M
YUL21.1M
YYC18.5M
YEG7.5M
YOW4M
YWG4M
 
Interesting. You can see how air traffic in Canada is really consolidating at the hubs - thats a huge drop off after the 4 big airports. Edmonton and Ottawa have pretty small numbers considering their size. I wonder if Flair will give Edmonton a boost, assuming they stay in business?

I didn't realize we were that far behind Montreal. On the bright side, I didn't realise we were not all that far behind Vancouver!
 
Interesting. You can see how air traffic in Canada is really consolidating at the hubs - thats a huge drop off after the 4 big airports. Edmonton and Ottawa have pretty small numbers considering their size. I wonder if Flair will give Edmonton a boost, assuming they stay in business?

I didn't realize we were that far behind Montreal. On the bright side, I didn't realise we were not all that far behind Vancouver!
Calgary's really notable difference is it's relatively large domestic hub numbers, on account of Westjet's historical strategy. Their move to a more international approach and basing much of that capacity out of Calgary will be interesting to watch.

That said, YVR and YUL have more going on here. Air Canada's international presence is obviously much larger in both centres, but their numbers are beyond just a single company's strategy - there is also substantial presence from other non-Canadian international carriers. That's a large differential that is enduring given both cities having a sustained major local tourist, business and conference cultures dating back decades.

Calgary is a newcomer on that stage and has a more limited international presence as a result so far. A growing but smaller local population, proximity to Banff and the Stampede can only boost your numbers so far. If we want more international service, we will need to evolve into a true metropolitan hub, with all the tourist and visitor infrastructure, and with many dozens of things going on all year to begin generate a more comparable level of international connections beyond Westjet's local focus.

2023 TotalsDomesticInternationalUSA
YVR12.8M6.1M6.0M
YUL6.6M9.8M4.7M
YYC12.7M2.2M3.6M
 
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Calgary's really notable difference is it's relatively large domestic hub numbers, on account of Westjet's historical strategy. Their move to a more international approach and basing much of that capacity out of Calgary will be interesting to watch.

That said, YVR and YUL have more going on here. Air Canada's international presence is obviously much larger in both centres, but their numbers are beyond just a single company's strategy - there is also substantial presence from other non-Canadian international carriers. That's a large differential that is enduring given both cities having a sustained major local tourist, business and conference cultures dating back decades.

Calgary is a newcomer on that stage and has a more limited international presence as a result so far. A growing but smaller local population, proximity to Banff and the Stampede can only boost your numbers so far. If we want more international service, we will need to evolve into a true metropolitan hub, with all the tourist and visitor infrastructure, and with many dozens of things going on all year to begin generate a more comparable level of international connections beyond Westjet's local focus.

2023 TotalsDomesticInternationalUSA
YVR12.8M12.1M6.0M
YUL6.6M9.8M4.7M
YYC12.7M2.2M3.6M
YVR’s numbers don’t ad up. 6 million over actual totals
 
Makes me wonder where WJ could expand while being in the 24 hour service window for a single air craft.
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1707765409265.png
 
Calgary's really notable difference is it's relatively large domestic hub numbers, on account of Westjet's historical strategy. Their move to a more international approach and basing much of that capacity out of Calgary will be interesting to watch.

That said, YVR and YUL have more going on here. Air Canada's international presence is obviously much larger in both centres, but their numbers are beyond just a single company's strategy - there is also substantial presence from other non-Canadian international carriers. That's a large differential that is enduring given both cities having a sustained major local tourist, business and conference cultures dating back decades.

Calgary is a newcomer on that stage and has a more limited international presence as a result so far. A growing but smaller local population, proximity to Banff and the Stampede can only boost your numbers so far. If we want more international service, we will need to evolve into a true metropolitan hub, with all the tourist and visitor infrastructure, and with many dozens of things going on all year to begin generate a more comparable level of international connections beyond Westjet's local focus.

2023 TotalsDomesticInternationalUSA
YVR12.8M6.1M6.0M
YUL6.6M9.8M4.7M
YYC12.7M2.2M3.6M
Calgary is a better domestic hub than YVR because it is located in the mid-west and can capture a lot of the transfer traffic. Delta and United are employing similar strategies at SLC and DEN, while keeping LAX/SFO as the trans-pacific entry points.

It'll be tough for Calgary to grow international traffic significantly unless the surrounding Prairie provinces also grow a lot, like Saskatchewan or Manitoba. Since most of our population is still on the coasts which is well served by YYZ/YUL and YVR.
 
Calgary is a better domestic hub than YVR because it is located in the mid-west and can capture a lot of the transfer traffic. Delta and United are employing similar strategies at SLC and DEN, while keeping LAX/SFO as the trans-pacific entry points.

It'll be tough for Calgary to grow international traffic significantly unless the surrounding Prairie provinces also grow a lot, like Saskatchewan or Manitoba. Since most of our population is still on the coasts which is well served by YYZ/YUL and YVR.
I would be curious the breakdown of the international traffic in Montreal, Vancouver and Toronto and what proportion is connections v. local destinations.

With no evidence I am just speculation - I could see all three acting as the primary connecting hubs (Toronto from everywhere, Vancouver from Pacific, Montreal from French-speaking nations). All three would likely have significant snow-bird traffic to central America as well. But all three would also have significant local demand due to large populations, notable and advanced tourism infrastructure, and huge immigrant populations connecting back to various locations for family. The share of international trips that are generated by these factors would be illuminating

I would agree that Calgary's likely growth angle is more about increasing the local and regional population to a level that attracts more trip demand.
 
I would agree that Calgary's likely growth angle is more about increasing the local and regional population to a level that attracts more trip demand.
Agreed. If YYC/Westjet can continue to funnel traffic from interior of BC and the prairies that can continue to build the hub. Cities from Kelowna to Winnipeg have been receiving large numbers of immigrants and that could be a good market for more overseas flights.
 
Last Westjet flight I took was full of connecting passengers from Winnipeg, Edmonton, Sask, and interior BC.

It's much nicer to connect in YYC vs. Pearson for example so not really surprising.
It must be of the highest priority to be a reliable airport to make connections in. Pearson has an awful reputation, if YYC (we should name this airport after someone) can be a reliable connection it can eat into Pearson's share from western Canadian connections.
 
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It must be of the highest priority to be a reliable airport to make connections in. Pearson has an awful reputation, if YYC (we should name this airport after someone) can be a reliable connection it can eat into Pearson's share from western Canadian connections.
Which is crazy because a decade or so ago Pearson was a really pleasant airport to fly through but now it's on par with some of the worst airports in the US IMO. Unfortunately I have to be in Toronto regularly so I've witnessed the decline firsthand.
 

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