[David A]

Correct regarding people wanting one stop to destinations around the world. And before the YYC crowd attacks, this means actually flying more than 40 minutes on your first leg and not having a 3+ hour layover for your second flight. Ottawa's airport is really quiet, doesn't even have flights 24/7, and yet you look at their destination board and they have lots of selection to transborder and international destinations. I think most Edmontonians would be ecstatic with year round flights to the following transborder cities, being SEA, SFO, LAX, DEN, IAH, MSP, ORD and dare to dream EWR (or other New York) with US carriers. And international we can only realistically hope for year round daily service to AMS, though it would be nice to have additional year round service to another european City and year round service to a destination in Asia. The key factor is getting year round service so that you can count on the flights being there.

Yes, I feel almost everyone in Edmonton would be very happy with a few regular year round flights to key European destinations, along with a few other additional major hubs in the US or elsewhere.

We really aren't asking for a lot, for a city our size. Ottawa is a good example of a similar sized city to us and it is even closer to much larger city than we are.

 

[David A]

^ Please keep in mind that the province moved many of the o/g government departments to Calgary, the was done by Lougheed. The province has influenced many many business decisionsin this province. In my life time there has been one Premier who has fully invested in Edmonton and that was Stelmach. He was great for this city.

There have been numerous years where Edmonton grew faster than Calgary. Until the recent population explosion pur CMA’s were only 80k apart. Even now they are only 150ish apart.

Edmonton remains one of the fastest growing cities in North America. Our future is bright

I feel if there had been a level playing field Edmonton would probably be by far the largest city in Alberta now. However, I can understand for political reasons how provincial governments did not want that to happen, especially for those led by politicians from Calgary.

 

[Vanfan123]

I feel if there had been a level playing field Edmonton would probably be by far the largest city in Alberta now. However, I can understand for political reasons how provincial governments did not want that to happen, especially for those led by politicians from Calgary.

Speaking of Calgary- American Airlines in S26 plans to add Calgary YYC - New York JFK- YYC route on Boeing 737Max 3x weekly from August 6th - end of September.

There’s going be a lot of competition on YYC to NYC area routings with Air Canada/ WestJet flying it nonstop already too.

https://twitter.com/x/status/2017790241998823672

 

[MakeYEGGreatAgain]

If there was a business case for YEG-New York, we would have seen EWR back on United.

You also have to remember that Travel Alberta (or in reality Travel Calgary/Banff) has been pushing for more routes and more tourists to come to the mountain parks. Sadly, YEG does not figure on Travel Alberta's real plan. I would not be surprised if Travel Alberta is subsidizing many of the new YYC flights. They may not say it in public, but no one knows how Travel Alberta spends its budget on.

 

[IanO]

I'd say that it is less of a business case and more of a lack of metal/opportunity cost and current travel demand due to politics.

EWR did well from all reports.

 

[MakeYEGGreatAgain]

^ not according to my info....The flight was very much full, but was low yield due to a much higher % of passengers connecting to/from international destinations than desired by United.

I took this flight at least 30 times (in both direction). Business class was always 50% open for upgrades.

 

[blue12]

I would not be surprised if Travel Alberta is subsidizing many of the new YYC flights. They may not say it in public, but no one knows how Travel Alberta spends its budget on.

I have never seen an airline route where they have not published/hidden the fact that it was subsidized. Anyone who tells you some random route "only exists because of subsidies" with zero reporting or evidence surrounding the claim is likely lying out of their ass.

Some examples of subsidized flights were YWG-LAX, YXE-MSP, and DEN-YQR, or larger services such as SAT-FRA in the United States. Notice what they all have in common - they're services nobody would likely serve on their own if it wasn't for the financial incentive. Routings such as YYC-JFK make zero sense for this - why would Travel Alberta subsidize an American company to fly New York-YYC when Westjet has already flown it on their own since 2014, Air Canada's service to EWR, and American's existing service to LGA which started last summer?

 

[Offworld]

Speaking of Calgary- American Airlines in S26 plans to add Calgary YYC - New York JFK- YYC route on Boeing 737Max 3x weekly from August 6th - end of September.

There’s going be a lot of competition on YYC to NYC area routings with Air Canada/ WestJet flying it nonstop already too.

https://twitter.com/x/status/2017790241998823672

For the love of all things holy, will you PLEASE stop trolling.

 

[ABAviationFan]

I feel if there had been a level playing field Edmonton would probably be by far the largest city in Alberta now. However, I can understand for political reasons how provincial governments did not want that to happen, especially for those led by politicians from Calgary.

You and your conspiracy theories

 

[ABAviationFan]

If there was a business case for YEG-New York, we would have seen EWR back on United.

You also have to remember that Travel Alberta (or in reality Travel Calgary/Banff) has been pushing for more routes and more tourists to come to the mountain parks. Sadly, YEG does not figure on Travel Alberta's real plan. I would not be surprised if Travel Alberta is subsidizing many of the new YYC flights. They may not say it in public, but no one knows how Travel Alberta spends its budget on.

Okkkkkkkk

 

[Oilguy]

^ not according to my info....The flight was very much full, but was low yield due to a much higher % of passengers connecting to/from international destinations than desired by United.

I took this flight at least 30 times (in both direction). Business class was always 50% open for upgrades.

But that’s what he’s basically saying, it doesn’t mean route was a money loser, but the opportunity cost of serving this route was worse than another and since there is limit metal the plane gets redeployed. The route can do decently well and still get subbed out if there’s a better option.

 

[BASE]

It's excruciating waiting for the year end passenger stats. They typically take their time at year end putting out the final numbers, so not unexpected. Unfortunately it does appear we will go another year without setting a new record for total passengers. YEG is one of the last remaining major airports to publish their 2025 numbers (YYZ being the other notable to have not yet reported).

 

[Oilers99]

We shouldn’t be blaming airlines for pulling flights if our ridership is declining.

 

[northlands]

For the love of all things holy, will you PLEASE stop trolling.

Lmao fr

I get Calgary flights have an impact/influence on what goes on at EIA, but how about everyone keeps their strictly Calgary posts to their airport thread?

Calgary International Airport

I think its also important to consider that Etihad doesn't fly to a single US destination west of Chicago. That means, for any city west of and including Denver, a connection through YYC is the most geographically direct route. Sure, there are other competitors offering non stops to the middle...

calgary.skyrisecities.com

 

[David A]

We shouldn’t be blaming airlines for pulling flights if our ridership is declining.

Most airports had several years of declines during COVID, I think Vancouver finally just slightly surpassed its pre COVID level at the end of 2025.