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Westjet flight changes. Adds Toronto flight

Westjet flight changes. Adds Toronto flight

Adam

Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 15663

Adam
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 15663

Westjet flight changes. Adds Toronto flight
7/20/2015 at 11:07 AM

Great news breaking this morning as Westjet has announced they will be adding another flight on the always well-booked Brandon-Calgary route beginning in January.

The new flight will depart bright and early at 6:00am and with it there will be a new arrival at 10:50pm. This of course in addition to the 12:40pm arrival and 1:20pm departure that they've been running already.

The biggest challenge with flying out of Westjet in Brandon has been connections, where for the huge majority of routes you would have to stay overnight in Calgary on one or both ends of your trip. I imagine this is going to change all of that and allow a lot of same-day connections!

More info at the link below:
http://www.cklq.com/index.php?id=62&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=8585&cHash=a24ec9afb637d7e63f7a9a3307fe5260

Edited by Adam, 2016-02-22 11:25:31
REDCONVERTABLE

Joined: Dec 2011
Posts: 48

REDCONVERTABLE
Joined: Dec 2011
Posts: 48

Westjet
7/20/2015 at 1:54 PM

oh how fantastic ....... I wish the flight charges would be a bit cheaper but I still love flying to Calgary and back........
Yes a eastern flight would be great too......... Toronto or Montreal or Ottawa... I would love seeing friends there ...I could rent a car and go explore where I used to live...
Piffer
Joined: Feb 2011
Posts: 317

Piffer
Joined: Feb 2011
Posts: 317

Agreed
7/20/2015 at 1:55 PM

Toronto would be a great addition to the city as well. It is so tiring to drive to Winnipeg or from Winnipeg after a long day of travel. It would be nice to be able to fly straight home.
crunchy1885
Joined: Jul 2009
Posts: 821

crunchy1885
Joined: Jul 2009
Posts: 821

unfortunately
7/20/2015 at 1:59 PM

unfortunately encore can't fly to toronto (too far for the small twin prop plane) but maybe thunder bay is in the works?
Piffer
Joined: Feb 2011
Posts: 317

Piffer
Joined: Feb 2011
Posts: 317

TB
7/20/2015 at 2:02 PM

Thunder Bay for fuel and then Toronto??? lol

:: ::

Adam

Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 15663

Adam

Joined: Mar 2005

Posts: 15663

Pricing

7/20/2015 at 2:41 PM

REDCONVERTABLE said "oh how fantastic ....... I wish the flight charges would be a bit cheaper but I still love flying to Calgary and back........
Yes a eastern flight would be great too......... Toronto or Montreal or Ottawa... I would love seeing friends there ...I could rent a car and go explore where I used to live... "

Do wonder how this will effect fares over time. From my experience it's rare to talk to someone that's taken the flight and not had it been a full or nearly full plane.

On one hand, double the amount of people travelling and maybe supply/demand brings prices down a bit?

On the other hand if I look at myself as an example, even with WJ flying out of Brandon I'd still look at booking most flights out of Winnipeg because overnight layovers just arent practical. Remove that with this new flight and it might just expand the amount of people wanting of fly!

As far as Toronto, it might seem a little backwards but from the Westjet website it does look in January like they'll sell you a flight that has you leaving Brandon at 6AM, connecting through Calgary and then in Toronto by just after 2pm the same day. Price for the day I picked (a Thursday) works out to $575 compared to $466 on the same day out of Winnipeg. By the time you factor in gas, parking and convenience it's in the ballpark of being something worth considering... asterisk being I'm sure prices will vary a lot depending on the day.

Edited by Adam, 2015-07-20 14:45:53

IMO
Joined: Oct 2011
Posts: 512

IMO
Joined: Oct 2011
Posts: 512

IMO
7/21/2015 at 12:37 AM

This is awesome news! But I agree, flights to other destinations (Toronto, Montreal, Edmonton) would be great as well!
veloster
Joined: Mar 2010
Posts: 331

veloster
Joined: Mar 2010
Posts: 331

Toronto
7/21/2015 at 2:01 AM

A direct flight to Toronto won't Happen until the airport is expanded.
dark man
Joined: May 2009
Posts: 386

dark man
Joined: May 2009
Posts: 386

When
7/21/2015 at 5:41 AM

Is the airport expansion going to happen?
Last i heard, ground-breaking was suppose to be in the spring.
Happy_ Hour
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 918

Happy_ Hour
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 918

best news ever
7/21/2015 at 6:45 AM

This was great news to hear yesterday. I have used the flight twice so far and will continue to do so at least yearly.

Getting to my destination earlier in the day (Northern Alberta) is well worth getting up so early in the morning to depart. I have wandered every inch of the Calgary airport that I had access to waiting 5 hours for my connecting flight. You sure can feel tired after a day of doing nothing.

Yahoo! Thanks Westjet!
Adam

Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 15663

Adam
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Posts: 15663

Upgrades
7/21/2015 at 3:11 PM

dark man said "Is the airport expansion going to happen?
Last i heard, ground-breaking was suppose to be in the spring. "

Last year it was said that if all goes well the timeline was that the tender would be advertised in early 2015, construction would start by spring or summer of this year with completion late in 2016.
My understanding is that the tender is to be advertised soon, so am assuming that shovel won't hit ground until a little later than that initial timeline. Not sure what that ultimately means for when it would be completed but would expect that to become clearer as the tender process takes place.
derek911
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 15

derek911
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 15

Flight to Toronto
7/21/2015 at 5:31 PM

I fly to Toronto once a month leaving Brandon. I've found by the time I take the air shuttle and arrive in Winnipeg 2 or 3 hours before my flight, and factor in the unstable winter weather and road closures I'd rather just leave Brandon at 1:20, sit in Calgary for 3 hours and then fly Calgary to Toronto and arrive at 10:30 at night. Coming home is even better, you can leave at 6:45 AM from Toronto and be back in Brandon at 12:35 PM. With these new flight times being added I'm now given 4 or 5 more arrival times for me to consider going into Toronto!
Munkee
Joined: Oct 2010
Posts: 8

Munkee
Joined: Oct 2010
Posts: 8

Q400 range....
7/21/2015 at 8:07 PM

WestJet Encore's Q400's can definitely make the journey from Brandon to Toronto with fuel to spare. Looks like we are 1062 miles (1709 km) (923 nautical miles)and the Q400 can fly a max range of: 1,114 nautical miles / 2,063 km

Check out Bombardier website:
http://commercialaircraft.bombardier.com/en/q400/Flexibility/Range-Capabilities.html

Edited by Munkee, 2015-07-21 20:15:34

Trevor B

Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 8881

Trevor B

Joined: Apr 2005

Posts: 8881

I think

7/21/2015 at 8:29 PM

Munkee said "WestJet Encore's Q400's can definitely make the journey from Brandon to Toronto with fuel to spare. Looks like we are 1062 miles (1709 km) (923 nautical miles)and the Q400 can fly a max range of: 1,114 nautical miles / 2,063 km

Check out Bombardier website:
http://commercialaircraft.bombardier.com/en/q400/Flexibility/Range-Capabilities.html

Edited by Munkee, 2015-07-21 20:15:34"

it has more to do with Toronto Airport. Landing slots, gates, landing fees and other expenses. There's only so many gates available to Westjet. They share with many other airlines. It also has to make financial sense to Westjet to do such a route.

There's far more to these making routes than many see.

With this new flight, the plane will be over nighting here. Westjet will like have to bring in additional equipment, especially during the winter to get the aircraft ready for the morning flight. That will also mean the crews will be over nighting here.

Crash
Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 2415

Crash

Joined: Apr 2006

Posts: 2415

not just range

7/21/2015 at 8:36 PM

It isn't just a matter of range. No flight in the world is going to take off with a flight plan that uses more than 95% of its max fuel capacity to reach the destination. The slightest of headwinds or placement in holding pattern would cause this flight to arrive several miles before the airport (ie crash...)

january
Joined: Aug 2010
Posts: 75

january
Joined: Aug 2010
Posts: 75

Edmonton
7/22/2015 at 3:06 PM

Would love direct flights there
Adam

Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 15663

Adam
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 15663

Upgrades
9/14/2015 at 3:48 PM

Just to follow up on the airport upgrades question now that there is more info....

From the CKLQ link below, tenders are closing this week. The plan is for work to be completed late next year.
http://www.cklq.com/index.php?id=62&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=9103&cHash=d1d5bdc000651a553f8c88d1cd72aa67

Also interesting, sounds like Westjet will be announcing flights to London Gatwick tomorrow. One of those flights is out of Calgary, eventually making for another excellent connection option out of Brandon:
http://business.financialpost.com/news/transportation/six-canadian-cities-set-to-get-new-westjet-flights-to-london-u-k

Edited by Adam, 2015-09-14 15:50:27
CL
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 2625

CL
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 2625

9/14/2015 at 4:05 PM

Winnipeg's one of the cities that's offering direct flights to London. With Greyhound service being cut down to 1 trip/day and Brandon Air Shuttle doesn't have any busses that go during "red eye" hours, travelling West Jet out of Brandon looks more and more of a good idea every day.
Adam

Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 15663

Adam
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 15663

London
9/15/2015 at 11:36 AM

With the cat officially out of the bag, I just did a sample search for the:
Brandon ----> Calgary ------> London, UK route

Looks like right now it can be done for about $725 round trip without a single overnight layover! (though of course there's some flying at night/time zone adjusting once you get there)

JackAzz
Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 1436

JackAzz

Joined: Jul 2008

Posts: 1436

Wow

9/15/2015 at 1:25 PM

Adam said "
With the cat officially out of the bag, I just did a sample search for the:
Brandon ----> Calgary ------> London, UK route

Looks like right now it can be done for about $725 round trip without a single overnight layover! (though of course there's some flying at night/time zone adjusting once you get there)
"

I'm not knowledgeable on what overseas flights generally cost but that seems pretty reasonable

Comment
Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 194

Comment
Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 194

Westjet extra flights
9/15/2015 at 1:32 PM

As I check this out, the one day connection flight appears to occur on Friday only, unless I'm missing something...
JR
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 1886

JR
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 1886

...
9/15/2015 at 2:11 PM

My parents are moving to Victoria and I just did a flight search - flying Westjet out of Brandon and Air Canada out of Winnipeg are comparable in price, with Westjet a few dollars cheaper. Both provide itineraries for a single day each way with no excessive layovers. I'd expect this would be the case for most flight connections from Brandon. The biggest advantage is that you don't have to drive to/from Winnipeg.
TulgeyWood
Joined: Apr 2011
Posts: 165

TulgeyWood
Joined: Apr 2011
Posts: 165

calgary
9/15/2015 at 2:42 PM

what time does the late flight coming to brandon leave calgary?
Adam

Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 15663

Adam
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Posts: 15663

late flight
9/25/2015 at 12:27 PM

WJ website says the late flight leaves Calgary at 7:50pm, arriving at 10:48pm local time

Also I see the tender was awarded to TL Penner Construction... Amount $7,753,542.30
https://purchasing.brandon.ca
Adam

Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 15663

Adam
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Posts: 15663

Fleeting flight
1/21/2016 at 2:39 PM

Looks like the new second flight will be scaled back to four days per week and then completely eliminated by summer. Reason given being less business travel due to current state of the economy. The usual flight remains as per normal. Here's hoping that conditions are suitable for reconsidering by the time airport renos are complete:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/westjet-scaling-back-service-between-brandon-and-calgary-1.3413545

As per Rod Sage of the City, Brandon continues to explore other options for expanding service:
http://www.cklq.com/index.php?id=62&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=10133&cHash=25d66021b80a4c93d8ec4d16d18e81c3

Edited by Adam, 2016-01-21 14:44:48
foxtrot11
Joined: Feb 2009
Posts: 2688

foxtrot11
Joined: Feb 2009
Posts: 2688

I kind of pannicked
1/21/2016 at 3:00 PM

when I saw that today - we are on one of those flights at 6 am right when they are cancelling them. But a call in to Westjet assured me ours is not cancelled.

Sad that oil can be such a double edged sword.
curlysister
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 2980

curlysister
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 2980

hmmm
1/21/2016 at 4:52 PM

I find it a little funny that they already plan to eliminate the flight by summer due to 'less business travel'....but the flight only started a couple of weeks ago, so how can they predict that there will be less travel in the future?
The quiet one
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 864

The quiet one
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 864

I called it
1/21/2016 at 5:13 PM

If oil left, so would westjet... Good thing we as taxpaying citizens are stuck with the millions in terminal upgrades and upkeep on it as well
Trevor B

Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 8881

Trevor B
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 8881

Looks
1/21/2016 at 6:55 PM

like this is not isolated to Brandon, but 20 other communities as well.
Oh Canada
Joined: Mar 2010
Posts: 1392

Oh Canada
Joined: Mar 2010
Posts: 1392

You would almost think
1/21/2016 at 7:30 PM

it was a business decision. WestJet is getting ahead of the curve as they see that the potential economic developments will effect the demand. Being based out of Calgary they see a lot of empty commercial office space and issues from low oil prices. If they had a chance to cut back on the lease of their planes and other infrastructure costs before they are locked into agreements that they don't have enough revenue to pay for they were smart.

Anyone who thinks that the reason WestJet came to Brandon or Stay in Brandon will be a nice facility needs to think again . The are a company like most that is in the business of making money. If it has potential to make money and the risk is worth the return they may take a chance on it.