Connecting to the world through your International Airport
Friday May 05, 2006
Peter McCart
Previous attempts have been made to bring attention to Edmonton’s non-stop air service. Fly Edmonton First was popular in the nineties to promote Edmonton International Airport’s (EIA) air service.
Alberta has the fourth and fifth largest airports in the country in terms of passenger enplanements and deplanements, however, the cities themselves have almost exactly the same population bases to draw from.
Historically, air service in Calgary has outpaced Edmonton. Many passengers chose to drive to Calgary to take advantage of additional flight options.
Beginning in late 2005, air service began to grow at a far greater rate at EIA. This trend has continued in 2006 and will continue through this year with approximately 30 per cent more flights and seats departing EIA this coming summer period.
Many new non-stop routes have been announced and launched from Edmonton and folks in the EIA region and north need to be aware of the new options that are now available in their own backyard.
One of the fastest growing sectors has been U.S flights, which have grown from two to nine since 1996. This is the segment of Edmonton’s air service that we have chosen to focus on first with our new FlyEdmonton.com program.|
With all the new non-stop flight choices available from EIA, we needed a quick, easy and fun way to do some preliminary research about our region’s new travel options.
To do this we have created a program that promotes awareness of non-stop flight choices from EIA and encourages travellers to "look before they book" to ensure they fly to and from EIA before opting for a connection flight or a drive to Calgary as historically some Edmonton travellers have done.
For the nine U.S. hub cities now served from EIA, passengers are really just one stop away from almost any destination in the world.
Not only is EIA the hometown favorite, it is also very convenient, fast and efficient, as clearing U.S. customs is a breeze through our pre-clearance facilities.
The website will show EIA travellers the non-stop destinations they can get to now. The first phase focuses of U.S flights and international/sunspot charter destinations now served from EIA. The next phase will include are Canada/domestic services.
When travellers book their flights through EIA, they’re voting to maintain and improve Edmonton air service.
Visit www.flyedmonton.com
Column ID#: 6
**Opinions expressed by guest columnists do not necessarily reflect the views of Connect2Edmonton members, partners or sponsors.**
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