Sunwing's schedule

[spm]

I've noticed Sunwing flys out of many smaller Canadian cities, offering flights direct to the Caribbean/Mexico etc. But some of the flights are only on a weekly basis and with only a few destinations offered from some cities.

Does this create the need for many ferry/positioning flights in order to make the schedule work? If so, are domestic tickets sold on these flights to increase revenue?

Thanks

[gonnabeapilot]

Yes and no. A lot of the flights to/from the smaller communities served by Sunwing are tag-ons from flights to other larger destinations. For example the flight will operate YSB-YOW-VRA-YOW-YSB. This is done for a variety of reasons but the main one is for customs as some of these smaller communities don't have customs facilities at their airports. The number of seats available for sale is normally split 50/50 between the two destinations but the flight is treated as one so tickets are not sold on the domestic portion. When customs services aren't an issue and the company can make it work with scheduling, the smaller communities are served by sending the plane in a 'V' pattern from a larger station. For example the aircraft will start in YYZ and operate YYZ-VRA-YXU-VRA-YYZ allowing the community to be served without the need for a positioning flight. Every now and then though, there is a need to position airplanes to allow certain communities to be served. These flights are empty and tickets are not sold. There is one exception to this and it is during the summer months when Sunwing needs to position an aircraft out to YVR from YYZ. This is treated as a scheduled domestic flight and tickets are sold. Hope that helps.

[spm]

Thanks. I appreciate the response! Sound like a unique business plan...