Calgary targeted in battle of Alberta airports
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| Supporters of the Edmonton International Airport were out on Jasper Avenue in the capital Monday to encourage people to stop driving to Calgary for international flights. |
Stop the Calgary Habit urges the 750,000 northern Albertans a year who go to Calgary's bigger, better airport to instead get connecting flights to Edmonton from the United States or Europe.
The move could prompt carriers such as KLM, Air France and Lufthansa, all of which fly out of Calgary, to glide into YEG, as the Edmonton International Airport is known, according to organizers.
"It's an interesting marketing campaign," Jody Moseley, Calgary Airport Authority director of communications, said with diplomacy. "From our perspective, YYC (C a lgary) has the best airlines, with the most flights, with the most destinations in Alberta, and because we offer those great connections, we're obviously a destination of choice for travellers and airlines."
Moseley said the Calgary Airport Authority got a heads-up from its peer in Edmonton about the launch of a new campaign on Sunday, but without receiving full details.
The tongue-in-cheek promotion called on Edmontonians to rally for the cause Monday and become an Edmonton International Airport Activist, lured by free T-shirts and the chance to win a $4,000 travel voucher.
Wearing "EIA Activist" shirts, Edmonton airport staff marched to the rally at Telus Plaza, with banners such as "Heck no, we won't go . . . through Calgary," "Stop the Calgary Habit" and "Fly EIA every time."
The campaign targets the northern Alberta passengers who will drive to Calgary every year to catch a flight.
"The 750,000 passengers translates into seven flights each day that are leaving from Calgary that could be leaving from Edmonton," said Peter McCart, Edmonton International Airport's vice-president of marketing.
The numbers also represent about $15 million per year in airport improvement dollars going to the rival city, the EIA said.
In 2009 more than 10.3 million people flew out of the Calgary airport, compared with 6.1 million passengers at Edmonton's airport, taking advantage of international carriers servicing the southern Alberta facility.
The Calgary airport also recently was rated above Toronto's Lester B. Pearson Airport and Vancouver International Airport for customer satisfaction in an international ranking by J.D. Power and Associates.
The three were the only Canadian hubs included in the North American study.
Calgary and Edmonton have enjoyed a mostly good-natured rivalry since Alberta became a province in 1905 and the northern city was named capital. Since then, the two cities have battled over who has the finest sport teams, best utility, most cosmopolitan downtown and influential city hall, among other topics.
The Edmonton airport's website has added a "Stop the Calgary Habit" tool kit that includes parking coupons, flight-mapping information and a cost calculator to estimate the real costs of driving to Calgary to catch a flight.
The admittedly comic site also includes obviously made-up e-testimonials from handsome people like TravelAgentAngel, HappyinEtown and GranolaAnnie.
However, the message Edmonton International Airport is pushing, to book connecting flights through the United States, isn't so funny.
The CorporateJoe profile applauds an intern who stopped a fictitious corporation from booking through Calgary.
"Now the company books me through US hub cities every chance they get -- and the intern got a promotion," the character Joe Bank states.
Calgary's Moseley said the industry should be focusing on air access to Alberta
"We think you should be focusing on the best value for travelers in Alberta," she said. "We would never tell Calgarians to avoid Edmonton if that was the best route for their travel value. The economic benefit for keeping travel in Alberta helps Alberta as a region."
