Buffalo airways, air tindi and a MOUNTAIN of fish and chips!
No trip up to YZF is complete without a tour of buffalo airways…
As well as a surprise tour of Air Tindi…
And a literal mountain of Fish and Chips to finish off the day!
4 reviews
This trip was oddly enough never meant to happen. While scouring for random flights over the summer I came across Canadian North. I had always wanted to fly the 737-200 and I felt like this was my only chance. After a few phone calls, and $400 dollars later, I had booked a day trip to Yellowknife and back from Edmonton on the classic Boeing 737-200. What made this trip even more special, is the fact that this aircraft will be in full passenger configuration as opposed to the more common "Combi" configuration.
I had totally forgotten to check in the night before, and so I did it when I woke up in the morning. Turns out we had been delayed from our origional 7:45am departure to a new 10:00am departure due to aircraft maintenance. We were later told that a flap motor had to be replaced.
YEG is a nice, modern airport. Check-in was a breeze and the helpful Canadian North agents got me all set with my boarding pass, and a $9.00 meal voucher as compensation for this 2:15 delay. There is a very nice central security area which only took about 15 minutes to get through. Once past security there is a very nice area with a few shops and restaurants. My flight will be departing from gate 12 this morning which is located in the old part of YEG.
When I got to the gate, it was pretty quiet, but soon became crowded as there was a Swoop flight departing at the gate next door to ours. I did make use of the $9.00 meal voucher and bought myself some Tim Horton's for breakfast.
Seeing as I still had some time to kill, I walked around the terminal and did a little bit of plane spotting. I love how much natural light comes into the terminal and it makes it feel nice and spacious. Featured here is a number of WestJet Encore Q400's, an Air Canada Airbus A320 and Central Mountain Air Dornier 328.
Soon enough it was time for boarding this classic 737-200! I picked seat 5A which is right where the cargo door seal is. It provides a wonderful view of this aircraft's JT8D engines! Also note the absolutely insane amount of legroom. Keep in mind I am 6'5" (196cm) so this is wonderful!
Boarding was completed very quickly as almost every row of 3 had only 2 people in it, leaving the middle seat empty! After the final checks were made, we taxied out and departed off of Runway 12 here in Edmonton.
The 737-200 being the original series of the 737, boast a number of "retro" features. Those include the very tiny overhead bins, classic overhead controls and the little "737" logo on all the window shades. Sort of like what the MD-80 has.
Shortly after takeoff, the cabin crew began their in-flight service. Canadian North serves a HOT complimentary breakfast on this flight to Yellowknife, and I was surprised to see that a lot of passenger did not participate in the meal service. One can only assume that they are frequent commuters up North and are not as easily surprised as us av-geeks are.
The meal this morning consisted of a hot ham and cheese omelette, hash browns, mushrooms and asparagus. For a free meal this was one of the best things I have had on an airplane. The crew came around after serving the meals, to deliver us our drinks. I had a can of Pepsi, and even with asking the crew gave all passengers the whole can of pop.
After that delicious breakfast, there was only about 40ish minutes left before we would be arriving into Yellowknife. In this part of Northern Alberta there is not much to see. Other than flat prairie landscape.
One thing I do love about Canadian North is that their safety cards all have a differnt animal on them! Ours seemed to have what looks to be a weasel of some sort!
Upon boarding the aircraft, the gate agents also handed out this lovely apology note with a 20% off coupon code for our next Canadian North flight! As far as I'm aware, NO other major airline in Canada wither it be Air Canada, WestJet, Air Transat or Porter would give a 20% off discount code for just a 2:45 delay. This is what exceptional customer service looks like.
Sadly all good things must come to an end, and we began our descent into Yellowknife, making a very smooth landing on Runway 34.
I was very pleased with Canadian North and the experience on this flight to Yellowknife! They do a excellent job at making the customer feel welcomed and at home on-board their aircraft. The hot breakfast was completely unnecessary for this short 1:50 flight where a Biscoff and pop would have done the trick. They excelled at the way the delay was handled in the morning. I only paid a hair over $400cad ($300usd) for the return flight from Edmonton. The aircraft would make a short stopover in Yellowknife, before carrying on to Norman Wells and Inuvik. Flights to Inuvik were around $1800cad ($1355usd), and if my bank account was able to support that kind of spending then I most certainly would have gone the entire way.
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Canadian North is one of our little gems in Canada. One of only a handful of operators who fly the 737-200 on a daily basis. Their customer focused approach is very evident int he way the delay was handled (Meal Voucher and Discount Code) as well as the on-board experience. I will most certainly be making use of that discount in the future to hopefully, once again fly the Boeing 737-200!
2 Comments
400CAD is decent for that kind of airlines, guess the fact of having several options between YEG and YZF explains the cheaper fare.
Their very customer friendly approach sure is welcome as they don't even have to as they're the only option for many routes.
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