Data quality, concepts and methodology: Data quality and limitations
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Aircraft movement statistics are accumulated from data originating with air traffic control tower units or flight service station personnel. Because staff in these positions are highly trained in factual observation and reporting, the entries in the data bank are of a high quality.
The procedures for reporting aircraft movements on the Daily air traffic records by tower units are described in the NAV CANADA Air traffic control manual of operations (TP 703) Volume 1, Para. 1023 to 1023.5. Definitions for terms used in these paragraphs can be found in appendix I "Glossary of terms" of this report.
To maintain uniformity in the reporting of source data, air traffic control units have access to an "Air traffic designators" handbook (TP 143) listing the official Transport Canada aircraft type designators and the designators of various domestic and international air carriers. This handbook and another titled "Canada flight supplement" listing various airport codes serve as references to help ensure the reporting of the proper aircraft identity and the point of origin and destination of flights.
The processing system contains editing procedures designed to identify data errors occurring during transcription or during data capture of forms. Identified errors are manually corrected by Aviation Statistics Centre editing staff.
Errors may occur if an aircraft type code which exists is reported or data captured in error for a flight. For example, the reporting or keying of B727 for a flight actually performed by a B737 may not be detected during the system editing. That the aircraft type information is recorded by highly trained air traffic control tower staff using a common handbook of official aircraft codes will minimize this problem.
Similarly, the breakdown of the data on a geographic basis by use of location codes can be subject to error. For smaller locations, alphanumeric location codes are often used and the sequence of numbers and letters determines the geographic area to which the data are assigned. In some cases, where a sequence error has been introduced into the system either at the reporting unit or at data capture, a domestic movement may be classified as transborder or vice versa. The use of common manuals of location identifiers works to minimize this occurrence.
Factors which may influence the data
2014
Air Canada launched a new non-stop seasonal service from Toronto/Lester B. Pearson International Airport to Mont-Tremblant, Quebec. Air Canada Express will operate four weekly flights between December 18th, 2014 and March 30th, 2015.
Air Canada inaugurated new non-stop service between Toronto/Lester B. Pearson International Airport and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The new service will be offered three days a week starting December 12th, 2014.
All flights at Vancouver International Airport were briefly grounded November 30th, 2014 after a water leak at the air traffic control centre.
On November 26th, 2014, Air Canada rouge commenced non-stop flights between Toronto/Lester B. Pearson International Airport and Honolulu, Hawaii. The new service will be offered twice weekly.
A light snowfall combined with blowing snow delayed and cancelled a number of flights departing Toronto/Lester B. Pearson International Airport on November 19th, 2014.
The world’s longest and heaviest aircraft, the six-engine Antonov An-225 Mriya, made its first appearance at Toronto/Lester B. Pearson International Airport on November 17th, 2014. The aircraft is approximately 275 feet long with a maximum takeoff weight of 640 tonnes.
A simulated air crash took place in October 2014 on one of the runways at the Montréal/Saint-Hubert Airport. The exercise was designed to test the effectiveness of the emergency measures plan, in accordance with Transport Canada requirements.
Effective July 24th, 2014, NAV CANADA terminated the services provided by the Flight Service Station located at Prince Rupert Airport. The airport remains operational.
On July 23rd and 24th, 2014, Air Canada halted flights to Tel Aviv, Israel due to a rocket strike near its main airport.
On June 28th, 2014, Calgary International Airport opened a new runway. The new runway will be the longest in Canada, capable of landing the largest aircraft in the world with fewer payload restrictions.
Effective June 27th, 2014, WestJet Encore began service between Toronto/Lester B. Pearson International Airport and Thunder Bay Airport, as well as service between Thunder Bay Airport and Winnipeg/James Armstrong Richardson International Airport.
As of June 25th, 2014, China Eastern Airlines commenced flights from Toronto/Lester B. Pearson International Airport to Shanghai, China to supplement increasing demand for flights to and from Chinese destinations. And Cathay Pacific Airline, which has been flying out of Vancouver for 31 years, flies twice-daily non-stop from Vancouver International Airport to Hong Kong. The airline also offers flights 10 times a week between Toronto/Lester B. Pearson International Airport and Hong Kong.
Starting June 24th, 2014, WestJet commenced non-stop service twice per week between Las Vegas, Nevada and Fort McMurray Airport.
Effective June 20th, 2014, Canadian North Airlines began a seasonal non-stop flight service between Iqaluit Airport and Halifax/Robert L. Stanfield International Airport, with same plane service to St John’s International.
On June 15th, 2014, WestJet launched its first transatlantic flight between Toronto/Lester B. Pearson International Airport and Dublin, Ireland. The inaugural flight stopped at St John’s International Airport for refueling.
On June 1st, 2014, British Airways began to operate 19 flights per week between Toronto/Lester B. Pearson International Airport and London, England, with the introduction of additional flights on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays.
Beginning May 12th, 2014, WestJet Encore added new daily non-stop service between Fort McMurray Airport and Kelowna Airport and between Fort McMurray and Vancouver International Airport.
As of May 1st, 2014, Air Canada rouge began flying year-round service between Toronto/Lester B. Pearson International Airport and Dublin, Ireland.
Air Canada rouge will operate five new routes from Vancouver International Airport by the end of 2014, beginning with a daily service to Las Vegas, Nevada on April 28th. The airline will also offer daily services to Los Angeles, California (beginning May 1st), Anchorage, Alaska (beginning May 16th), San Francisco, California (beginning July 1st) and Phoenix, Arizona (beginning December 17th).
Effective April 1st, 2014, Bearskin Airlines cancelled its service from Kitchener-Waterloo Airport to Ottawa/ Macdonald-Cartier International Airport.
Beginning March 31, Abbotsford-based Island Express Air will begin flights twice daily from Boundary Bay Airport to Victoria International Airport, with connecting flights to Nanaimo and Tofino Airports.
On March 12th, 2014 a significant winter storm struck Eastern Canada forcing dozens of flight cancellations and delays at Eastern Canadian airports.
On March 3rd, 2014, Kenmore Air, a Seattle, Washington based airline launched a new non-stop service between Nanaimo Airport and Seattle. The airline will operate flights twice-daily.
On February 24th, 2014, a major winter storm with freezing temperatures struck the south-west coast of British Columbia forcing flight cancellations and delays at Vancouver International Airport and Victoria International Airport.
On January 7th, 2014, Toronto/Lester B. Pearson International Airport experienced a ground stop caused by extreme cold which prevented North American flights from landing for approximately eight hours.
2013
Significant winter storms struck much of Ontario, Québec and the Maritime provinces forcing flight cancellations and delays across Canada in December 2013.
On November 30th, 2013 (4:49pm), Edmonton City Centre Airport officially closed.
In November 2013, Air Canada rouge began year round flying between Toronto/Lester B. Pearson International Airport and Orlando, Florida with 3 daily departures and two more starting in December 2013.
Westjet launched a new non-stop seasonal service between Calgary International Airport and Miami International Airport in October 2013. The airline started service four times a week until December 14th. Effective December 16th the service increased to six times weekly.
In October 2013, Air Canada rouge launched service between Toronto/Lester B. Pearson International Airport and Las Vegas. The airline offered ten flights per week for the winter 2013-2014 season.
In July 2013, Air Canada began operations of its new leisure subsidiary Air Canada rouge. Flying out of Toronto/Lester B. Pearson International Airport and Montréal/Pierre Elliott Trudeau International, the new carrier will initially serve three European and ten Caribbean and Latin American destinations.
In June 2013, Westjet launched its new regional carrier, Westjet Encore, into operations. The new airline commenced flights to Fort St. John, Nanaimo, Vancouver and Victoria, British Columbia and Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.
Starting April 2013, Porter Airlines added a fourth round-trip weekday flight between Toronto/Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport and Windsor.
In April 2013, Westjet expanded its summer service from Hamilton Airport by adding daily non-stop flights to Edmonton, Halifax, Moncton and Winnipeg.
2012
Significant winter storms struck eastern Canada and the Maritime provinces in December 2012 forcing numerous flight cancellations and delays.
In December 2012, Sunwing began offering seasonal flights from Fort McMurray to Mexico.
Hurricane Sandy struck the northeastern United States and eastern Canada in October 2012 forcing numerous flight cancellations.
In June 2012, Porter Airlines commenced summer service to Mont-Tremblant,Québec with four weekly flights between Toronto/Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport and Mont-Tremblant International Airport.
In May 2012, WestJet launched a new non-stop seasonal service between Toronto/Lester B. Pearson International and Aruba, Netherlands Antilles. The airline also introduced daily non-stop flights to Chicago from both Calgary International and Vancouver International as well as from Vancouver International to Whitehorse International.
In April 2012, Porter Airlines increased weekday roundtrip flights from six to seven between Toronto/Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport and Boston’s Logan International Airport.
Air Canada experienced some delays and cancellations of flights departing Toronto/Lester B. Pearson International and Montréal/Pierre Elliot Trudeau International in both March and April 2012. This was due to one day work actions by Air Canada ground handling employees.
In February 2012 (leap year) an additional day of aircraft movements were reported..
In January 2012, Porter Airlines started regular service between Toronto/Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport and Timmins, Ontario.
2011
Starting in October 2011, Porter Airlines increased weekday round trip flights between Toronto/Billy Bishop Toronto City and Boston’s Logan International Airport.
Westjet launched twice-weekly service from both Hamilton, Ontario and Prince George, British Columbia to Las Vegas, Nevada in September 2011. Service was increased between Edmonton International and Calgary International from five to seven flights daily and between Vancouver International and Toronto/Lester B. Pearson International from five to six flights daily.
Hurricane Irene struck the northeastern United States and eastern Canada in August 2011 forcing numerous flight delays and cancellations.
Effective May 1, 2011 Air Canada started cutting the following routes: Ottawa/Macdonald-Cartier International to Thunder Bay; Ottawa/Macdonald-Cartier International to Dulles International in Washington, D.C.; Montréal/ Pierre Elliott Trudeau International to Dulles International in Washington, D.C.; Calgary International to London, Ontario; and Calgary International to San Francisco, California. At the same time, Air Canada began daily service between Toronto/Billy Bishop Toronto City and Montréal/Pierre Elliott Trudeau International.
In May 2011, Porter Airlines added daily non-stop round trip flights from Toronto/Billy Bishop Toronto City to Windsor and Sault Ste. Marie. In September 2011, additional daily round trip flights between Toronto/Billy Bishop Toronto City and Sudbury as well as Myrtle Beach, S.C. were added.
In May 2011, WestJet began the reintroduction of flights from Hamilton, Ontario and added non-stop service from Vancouver International and Calgary International to Orange County, California and between Toronto/Lester B. Pearson International and Montréal/Pierre Elliott Trudeau International as well as between Toronto/Lester B. Pearson International and Ottawa/Macdonald-Cartier International.
Bearskin Airlines initiated daily non-stop flights between the Kitchener/Waterloo, Ontario and Montréal/Pierre Elliott Trudeau International in May 2011.
The main runway at Moncton/Greater Moncton International was closed for reconstruction from May to August 2011.
Heavy fog in downtown Toronto in April 2011 caused Porter Airlines to cancel numerous flights at Toronto/Billy Bishop Toronto City.
Significant winter storms struck the northeastern United States, Atlantic Canada and Britain in January 2011 forcing flight delays and cancellations. These winter storms continued to affect the northeastern United States and eastern Canada in February resulting in further flight delays and cancellations.
2010
Effective September 2010, the Calgary Airport Authority no longer permits anyone with a student pilot permit to take off or land at the Calgary International Airport.This has resulted in increased training flights at the nearby Calgary/Springbank airport.
On August 4, 2010, work was begun on the closure of runway 16/34 at Edmonton City Centre.
Lightning storms, combined with dry conditions, caused a rash of forest fires in northern Manitoba and Saskatchewan and in the British Columbia interior in July 2010.
The spread of dense volcanic ash from Iceland resulted in the cancellation of numerous flights in April and May 2010.
Skyservice, Canada’s second-largest charter carrier, ceased operation at the end of March 2010.
Significant winter storms struck the eastern seaboard of Canada and the United States in early February 2010, forcing flight delays and cancellations. Winter storms struck the north-eastern United States, Atlantic Canada and Britain again in December resulting in numerous flight delays and cancellations.
The Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics in February 2010 resulted in regular carriers scheduling additional flights and an influx of corporate jets. Conversely, airspace restrictions and enhanced security reduced the number of movements of the smaller local carriers.
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