# France to Canada in 44 minutes.



## NS VIA Fan (Aug 4, 2013)

No not on some Super Concorde but on a Cessna F406 Turboprop.

Yes I might be stretching it a bit.....but I was at the airport in Sydney, Nova Scotia today when Air Saint-Pierre Flight 1125 arrived after a 44 minute, 188 mile flight from Saint-Pierre & Miquelon.....a Territory "Collectivité" of France located about 20 miles off the coast of Newfoundland.












http://flightaware.com/live/flight/SPM1125

The longer flights to Halifax and Montreal (where they connect with Air France) use ATRs.

http://www.airsaintpierre.com/about/our-fleet/

The islands might be in North America but the local currency in the Euro and the wine.....excellent!

http://www.tourisme-saint-pierre-et-miquelon.com/en/


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## railiner (Aug 4, 2013)

Those two islands have always interested me....I almost got to them on a cruise once, but I couldn't make that particular one. Car and Driver recently did a story about driving an ancient Citroen sedan, with all its idiosycracy's, there. I see that there is a passenger ferry from there to Fortune, Nfld., but don't see any public transportation to Fortune....so I guess flying is the only option?


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## jis (Aug 5, 2013)

NS VIA Fan said:


> No not on some Super Concorde but on a Cessna F406 Turboprop.
> Yes I might be stretching it a bit.....but I was at the airport in Sydney, Nova Scotia today when Air Saint-Pierre Flight 1125 arrived after a 44 minute, 188 mile flight from Saint-Pierre & Miquelon.....a Territory "Collectivité" of France located about 20 miles off the coast of Newfoundland.


So would you happen to be _ghYHZ_ on airliners.net perchance?


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## NS VIA Fan (Aug 5, 2013)

jis said:


> So would you happen to be_ghYHZ_ on airliners.net perchance?


So you hang around airline sites too eh?


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## jis (Aug 5, 2013)

Yes indeed! I am _COEWR787_ on airliners.net


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## the_traveler (Aug 5, 2013)

railiner said:


> Fortune, Nfld.


Can you make a fortune in Fortune? :giggle: If so, I may try!


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## fairviewroad (Aug 5, 2013)

I assume the runway on St. Pierre is too short for jet service? Flying west to Montreal in order to connect

to Paris involves quite a bit of backtracking. You'd wonder if Air France would consider sending over a weekly

737 (I think it'd be within range) or perhaps twice weekly during summer. I'd guess there would be passenger

demand both from locals and from French tourists. (Though perhaps the island's tourist infrastructure couldn't

handle it?)


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## xyzzy (Aug 5, 2013)

Runway at FSP is only 5900 feet. Although it's at sea level and the air is often cold, you're right at the edge of any commercial jetliner with enough fuel to reach France nonstop. Maybe an A319, which is the best aircraft for a route like this, could do it. An A319 with typical engines requires 6400 feet at MTOW. It's 2664 miles FSP-CDG, and maybe an A319 wouldn't require 100% of MTOW, and maybe engine ratings could be tweaked... but it would be cutting it very close. That said, I've done a 757 SNA-JFK that made it off the ground in 5700 feet. SNA-JFK is only 200 miles less than FSP-CDG.


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## fairviewroad (Aug 5, 2013)

xyzzy said:


> Runway at FSP is only 5900 feet. Although it's at sea level and the air is often cold, you're right at the edge of any commercial jetliner with enough fuel to reach France nonstop. Maybe an A319, which is the best aircraft for a route like this, could do it. An A319 with typical engines requires 6400 feet at MTOW. It's 2664 miles FSP-CDG, and maybe an A319 wouldn't require 100% of MTOW, and maybe engine ratings could be tweaked... but it would be cutting it very close. That said, I've done a 757 SNA-JFK that made it off the ground in 5700 feet. SNA-JFK is only 200 miles less than FSP-CDG.


So perhaps technically possible but probably not enough demand to justify jumping through those hoops. It's not exactly a beach destination,

perhaps more of a geographical curiosity. Guess those FSP-er's will have to be satisfied with the connection in YUL!


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## NS VIA Fan (Aug 5, 2013)

Instead of the long back-haul through Montreal. Saint-Pierre residents can take the 25 minute scheduled flight to St. John’s, Newfoundland where connections are available on Air Canada’s transatlantic A319 to Heathrow then onto Paris.

You can see FSP here.....also the abandoned airport just to the northeast.....now being redeveloped for housing.

http://goo.gl/maps/qN9Nk


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## railiner (Aug 5, 2013)

the_traveler said:


> railiner said:
> 
> 
> > Fortune, Nfld.
> ...


Sure you can....just look at what the ferry's charge for passengers.....http://www.saintpierreferry.ca/St._Pierre_Ferry_Office/Rates.html


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## Swadian Hardcore (Aug 5, 2013)

NS VIA Fan said:


> jis said:
> 
> 
> > So would you happen to be_ghYHZ_ on airliners.net perchance?
> ...


I've been lurking around for six years, too. But I'm not a member due to the $25 fee.



NS VIA Fan said:


> Instead of the long back-haul through Montreal. Saint-Pierre residents can take the 25 minute scheduled flight to St. John’s, Newfoundland where connections are available on Air Canada’s transatlantic A319 to Heathrow then onto Paris.
> You can see FSP here.....also the abandoned airport just to the northeast.....now being redeveloped for housing.
> 
> http://goo.gl/maps/qN9Nk


A transatlantic A319? Now I know what the US airlines will want by 2020! :huh: Is that a special version like BA's A318?


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## xyzzy (Aug 5, 2013)

The A318 could do it, technically speaking. Runway at MTOW is 6000 feet, and the A318 would not require full fuel for FSP-CDG. Then the question becomes financial. The transatlantic A318 flown by BA LCY-JFK is all business class (32 seats) with a typical one-way fare of $2500. That kind of yield is more than enough to counteract the fact that the A318, as a twice-shrunk airframe, is weight-disadvantaged. I don't see enough revenue per flight coming from FSP-CDG for any airline to make money on it. AF configures its A318's for the opposite end of the market, 131 economy seats and short distances.


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## NS VIA Fan (Aug 6, 2013)

Swadian Hardcore said:


> A transatlantic A319? Now I know what the US airlines will want by 2020! :huh: Is that a special version like BA's A318?


Air Canada has a couple of ETOPS equipped A319s (Fin #286 & #287) for the transatlantic service out of YYT (St. John’s)

There’s a good trip report on Airliners.net about this route (lots of photos) and you should be able to access even though you’re not a member.

http://www.airliners.net/aviation-forums/trip_reports/read.main/227390/

http://www.worldairroutes.com/AirCanada319.html

We have daily 767s out of Halifax to London Heathrow but I’ve been tempted to hop over to YYT just to take an A319 across the pond.

In the late 2000s, the British airline “Astraeus” flew 737-700s transatlantic to both St. John’s and Deer Lake, Newfoundland from Gatwick. (Deer Lake, pop 5,000 had to be one of the smallest cities with transatlantic service)


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## xyzzy (Aug 6, 2013)

YYT has 8500 ft; YHZ, 10500 ft; YDF, 8000 ft. More than enough for that altitude and prevailing temperature. By the way, YYT and YHZ were on the list of Canadian airports that were East Coast Abort Landing sites for the Space Shuttle.

Looking at the satellite photo of FSP, I believe they made the runway as long as they could. Only one end has approach lights.


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## fairviewroad (Aug 6, 2013)

Of course, if there really was money to be made in the FSP air market, you'd think Air Canada would have entered

it already. Not to CDG, of course, but to YHZ or YYT. Logistically speaking it'd be a piece of cake for them. The fact

that they don't indicates to me that either there isn't the market for it, or the red tape involved for such a short-haul

international flight isn't worth it to them.


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## Swadian Hardcore (Aug 7, 2013)

NS VIA Fan said:


> Swadian Hardcore said:
> 
> 
> > A transatlantic A319? Now I know what the US airlines will want by 2020! :huh: Is that a special version like BA's A318?
> ...


Thank for that. Yes, I can access the forum and photos on a.net, I just can't post, that's all. I love reading TRs with lots of pictures, but the ones without pics are so much more bland!


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