The first time I stepped on Canadian ground was at CALGARY INT. AIRPORT.
CALGARY INT. AIRPORT ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The airport is appropriate 17km far away from Downtown Calgary and it is very easy to get there. You just take the Deerfoot Trail (Highway 2) and then there are many signs which show the right way! The official abbreviation for the airport is YYC. The semicircular terminal consists of the sections A-D. There are signs that show where the check in of the each airline is. You can find Air Canada and their partners for instance in A, while the low cost airline WestJet is situated in D. There was some work going on in C, however it was so shielded, that one didn’t saw anything from the work and you also heard nothing. The airport has three runways. In 2oo3 about 8 million passengers were checked through and 663ooo of them flew to an international destination. If you want to get more information just visit www.calgaryairport.com!
HOW TO GEHT THERE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It is very easy to get to the airport by car. Just take Deerfoot Trail which is also known as Highway 2. You can’t go wrong because there are many signs and you can see the airport from the highway. It takes about half an hour from downtown to the airport – maybe less. Besides you can take a taxi or a bus which is called Airporter to the airport. The Airporter is a small bus for 2o people and it goes from several hotels in Downtown to the airport and back. A one-way ticket costs 11CAN$, and return trip 17CAN$. This is cheaper than taking a taxi. A taxi costs about 33CAD$ for one way. In the bus there is enough place for luggage and on all three travels we made the drivers were always very nice! You can get tickets in hotels or directly in the bus!
PARKING ~~~~~ There is multi-storey car park at the opposite of the terminal, one for long and one for short time. We paid 3,5oCAN$ in the short time parking, whereby the first half hour was free. The other multi-storey car park costs a dollar per hour. Likewise there is a lot of free parking. For unloading or loading you can shortly park just in front of the terminal. Here a man walks around and sees to it that the people quickly move on so that there’s no chaos as I know it from other airports You can’t pay at the automat as I was used to. Before the exit there are several switches, where one can also pay by credit card.
ARRIVAL ~~~~~~ In the afternoon we arrived in Calgary. First we went a long course along, which was quite dark. The walls mostly consisted of glass, so that one could look into some waiting areas, but there was also much wood and a dark carpet, so that the long course looked very darkly. At the end of the course a woman with a white cowboy hat and red waistcoat stood and she said "Welcome to Calgary". There were the stairs and also an escalator to go downstairs. There another employee of the airport stood and she showed us the right way with her hand. First we had to pass the customs and passport control, where many switches were opened. On many flat screens we were asked to hold our passports and customs declaration cards ready, which we had already filled out in the airplane. It was shown in several languages. It took a while till it was our turn. The employee was rather funny and asked how long we are going to stay in Calgary, what we want to do in Canada and as we told him that we are also going to visit Vancouver, he said: “Oh, Vancouver is not very nice. It is not beautiful. Calgary is so beautiful! It is great! But Vancouver…” *g* At the baggage reclaim you could get one of several trolleys for free. It seemed as if only our machine had arrived, so that it was empty and I enjoyed that because there was no crush. We got out luggage quite fast. But I have to mention that we had we nearly left the airplane last and then we had to wait at the customs and passport check. Before leaving the baggage reclaim we had to deliver the customs declaration cards. Then I saw another baggage reclaim to which everybody (also non-passengers) could go and which weren’t behind a door. This reclaim is only used for domestic flights. There were also screens which showed the current arrivals. In front of the terminal there were a lot of taxis and immediately one driver got out of the car, asked if we needed a taxi and then packed in our luggage. The travel to downtown took about a half hour and cost 33CAD$.
TAKEOFF ~~~~~~ A few days later we flew to Vancouver. This time we took the Airporter to the airport which was quite cheaper than a taxi. The airport is not very big, so that one gets along easily. Since in front of the terminal there are signs which show where which airline is situated, one don’t has to search for a long time to the right entrance. When you travel with Air Canada you cannot check in at each desk as I was used to it when I fly with Lufthansa. Thus there is a desk for flights to the USA, to Europe and for different domestic flights. Just as we walked into the empty terminal, an employee of Air Canada asked for our destination and then she described us the way to the right desk. A few meters further the same thing happened again. There were three desks opened for the destinations Edmonton and Vancouver and as usual there was a central queue for all the three desks. It proceeded fast, so that it soon was our turn. After the usual questions as "how much pieces of luggage do you have?“, the three “security questions” followed. "Did you pack the suit-case on your own?”, "Did you leave your baggage unattended?" etc.. Then the nice lady gave us our tickets, told us the boarding time and explained the way to the gate. I recognized many self-check-in automats, where one could check in and receive the boarding pass without luggage. Before the security check we had to show the tickets and then we had to wait for a short time. There was just one queue at the security check but not many people had lined up. I was surprised when we were asked to unpack all electronic devices from our backpack. It took us a while till we had packed the cd-player, mobile, batteries etc. in again, put on our jacket and this naturally caused a small back-up. At the whole airport there are lots of restaurants, cafés and shops. Even after passing the security check there are some shopping possibilities. The right waiting area was not hard to find. By the big windows one had a good view of the apron and also there were enough seats. What I liked was the large flat screen at our gate which showed the time of departure, the destination and even our flight duration, the type of aircraft and the exact distance to Vancouver. It was pleasantly calm and there were also enough clean toilets, some telephones, a service counter of Star Alliance, as well as newspaper shops etc..
SERVICE... ~~~~~~ ... is largely written here in any case! Even when we arrived at Calgary we were welcomed by two employees of the airport and also before the security check I saw several times service employees, which one can recognize easily by the red waistcoat and the white hat. Between Terminal A and B there is a large glass front with seat possibilities where one has a good view of the apron. When the weather is clear, one can also see the skyline of Calgary, as well as the Rocky Mountains which is really beautiful! There is also Starbucks, a shop for glasses and jewellery, many screens with departure times… Upstairs one can buy something to eat but there is no restaurant, there are several Shops, where one can buy something. From here one has also a good view on the apron. Besides there is a souvenir shop, an exchange bank, several cafés and restaurants, many telephones (some are with internet), a play corner for children etc.. The moreover one finds the desks of the different airlines and also of the alliances One World and Star Alliance just near the check in desks. By the way each passenger (except infants and transit passengers) has to pay a so-called Airport Improvement Fee of 12CAD$. This fee is usually included in the ticket price so you don’t have to pay it separately at the airport! The fee is for renovations, reconstructions etc..!
AIRLINE CONNECTIONS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In the winter there are only two daily non-stop flights from/to Europe, indeed with Air Canada to London Heathrow, as well as to Frankfurt ass a codeshare-flight with Lufthansa. In the summer also the charter airline Air Transat connects Calgary with Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Glasgow and London-Gatwick. But of course one can also book a flight to Toronto. There are several flights from Europe. And then you can get a connecting flight to Calgary with Air Canada or Zip Air. Well, a disadvantage is that the baggage is not checked through to Calgary because of the customs, so that you have to get it at Toronto and then you have to give it up again for the connecting flight. At the rush hour there is a lot going on at YYC: Air Canada and its partners have many connections to Canada - several times at a day. In addition, there are destinations in the USA, Europe etc. There is also the low cost airline WestJet that also has flights to all the big airports in Canada and also a few in the USA. There are about ten destinations in the USA which are non-stop attainable from YYC. American Airlines has two daily flights to Chicago; further airlines are United Airlines, American West, Horizon Air etc. In the summer there are also flights to the Dominican Republic, as well as Mexico and Cuba.
RESULT ~~~~~~ Calgary International Airport is a medium sized airport. The advantages are the good signs, many seat possibilities, telephones, the small shops and shops where you can buy something to eat or to drink, the great service which started just by the arrival, many toilets, the beautiful glass front with good view of the apron, the short ways, the cleanliness, the pleasant atmosphere and no chaos! And there is an extra point for the great landing and takeoff: when we landed, everything was white; when departing to Vancouver we flew over the Rocky Mountains which was great! I give *****!
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RINI2oo4
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