Review of Air Canada Express flight from Regina to Vancouver in Economy

The Canadian Tour so far…

Finally Flying a CRJ-900!

Living in Europe, especially flying in the 2020s- you don't get an awful lot of choice compare to pre-2015 when it comes to flying on aircraft… The best part of 80% of Short-Medium Haul flights will see you on an Airbus A320-family or Boeing 737-family aircraft. In terms of Regional airlines the ATR-72 and Embraer ERJ-family dominate those markets with the Dash 8 Q-400 now a rare find in Europe… but in North America- a third option remains quite competitive… the Bombardier CRJ-900 and its family.

In Europe during the 2020s, the Bombardier CRJ-900 is mainly found operating for Scandinavian Airlines around Northern Europe and in the Mediterranean by Iberia Regional, they can be found in those areas easily, but if you're not based in the Iberian Peninsular or the Nordics, they can be hard to track down.

Regional airlines in North America are huge operators of the type, so they can be easy to come by on routes to smaller and niche markets or low demand routes in general. In Canada, Air Canada Express operate the CRJ-900 on routes where a Dash 8 Q-400 isn't able to fulfil alongside the Embraer ERJ-170.

Jazz Aviation operate a fleet of 31x CRJ-900 on behalf of Air Canada Express and when I was looking at flying from Regina, Saskatchewan back to Vancouver Airport in British Columbia- there were three flights on offer… two operated by the Airbus A320-family and this sole evening flight with the CRJ-900, as I'd yet to fly a CRJ-900 regional jet, the decision was a "No-Brainer"!

So lets see what I made of the CRJ-900 and whether I would consider flying one of these in Europe if I can put together a trip with Iberia or SAS!

Flying from Regina Airport

Getting to Regina Airport from the city centre is a local bus job. I took a Bus No.33 when I arrived straight from the Airport to the City Centre, however the Airport-City bus service doesn't run on weekends… but there was still an opportunity- Taking the Bus No.8 which runs to a stop called "Regina Avenue and Pasqua Street" and from there its a 15-20 minute walk straight towards the Airport Entrance and Terminal… but proceed with caution crossing the main road known as "Lewan Drive".

Regina Airport is the main airport serving the Canadian Province of Saskatchewan as its the Capital City of the Province. Likewise with Hamilton Airport, its not a large airport in terms of commercial airline traffic alone.

SLUG- Saskatchewan Lego Users Group, took the time to create a Lego version of Regina Airport- and it looks fantastic!

Behind the Lego Airport model is a plaque showcasing the Aviation History and Hall of Fame in Saskatchewan and people who shaped the region's Aviation History through a Century of Flight, many of these pioneers being involved in World War One, World War Two and the Pioneers of Flight period in between the conflicts.

Regina Airport has a small departure area, plenty of seating and for those who have access- an Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge. There is a small bar, a small newsagent and a Tim Horton's Café. There are not many viewing opportunities, so don't come here hours before a flight hoping to watch some aircraft before you fly off… 

My flight was the last Air Canada departure of the day and one of the last three departures that evening. The first half of the following say were showing on the departure board, showing the light day of flying from Airlines at Regina Airport.

Air Canada Express AC8193 (YQR-YVR)

My aircraft for this evening flight across Canada was an Air Canada Express Bombardier CRJ-900 registered as C-FLJZ. It was built brand new in 2005 for Air Canada Jazz operated by Jazz Aviation wearing initially the "Jazz Yellow" livery until it was repainted into the Air Canada "Toothpaste livery" in the early 2010s. By the time I flew the aircraft it was repainted into the current "Air Canada Black" livery.

Despite the small size of the aircraft, a 1-2 configuration in the first six rows are for the Business Class offered by Air Canada's Express jet fleet. I grabbed a quick photo of one of these Business Class seats, remember when European Airlines offered something similar on their short-haul flights?

It was a full flight in Economy Class, as I was one of the later passengers to board, my bag went under the seat in front, which I found a little bit of a tight fit. Air Canada Express is refreshing the cabins on their CRJ-900 fleet alongside the ERJ-175 fleet, which is great as this seat looks as though its an original of 2005! I assume an inflight entertainment screen used to be on this aircraft, but no longer. There was a USB port, however it was not working on this flight…

As with any flight on a T-Tail jet, I opted to sit near the back for the engines, however- Seat 23A didn't offer any engine views and as it was dark- photographing outside was not exactly ideal. But I did get a decent view of the wing!

We departed on time and climbed out of Regina Airport for the 2.5hr flight across to Vancouver Airport… I could have flown straight back to Toronto, but I there was something I wanted to tick off which involved flying from Vancouver, but this also allowed an opportunity to tick off the CRJ-900 as well for a bonus- its not glitz and glamour, and I know a lot of US & Canadian travellers hate these regional jets- but its a novelty for a UK AvGeek who has to put up with Airbus A320s and Boeing 737s for 90% of short haul flights!

As I couldn't get any photos outside, I thought I'd share the Air Canada Bistro menu card, a look at the offerings on these Express services operated by the Air Canada regional jets. A free "Bar Service" is offered which includes soft drinks, hot drinks and surprisingly Beer and Wines. Spirits are an extra CAD/$9.95 (£5.40p). Whilst free snacks are offered, you can buy other more substantial snacks for a small fee, the Kit Kat for example being CAD/$5.50 (£3).

I opted to stick to the complimentary services on the flight. I went with the savoury snack of pretzels alongside a refreshingly crisp Molson Canadian Lager… It went down a refreshing treat!!!

Wi-Fi is usually available on the CRJ-900, but on this flight it wasn't working for some reason, I didn't find out and I wasn't too worried.

I managed to visit the toilet on this flight, it goes without saying that the toilets on CRJ-900 are tight and cramp… A bit less room in my opinion against the Dash 8 Q-400 and ATR 72. Unlike the Dash 8 I flew in the day before, the Air Canada CRJ-900 does have a sink provided, so the airline isn't worried about the water pipework on the jets.

The rest of the flight passed smoothly and before long we began our descent into Vancouver Airport, we flew a similar arrival to my Flair Airlines flight a few days before, so it was arriving over the Pacific Ocean. I couldn't get any good pictures of the arrival until we had landed on the Runway.

As we taxied over to the Air Canada gates for the regional jets, we passed the main International Terminal where I saw a very rare and interesting sight for myself… an Airbus A330-300 of Fiji Airways- an awesome catch as the airline doesn't fly to the UK or Europe, you can only see their aircraft in the Pacific, Australia or the West Coast of the USA or Canada.

I was one of the last passengers to leave the CRJ-900, I thanked the crew for a nice flight and asked to visit the cockpit of the CRJ-900, explaining it was my first time flying one and my request was duly granted! For an aircraft that was designed in the 1990s and introduced in the 2000s- it still had a very modern cockpit design!

Leaving the aircraft and entering the Vancouver Airport terminal, I was able to get a shot of the aircraft at the Gate… though you can only see the nose section of the aircraft… 

I easily found my way around Vancouver Airport's domestic arrivals and exited landside to find the Airport Train into the city centre where my hotel was.

It was pretty cool seeing the Totem Poll lit up as I walked over towards the "SkyTrain" which runs to Vancouver Airport from the Downtown City. As I got to the Terminal, I was accosted by a departing Canadian traveller who had a good CAD/£10 left on his card- enough for me to get to Downtown Vancouver on the train, I thanked him and when I tapped the card- it certainly had enough balance on it!

From the SkyTrain platform, even at night, you could still get a great view of Vancouver Airport's Terminal building, all lit up at night- it certainly looked pretty cool! There was a bit of rain and a strong wind gusting, so it made the flags stand out clearly!

I took the Skytrain to Downtown Vancouver, the service goes all the way down to the Waterfront as well. Once I arrived it was off to find my hotel for the night, enjoy a few local bars as it was too late to do any sight seeing… then it was time to start closing out this amazing week in Canada!