“Condor 426, tower, wind 300 at 9 gusting 23, cleared to land runway 32L.”
“Condor 426, runway 32L, cleared to land.”
What you’re seeing here may appear to be an ordinary Condor Boeing 767 arrival.
But what you may not know is that this aircraft is landing in one of the most remote cities
in North America - Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada.
Whitehorse is the capital city of Canada’s Yukon territory, located just above the 60th
parallel north, and is the largest city in Northern Canada.
Condor Airlines of Germany operates this 767 on a seasonal transatlantic flight between
Frankfurt and Whitehorse, once a week between June and September.
Sounds fairly normal, right?
In my hometown of Calgary, Alberta, Condor usually serves us 2 to 4 times a week year
after year, again, between June and September.
This seems like a standard seasonal route.
But here’s the thing.
Calgary has a population of around 1.2 million.
Whitehorse?
Just 25,000.
If you look at this flight based only on population, a city that small having a transatlantic flight
is definitely something of an eyebrow raiser.
For comparison’s sake, the next largest Canadian city with transatlantic flights,
St. John’s, Newfoundland, has a population of around 108,000.
They have year-round service to London Heathrow with Air Canada, with daily flights in peak season.
However, even that’s been suspended for now due to the 737 MAX situation.
Larger cities like Victoria, Saskatoon, and even Winnipeg as of next year, just don’t
have transatlantic flights at all.
Nonetheless, that’s a bit of oversimplification, especially for a country as sparsely populated
as Canada, where there are a lot of external factors.
So, in Whitehorse’s case, let’s put things into perspective.
How is a city of 25,000 people able to support a transatlantic flight,
even if just for the summer?
Well, to find out, I reached out to Condor, and to their credit, they did actually reply.
Essentially, these flights are very popular with German tourists who enjoy nature and
the scenery of the Yukon Territory.
Condor says the demand for the flights is high as Canada is one of the most popular
destinations for Germans.
The latter certainly seems to be true, seeing as Condor now serves 5 Canadian cities, and
recently announced Edmonton as a 6th destination, starting next summer.
Whitehorse is also a popular destination among Condor’s crews, and I was told it’s highly
requested as they particularly enjoy their stopovers there.
And honestly?
It’s pretty easy to see why.
Whitehorse is home to some truly unspoiled wilderness.
Downtown, you’ll find the usual North American amenities, but just a few minutes outside
of the city, you’ll find yourself someplace completely different.
Even just an hour away from Whitehorse are some fascinating sights, including what’s
unofficially known as “The World’s Smallest Desert” near Carcross, Yukon.
There’s also some very interesting history, from the gold rush in the late 19th century,
to the construction of the Alaska Highway during World War II.
During the summer, the days in Whitehorse are over 19 hours long,
thanks to its high latitude.
When I went there in June, the sun rose at 4:30 in the morning
and didn’t set until 11:30 at night.
During the winter though, the days are less than 6 hours long, so you can see why this
is a seasonal flight.
However, there are plenty of chances to see the Northern lights during the colder months,
since it’s actually not dark enough at night in the summer.
As the largest city in the North,
Whitehorse is served by Erik Nielson Whitehorse International Airport.
The airport is home to Yukon’s airline, Air North, which operates flights to cities
in Alberta, British Columbia, and even Ottawa via Yellowknife on a seasonal basis.
They also serve regional routes within Yukon, using ATR 42s,
and the occasional Hawker Siddeley HS748.
Air Canada and WestJet also fly here, from Vancouver and Calgary respectively, though
WestJet’s flight is seasonal.
And of course, there’s this very flight with Condor to Frankfurt.
Logistically, Condor says that after all their years operating flights to Whitehorse, everyone
involved, including the airport, car rental services, and RV operators have all dealt
quite well with it.
2019 also marks Condor’s 20th anniversary of serving Whitehorse, and surprisingly enough,
it’s not their only destination above the 60th parallel.
They also fly between Frankfurt and Fairbanks in Alaska, once a week, and four times a week
between Frankfurt and Anchorage!
It’s pretty clear that Condor has found a niche market in far northwestern North America,
and it seems to be working for them.
In Whitehorse’s case, Condor themselves said that they are proud to be the only European
airline that serves such a beautiful destination and to offer both tourists and locals a unique
link between Yukon and Europe.
They also called Whitehorse a gem in their network,
and a destination they wouldn’t want to miss.
While the situation with former parent company Thomas Cook is unfortunate, flights to Whitehorse
for summer 2020 are open for booking, so it seems to me that this bizarre transatlantic
route with Condor will indeed live on.
A special thank you to Condor’s media team for answering my questions about this peculiar
route of theirs, and thank you very much for watching!
I honestly had a wonderful time in Whitehorse last June, and I figured that Condor’s flight
here was something worth looking into.
Who knows, it might make for a pretty interesting trip report one day.
But, as always, please leave a like if you enjoyed the video, subscribe if you’re new,
and I'll see you next time.