$ 10 billion over 10 years to improve Montreal-Trudeau Airport

It will cost at least $ 10 billion to carry out all the work intended to improve the reception capacity and the fluidity of access to Montreal-Trudeau airport by 2035, provides Aéroports de Montréal (ADM).

The announcement made today by ADM In a way, the continuation of the plan of $ 4 billion presented in April 2024, which mainly provided for measures intended to unclog the airport by 2028.

What we present today is the 2028 to 2035 plan that should bring us, at maturity, between 30 and 35 million passengers [par année] and the required investments. By including 4 billion, it totals 10 billion for the next 10 yearsexplained the CEO From Aéroports de Montréal, Yves Beauchamps, on the air by RDI.

The Canada Infrastructure Bank has already made a loan of $ 1 billion to finance the work.

These improvements will be added to the commissioning of facilities in the Metropolitan Express network (REM), which is due to connect the airport in downtown Montreal somewhere in 2027.

It will be the biggest rehabilitation project since the construction of the airportsaid Caroline Desrochers, parliamentary secretary of the Federal Minister for Development and Infrastructure.

By 2028, the parking lot which is on the facade of the main terminal will be demolished. The tugging tracks will be tripled and a more satellite pier will be built with additional doors which must facilitate boarding operations, promise.

New defrosting stations and additional parking stations for planes are also in the plans.

For the subsequent work, we will have to rebuild the parking lot that we have demolished, we will have to connect the satellite pier with a nucleus, an edict, but also an important tunnel which will be connected to the current terminal. We will have to enlarge the terminal, as the fluidity must be increased, in particular to the security and customs servicesexplains Mr. Beauchamps.

The luggage rooms will also be enlarged and the equipment improved accordingly.

It should lead us mainly in 2035 and we hope that we should reach 30 to 35 million passengers [par année] at that time.

Who will pay?

According to Yves Beauchamps, the whole invoice will be assumed by Aéroports de Montréal.

The organization which generates income of approximately $ 1 billion per year must pay $ 100 million in rent in Transport Canada and around $ 50 million in the neighboring cities.

It is therefore from his profits thatADM provides for paying the necessary loans to carry out all these works.

Two years ago we spent in infrastructure about 230 million per year, this year they should do 850 million and next year we should reach one billion. Our cruising regime for the coming years is around 1 to 1.1 billion per year to finance the entire project until 2035.

The growth of traffic should make sure that it should not be necessary to increase airport costs, we hope.

Airport improvement costs are currently $ 40 per plane ticket to Yul.

Enhance

The land of Montreal-Trudeau airport, located in urban areas, being already restricted, where ADM Will she find the space necessary for these improvements?

Essentially it is the terminal [principal] that we enlarge. As for the satellite pier, originally we had three landing tracks. There was one that was perpendicular. It was called 10-28. This track was closed because it was less effective. And it is on this track that we are going to build a distant terminal that will be connected to the main terminal by a tunnelexplained Mr. Beauchamps.

With regard to the stored parking, it will be rebuilt in front of the main terminal, but further south, so as to identify the storefront and access to the building.

The configuration will be slightly changed, but people will not see an expansion in the current land.

Increased capacity

According to the boss ofADMMontreal-Trudeau has the means to significantly increase its capacity.

In terms of capacity, the two tracks we have. We have the same configuration as Heathrow Airport in London, which operates with 80 million passengers per yearhe underlines.

However, once all the work carried out in 2035, ADM plans to be able to provide Montreal-Trudeau airport with a future capacity of 65 to 70 million passengers per year.

But we agree that we will not be there when it is reached, warns Mr. Beauchamps. Our best predictions currently bring us around 2050–2055 with potentially 45 million passengers.

What about road congestion?

In order to reduce traffic caps that are created on the fast tracks that serve the airport, the boss ofADM Affirms that work is done with the Ministry of Transport, in collaboration with a Montreal mobility committee, to facilitate road access to the facilities.

But once we are at the airport, from 2028, the number of votes will be tripled. We go from 6 to 18 lanes. And do not forget that the station of REM will be delivered in 2027. We expect 25 % of passengers will pass through the airport via the REMs’encourage M. Beauchamps.

In my opinion, this is only good news for the future in Montreal.