Growth ambitions at Saint-Hubert Airport | The “situation will be untenable”, according to ADM

If they materialize, the aims of the Montréal–Saint-Hubert airport will create an “untenable situation” which will not serve “anyone”, pleads Aéroports de Montréal (ADM), which doubts the business plan envisaged by the managers. of the site located in the southern suburbs of the metropolis.

Julien Arsenault
The Press

The operator of Montreal-Trudeau airport has so far remained discreet in this matter. A summary of the substance of his thinking appears in a voluminous report emanating from a public consultation conducted last spring by Bloc Québécois MNA for Longueuil–Saint-Hubert Denis Trudel on the development of the Saint-Hubert airport.

“To allow greater dilution is to risk recreating the history of Dorval and Mirabel which led Montreal to its marginalization as a destination; it, the civil aviation capital of the world”, reads in the document as well as in the brief filed earlier this year by ADM – that The Press was able to consult.

It’s not just the operator of Montreal-Trudeau who wonders about the vision of those responsible for Saint-Hubert airport. A user for about two decades, Pascan Aviation is surprised by the lack of details surrounding the strategy of the managers of the place.

The ambitions of Développement de l’Aéroport Saint-Hubert de Longueuil (DASH-L), the non-profit organization that operates and owns the airport, raises concerns, among other things, about the potential impact on noise for the neighborhood. The site wishes to establish its development by attracting low-cost airlines such as Flair and Swoop in order to offer regional and national flights and to sun destinations.

For this scenario to materialize, Transport Canada must agree to change an old regulation. ADM’s lease gives it an exclusivity clause for international flights. The manager of Montreal-Trudeau and Mirabel does not want things to change, especially after two turbulent years in which passenger traffic was disrupted by the pandemic. In 2019, Montréal-Trudeau welcomed 20 million passengers. We will have to wait until 2024 to definitively turn the page on the health crisis, according to ADM.

Useful anyway

In disagreement with the development strategy, ADM recognizes that the Saint-Hubert airport can “play a role in the Quebec airport network”. However, it should be limited to regional aviation, private transport and flight schools. In terms of international flights, there is no room for a player other than Montreal-Trudeau and Jean-Lesage Airport (Quebec).

“Will there be a time when there will be enough demand for another airport to serve Greater Montreal? Not in the foreseeable future, writes ADM. A change in vocation of Saint-Hubert would lead it to encroach on the role of (Montreal-Trudeau) rather than contributing to its full potential in its current role of the aerospace ecosystem. »

In addition, adds ADM, with the exception of Flair Airlines, present at Montreal-Trudeau, other low-cost carriers such as Swoop, Lynx and Canada Jetlines are absent in Quebec. “Eventually”, Saint-Hubert could play a role, but only in the domestic market, believes ADM.

Invited to respond to ADM’s analysis, the director of communications at Saint-Hubert airport, Bernard Gervais, declined to comment.

The Bloc member for Longueuil–Saint-Hubert had already expressed his opposition to the ambitions of the airport. The report’s conclusions call on DASH-L to “review its business model” taking into account the “concerns mentioned” in the document.

question marks

For his part, Pascan says he learned of a development plan of “100 million in airport infrastructure” in November 2021. The Quebec air carrier says it is in favor of “any structuring project”, but finds that the question marks are many.

“On the other hand, we were surprised that this presentation was so thin and so sparse and that the business plan boils down to attracting low-cost carriers to operate interprovincial and cross-border flights,” writes Pascan, in his memory.

The company asks that the development be carried out “in complete transparency” with the users. These remarks are also found in the report of those responsible for the public consultation.

DASH-L had not participated in the public consultations. Mr. Gervais indicated that the organization was in the process of analyzing the content of the report.

“We are happy that the citizens participated,” he said. We did not participate because from the start, Mr. Trudel said that he was against the development of the airport. We wanted to let the citizens express themselves. »

The City of Longueuil did not comment. It is awaiting the report from its Public Participation Office, which is also looking into the Saint-Hubert airport file, in the coming weeks.