The seven plagues of Montreal-Trudeau | The Press

From queues for cars or buses to waiting times at customs, pitfalls pile up at the Montreal-Trudeau airport. And the worst is probably to come, since major work must take place to increase the capacity of the landing stage. Focus on the immense challenges awaiting the airport in the coming years.

In the car, the wait multiplies

Aéroports de Montréal (ADM) agrees: the situation “is far from ideal” for motorists, who sometimes have to wait more than an hour to access the arrivals platform. Temporary measures have been taken, such as adding staff and opening a third waiting parking lot, but “obviously, these measures are not satisfactory,” admits ADM spokesperson Anne-Sophie Hamel. A new multi-level parking lot is due to open in early 2024, with the possibility of a remote drop-off point. But the real issue “is going to be increasing the capacity of the landing stage,” she notes. “A plan will be revealed soon, but we are talking about major projects which will require several mitigation measures. »

The explosion in the number of travelers

30 %. This is the increase in traffic in the second quarter at Montreal-Trudeau airport compared to before the pandemic. The spring months are those which saw the largest increase in passengers compared to 2019. Some 1.7 million people used the airport in May and 2 million in June, we learned in the most recent report. annual ADM. “The recovery happened much more quickly than we had expected. We expected a recovery in traffic in 2025, but we are already beyond the volumes of 2019,” says M.^me Hamel, specifying that this increase should continue in the coming years if we rely on industry forecasts.

The overloaded 747

This strong return of travelers also overloads the 747 bus line, which provides a link to the city center, with increasingly long queues. A working group set up by the Société de transport de Montréal (STM) must soon make its recommendations to optimize service. Already, we are talking about the addition of ticket vending machines, a mobile point of sale terminal or even the sale of tickets in concessions. Measures in this direction should arrive starting “next week,” according to STM spokesperson Amélie Régis. Between five and six daily trips have also been added in recent days on line 747 to support the increase in ridership.

Waiting times are also increasing at customs

Waiting at customs has also increased in recent weeks, sometimes reaching more than 60 minutes. ADM points out the fact that asylum seekers are now passing through the airport even though the facilities were designed for travelers. At the Border Services Agency (CBSA), spokesperson Maria Ladouceur maintains that “the capacity of the arrival room is used to the maximum”. On average, between 30 and 35 agents are assigned to the traveler connection center, in addition to 13 immigration counters. “Waiting times are usually caused by a convergence of international flights,” explains M.^me Sweetness. The CBSA has noted “an increase in the number of asylum applications”, especially from Mexico, India, Kenya, Congo and Nigeria.

A “chaotic” construction site to come

According to transportation planning expert at the University of Montreal, Pierre Barrieau, “the worst is yet to come” at the airport. “Redoing the entrance, in fact, means demolishing the structure and rebuilding it. It will probably be necessary to close both lanes at the same time. It’s going to be very intense, even more chaotic than it already is,” he warns. According to him, the airport has “hit a wall”. “The reality is that the landing stage has become too short for demand. The REM will help in a few years, but at the same time, it will only support maybe one or two years of growth. The entire airport interface needs to be rethought,” adds the specialist.

Significant financial needs

As early as November 2021, the former CEO of ADM, Philippe Rainville, who has since given way to Yves Beauchamp, warned that a lot of money would have to be injected into Trudeau airport when the pandemic returned. At the time, Mr. Rainville spoke of “a few billion” to restore his financial health. So far, ADM has affected 170 million in Ottawa, including 100 million for the REM, which will cost 600 million to build by 2027. Its impact will be immediate, but the REM risks losing up to 10 million in parking revenue. ADM’s net debt remains at 2.27 billion.

Illegal taxis

The phenomenon has improved since Quebec imposed fines of up to $50,000, but “illegal taxis” are still very much present at the Montreal-Trudeau airport. Since June, ADM must also keep, on orders from Quebec, a “register of authorizations issued” in addition to increasing the number of inspectors to put an end to these non-regulatory taxis, whose drivers are sometimes harassing, or even seek to defraud the user by increasing the price arbitrarily. Tourisme Montréal was concerned about a “reputational issue” for Montreal. “The welcome is the number one factor in the return of a visitor to a destination,” illustrated the group’s spokesperson, Aurélie de Blois.