Canadian Airport Thread

[isaidso]

Originally Posted by Gresto

What happened to the plan to consolidate all three Pearson terminals (the new #1, the now-demolished #2, and #3) into one mammoth terminal? Is it still inching forward? I haven't read or heard anything about it in at least five years.

Those plans are still intact, but only get put in motion once Pearson reaches certain PAX targets. I'm not sure what the exact numbers are, but I doubt any expansion will happen till Pearson's PAX numbers start bumping up to 45 million passengers.

Pearson is large by Canadian standards, but isn't even in the global top 35 busiest airports.

[Gresto]

Originally Posted by isaidso

Those plans are still intact, but only get put in motion once Pearson reaches certain PAX targets. I'm not sure what the exact numbers are, but I doubt any expansion will happen till Pearson's PAX numbers start bumping up to 45 million passengers.

I see, thanks. I didn't know that expansion was contingent upon reaching certain passenger numbers.

[isaidso]

Originally Posted by Gresto

I see, thanks. I didn't know that expansion was contingent upon reaching certain passenger numbers.

Yeah, Pearson's numbers haven't really grown very much over the last few years and the new Terminal 1 isn't any where close to its capacity yet. I'm actually rather surprised how few passengers Pearson handles each year.

[dleung]

^^I wasn't aware of that. But they spent so much money on that fancy rail link and all those loopy highways connecting the terminals!

[alps]

Newly-renovated hallway at the Halifax airport (used to be a one-storey windowless deal):


(self-made)

[davidivivid]

The growth of the Quebec City airport has been pretty strong in the last few years. In 2009, international traffic increased by 29,3%, mostly due to new destinations like Bordeaux, Marseille, Barcelona and Malaga. For the 6 first months of 2010, overall traffic increased 13%.

The management of the airport just received a long term growth report from specialised firm Arup. The firm forecasts that the number of passengers will increase from 1 035 000 in 2009 to 3 000 000 by 2030. Hence, even if the airport underwent important renovations (70M$) in 2008, Arup laid out a 225M$ investment plan to be put in place before 2015.



http://www.quebecregion.com/fr/quoi_fair...tional_jean-lesage_de_quebec_31462?a=vis

[roccerfeller]

^ Nice. I have yet to visit any airports east of Montreal, that I can remember.

QC's port looks nice.

[jmt18325]

Quebec City has a beautiful little airport. Traveling in Canada is enjoyable. Both major airlines fly modern aircraft, and almost all of our airports are new (or soon will be...if we can ever fix the broken pipes).

[davidivivid]

Originally Posted by roccerfeller

^ Nice. I have yet to visit any airports east of Montreal, that I can remember.

QC's port looks nice.

Well I'll be honest : the airport used to look very...very messy. For a long time, Quebec city was considered a side trip for people going to Montreal whereas now, Quebec is becomming a destination in and of itself. That's why airline companies have manifested an interest in the airport in recent years. Also, even residents of the city used to go to Montreal to fly internationally, a situation that is changing. However, if the international traffic is going extremely well, the domestic traffic still has a long way to go. People in western Canada do not pass through Quebec city's airport that much. Let's hope that the new flights offered by Westjet and Porters will change that!!!

Anyway, they really did a great job with the new terminal, especially with the business center. It seems to have paid off since the American Society for Quality has ranked the airport 1st in North America and 7th in the world for its costumer service.


http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/p/m/40357c/


http://www.flickr.com/photos/8245538@N06/2673945601/in/photostream/

Here's a preview of what the new international arrival terminal is supposed to look like.


http://www.cyberpresse.ca/le-soleil/affa...ts-dans-lair-a-laeroport-jean-lesage.php

[1ajs]

Originally Posted by jmt18325

Quebec City has a beautiful little airport. Traveling in Canada is enjoyable. Both major airlines fly modern aircraft, and almost all of our airports are new (or soon will be...if we can ever fix the broken pipes).

you mean broken colasped sewer line sitting under a columb?

[SKYSTHELIMIT]

Originally Posted by davidivivid

Well I'll be honest : the airport used to look very...very messy. For a long time, Quebec city was considered a side trip for people going to Montreal whereas now, Quebec is becomming a destination in and of itself. That's why airline companies have manifested an interest in the airport in recent years. Also, even residents of the city used to go to Montreal to fly internationally, a situation that is changing. However, if the international traffic is going extremely well, the domestic traffic still has a long way to go. People in western Canada do not pass through Quebec city's airport that much. Let's hope that the new flights offered by Westjet and Porters will change that!!!

Anyway, they really did a great job with the new terminal, especially with the business center. It seems to have paid of since the American Society for Quality has ranked the airport 1st in North America and 7th in the world for its costumer service.


http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/p/m/40357c/


http://www.flickr.com/photos/8245538@N06/2673945601/in/photostream/

Here's a preview of what the new international arrival terminal is supposed to look like.


http://www.cyberpresse.ca/le-soleil/affa...ts-dans-lair-a-laeroport-jean-lesage.php

I was in quebec City for the first time a few years ago and was surprised at how small it was at the time, it made sense with the proximity to Montreal that alot of the traffic would be through there especially during the Mirabel years. Now Quebec has an opportunity to shine as a destination(as you mentioned) and what a way to welcome the world with your beautiful new terminal

[davidivivid]

Santé!!

[jmt18325]

Originally Posted by 1ajs

you mean broken colasped sewer line sitting under a columb?

Yeah, that.

[feepa]

Just flew through ywg on route back to Edmonton. Has anything change it the present terminal since the 50s? It was taking a trip back in time! The new terminal is looking close to finished... That was looking good.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by feepa

Just flew through ywg on route back to Edmonton. Has anything change it the present terminal since the 50s? It was taking a trip back in time! The new terminal is looking close to finished... That was looking good.

The terminal (opened in 1964) was expanded back in the 1980s, but it was designed in a way that made the new portions indistinguishable from the original. But yes, apart from that expansion, not a long changed apart from when the local airport authority took over from Transport Canada sometime during the mid-1990s and festooned the terminal with ugly gewgaws (advertisements, tacky kiosks, things hanging from the ceiling, etc.).

Hopefully the Winnipeg Airports Authority will show a little more restraint with the new terminal.

[feepa]

what will happen to the old terminal in Winnipeg? will it be taken down or renovated and reused?

I was in the London (CYXU) 'International' Airport as well on a recent... I've seen nicer greyhound stations...

[AuxTown]

Before our new terminal opened about 10 years ago, Ottawa had, by far, the most embarrassing airport for a city our size. Our new terminal is great and I see a lot of similar design characteristics in these current aiport expansions accross Canada (high ceilings, tube construction, wood panelling, etc.).

We are currently undergoing our second expansion of the already-ginormous parking structure since the new terminal opened. We will never be a big hub, due to our proximity to TO and MTL, but business has certainly been booming of late. The new structure adds 850 new parking spots and leaves room for a possible 750 spot expansion in the future. Photos from: http://www.ottawa-airport.ca

[vid]

The government itself draws a lot of business. A good amount of Thunder Bay's airport traffic is because a lot of remote First Nations have offices here, and come to the city regularly for business stuff. Nishnawbe Aski Nation doesn't represent any community near Thunder Bay, but it's headquartered here, and the only way to get around is by air.

Every few years, YOW gets about 290 captive passengers.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by feepa

what will happen to the old terminal in Winnipeg? will it be taken down or renovated and reused?

It will most likely be demolished. Personally, I think it's a great example of International Style design and I would love to see it preserved (so would Heritage Canada, for that matter) but unfortunately the WAA hasn't had much luck in finding an alternate use for it. I suppose that an airport terminal is pretty specific in purpose, so that fact combined with its age means that it would be pretty difficult to find another practical use for it that wouldn't be financially ruinous.

The land the old terminal sits on will probably become part of an eventual Phase II for the new terminal, but that could be many years (if not decades) away.

Originally Posted by O-Town Hockey

Before our new terminal opened about 10 years ago, Ottawa had, by far, the most embarrassing airport for a city our size. Our new terminal is great and I see a lot of similar design characteristics in these current aiport expansions accross Canada (high ceilings, tube construction, wood panelling, etc.).

For what it's worth, I never thought that the old Ottawa airport was bad, although the new terminal sure is nice.

That is an interesting point that you touch on regarding the design vernacular of new Canadian airport terminals, though. Just as the 1960s spawned a series of beautiful International Style terminals across the country, the last ten years have given us the swooping, glass curtained, very technological terminals (with just a touch of "the local" in the form of wood panelling, rough-hewn logs, water features or indigenous art) that typify commercial aviation in Canada. I like the look, but it'll probably take a good 30 years before I feel any warm and fuzzy nostalgia for it.

[vid]

Thunder Bay built a "swooping, glass curtained, very technological terminal (with just a touch of "the local" in the form of wood panelling, rough-hewn logs, water features or indigenous art)" in 1994.

Were we the first?