Toronto Pearson International Airport
"YYZ" redirects here. For the Rush song named after the VOR for this airport see YYZ (song).Toronto Pearson International Airport, or
Toronto/Lester B. Pearson International Airport , straddling
Mississauga's northeastern boundary with neighbouring
Toronto, is
Canada's
busiest airport and part of the
National Airports System. It is ranked 28th among the
world's busiest airports, handling 29.9 million passengers and 411,609 aircraft movements in 2005. The airport serves the
Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and is the primary hub for
Air Canada, although
Montreal is its main base. Formerly run by
Transport Canada,
Toronto Pearson International Airport is now run by a non-profit agency called the
Greater Toronto Airports Authority.
The airport first opened in
1939 as
Malton Airport. It was renamed
Toronto International Airport in
1960, and then to
Lester B. Pearson International Airport (LBPIA) in
1984 in honour of
Lester B. Pearson, Canada's 14th
prime minister. On
December 2,
1996, operational control of the airport passed from the
Government of Canada to the Greater Toronto Airports Authority (GTAA) as part of the
National Airports Policy. The full name of the airport, according to the GTAA, is now "Toronto Pearson International Airport", but it is also sometimes simply called "Pearson." News media and travel agents typically refer to the airport as "Lester B. Pearson International Airport."
In
1972, the Canadian government expropriated land east of Toronto for a second major airport,
Pickering Airport, to relieve congestion at (then) Toronto International. The project was postponed in
1975 due partly to community opposition, but GTAA revived the plans in
2004.
After the
September 11, 2001 attacks, Toronto Pearson was part of
Operation Yellow Ribbon, as it received 19 of the diverted flights that were coming into the
United States, even though
Transport Canada and
NAV CANADA instructed pilots to avoid the airport as a security measure.
In
1981, the Canadian Rock group
Rush developed an instrumental titled "
YYZ" in tribute to the airport.
Pearson Airport is located about 32
km (20
miles) west of downtown Toronto. Most of Pearson (including its passenger
terminals and airplane facilities) is in Mississauga, but a small eastern portion of land is located in
Toronto. The airport is accessible from
Highway 427 (just north of the
Highway 401 interchange) or from
Highway 409, a spur off Highway 401 leading directly into the airport.
Bus services connecting Toronto to Pearson Airport include two
Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) routes, an express running from
Kipling subway station and a local route from
Lawrence West station, the latter also continuing beyond the airport to
Malton.
GO Transit operates a semi-express bus from
York Mills and
Yorkdale stations, and there is a privately operated "Airport Express" bus serving various major downtown hotels.
Mississauga Transit operates a city bus from the
Square One Shopping Centre in
Mississauga's city centre, likewise continuing on to Malton.
In July 2006, the
LINK Interterminal Shuttle people mover was opened, with two 6-car trains running between Terminals 1 and 3, and a reduced rate and airport staff parking lot on the other side of
Airport Road at Viscount Drive.
Blue22 dedicated rail link
Although the airport is near an existing railway line, it is not currently served by trains. On
November 13,
2003,
Union Pearson AirLink Group, a subsidiary of
SNC-Lavalin, was selected to finance, design, construct, operate, and maintain a rail link connecting Pearson with Toronto's
Union Station, with a planned travel time of about twenty minutes. The service, to be called
Blue22, is expected to eliminate 1.5 million car trips annually. The project, whose cost is estimated at
$300-500 million, remains controversial, as only 17% of people using Pearson now travel to downtown Toronto.
Travellers headed to suburban destinations will be able to use the service to connect to GO Transit commuter trains at Union Station, but early analyses predict that this will be considered unattractive to most, since people will need to take a train from the airport's suburban location to downtown, only to have to transfer to another train to go back to the suburbs. Its usefulness to travellers not headed downtown may increase, however, if a stop is created at the existing
Bloor GO Train station, allowing people to transfer to the TTC subway at its nearby
Dundas West station. The traffic on the Weston Subdivision caused by the
Blue22 service would increase to the point where the level crossings would need to be dismantled (as per Ministry of Transportation and railroad regulatory guidelines). Due to the tight geography of the area, underpasses replacing the level crossings are not feasible options. Residents along the proposed route are concerned that the closure of the level crossings will cut their community in two - hindering business and travel in the area.
The Weston Road railway corridor is very busy as it is, home to both the CN Weston Subdivision (a main
GO Transit route handling all-day GO Train service between Toronto and
Brampton) and the Mactier Subdivision (CP Rail's only link to Western Canada from Toronto and a busy freight route). While the addition of the
Blue22 service would be of benefit to the airport, the Weston Road residents feel the benefits don't outweigh the needs of their community.
The airport's worst accident took place on
July 5,
1970, when
Air Canada Flight 621, a
DC-8 jet, was flying on a
Montreal-Toronto-
Los Angeles route. The
spoilers were inadvertently deployed before the plane attempted landing, forcing the pilots to abort landing and take-off, the resulting disaster killed all 100 passengers and nine crew on board when it crashed near the Hunters Glen Golf Course south of
Bolton.
On
June 26,
1978,
Air Canada Flight 189 to
Winnipeg overran the
runway during an aborted takeoff, and crashed into the
Etobicoke Creek ravine. Two of 107 passengers on board the
DC-9 were killed.
On
August 2,
2005,
Air France Flight 358, an
Airbus A340-300 inbound from
Paris, appeared to successfully land on runway 24L in a severe thunderstorm, but then failed to stop and ran off the runway into the Etobicoke Creek ravine. The rear third of the plane burst into flames. The flames had engulfed the whole plane by 18:00 except the cockpit and the wings. There were 43 injuries, none serious, and no fatalities. Some flights were redirected to other cities, including 12 flights at
Ottawa Macdonald-Cartier International Airport and
Hamilton/John C. Munro International Airport. Many of the bigger jumbo jets were rerouted to
Montreal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport because it is the largest airport in the area after Toronto Pearson. This incident is currently under investigation by the
Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSBC). Many consider the accident's outcome �" the aircraft's destruction yet without any fatalities �" a miracle.
The
Etobicoke Creek ravine is very close to the west end of the airport. As it is in the runway overshoot zone and has been involved in two major accidents, there have been calls for the ravine to be improved for safety, perhaps by replacing it with a
culvert and levelling the terrain. No doubt this would be an extremely expensive undertaking and it remains to be seen what (if anything) will be done. Opponents of the plan point out that if the ravine is replaced by a culvert, an aircraft that overshoots the end of the culvert may end up in Highway 401, North America's busiest highway, on the southern border of the airport. This adds a complexity to the design of any culvert, particularly one for Runway 24L.
Toronto Pearson International Airport currently has three operating terminals: Terminal 1, Terminal 2, and Terminal 3. T1 opened on
April 6,
2004, with
Air Canada being its major tenant. The old Terminal 1, which closed simultaneously, was demolished to make room for additional gates that extend off of the East side of Pier E and gates on the Liner between Pier E and Pier F. As part of the T1-New works the Infield Terminal (IFT) was constructed handling mainly
Star Alliance (mainly Air Canada) flights. The rest of 'Stage 2' of Terminal 1 is scheduled to open in January of 2007; this stage is the East and West sides of Pier F and Hammerhead F. In 2005, the western portion of Terminal 2 was torn down, and may eventually be replaced with a new pier (Pier G) extending from T1. By 2008, Terminal 2 will be completely torn down and by 2015, Toronto Pearson will then consist of T1 and Terminal 3, capable of handling up to 50 million passengers annually.
Toronto Pearson International Airport is one of 8 Canadian Airports that has
US Border Pre-clearance facilities.
The
LINK Interterminal Shuttle bus service currently serves two routes: Terminal 1 - Terminal 2 and Terminal 3 - Terminal 2. Terminals 1 and 3 are connected by the LINK peoplemover, which opened in July 2006[
1]. Infield terminal transfers are made by
Contrac Cobus 3000 shuttle buses.
Malton Airport Terminal
The first airport terminal was built in
1938 by the
Toronto Harbour Commission and consisted of a standard frame terminal building from a converted farm house. The original airport covered 420 acres with full lighting, radio, weather reporting equipment, two hard surface runways and one grass landing strip.
The airport was sold to the City of
Toronto in
1940 and used as a military training airport. In
1942 air traffic control centre was added to Malton.
A second building, similar to the existing structure at the
Toronto City Centre Airport, was built to replace the old terminal in
1949 and was able to handle 400,000 passengers a year. It was demolished in the late
1960s to make way for the old T1 building. In
1958 Transport Canada took control over Toronto Airport from the City.
The runways for Malton consisted of:
* 14-32 - a 3,368 metres runway used for test flights for the
Avro Arrow fighter from the A.V Roe Canada plant and now exists only as a taxiway to 05/23
* 14-32 - 11,475 feet north south runway - replaced by 15-33R
* 10-28 - 7425 feet northwest to southeast runway
Old Terminal 1
The original T1 or
Aeroquay One was a round 10 floor structure with a two level passenger area. The squared parking structure was located in the middle and access via a spiral ramp. It was designed by
John Burnett Parkin and built between
1957 and
1964. State of the art in the
1960s, the terminal was obsolete by the early
1970s and resulted in the building of Terminal 2 in
1968. The Aeroquay has since been demolished to make way for the new T1.
Statistics for Aeroquay One:
* Airlines: 10 (1967), 100 (lifetime)
* Passengers per hour: 1400
* Passengers per year: 3.5 million (1967), 10 million (1988-1989)
* Total Passengers (1964-2003): 218 million
* Gates: 24
Infield Terminal (IFT)
Constructed during 2001/02 to handle traffic displaced during the Terminal 1 development. Consists of 11 gates (521 to 531) used by
Star Alliance (mainly
Air Canada) International flights. Contains retail and catering outlets and an
Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge. Reached by a bus shuttle initially from Gate GG of the Old Terminal 1, then a dedicated Airside Bus Transfer facility at the new Terminal 1.
New Terminal 1 (T1-New)
T1 is designed to handle domestic, international and transborder flights in one facility. The original design called for separate concourses to handle the different types of traffic. The design actually adopted in T1 places transborder departures and arrivals on a mezzanine level, and uses "swing gates" to allow any gate to channel arriving passengers to domestic, international or transborder arrivals facilities. Currently, some international flights said to depart from Terminal 1 actually depart from the infield terminal. From
November 1,
2005 many flights were transferred from IFT to T1-New.
*
Air Canada (Abbotsford, Amsterdam, Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, Barbados, Beijing, Belfast, Bermuda, Bogota, Buenos Aires-Ezeiza, Calgary, Cancún, Caracas, Cayo Coco, Cayo Largo del Sur, Charlottetown [seasonal], Copenhagen [seasonal], Cozumel, Delhi, Dublin [seasonal], Edmonton, Fort McMurray, Frankfurt, Fredericton, Grand Cayman, Halifax, Havana, Holguin, Hong Kong, Honolulu, Kelowna, Kingston (Jamaica), La Romana, Lima, London-Heathrow, Manchester (UK) [seasonal], Mexico City, Moncton, Montego Bay, Montréal, Munich, Nassau, Ottawa, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Port of Spain, Providenciales, Puerto Plata, Puerto Vallarta, Punta Cana, Quebec City, Regina, Rome-Fiumicino, Saint John, San José (CR), San José del Cabo, San Juan, Santiago de Chile, Santo Domingo, São Paulo-Guarulhos, Saskatoon, Shanghai-Pudong, Shannon [seasonal], St. John's, St. Lucia, St. Maarten [seasonal], Seoul-Incheon, Shannon, Tel Aviv, Thunder Bay, Tokyo-Narita, Vancouver, Varadero, Victoria (BC), Winnipeg, Zürich)
**
Air Canada Jazz (Charlottetown [seasonal], Fredericton, Halifax, Kingston (ON), London (ON), Moncton, North Bay (ON), Ottawa, Quebec, Regina, Saskatoon, Sault Ste. Marie (ON), Saint John, St. John's, Sudbury (ON), Thunder Bay, Timmins, Windsor (ON), Winnipeg)
*
Air Jamaica (Kingston)
*
Alitalia (Milan-Malpensa, Rome-Fiumicino)
*
Austrian Airlines (Vienna)
*
Condor (Frankfurt)
*
Etihad Airways (Abu Dhabi, Brussels)
*
Lufthansa (Frankfurt)
*
Mexicana (Mexico City)
*
Sunwing Airlines (Acapulco (seasonal), Cayo Coco (seasonal), Camaguey (seasonal), Charlottetown, Gander, Halifax, Holguin (seasonal), Huatulco (seasonal), Liberia (CR)(seasonal), Montego Bay (seasonal), Punta Cana (seasonal), Puerto Plata (seasonal), Puerto Vallarta (seasonal), Santiago de Cuba (seasonal), Stephenville (NF), St. John's, Sydney (NS), Varadero (seasonal),
The terminal is designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill International Ltd., Adamson Associates Architects, and Moshe Safdie and Associates.
Terminal 2 - US Arrivals and Departures only
The two floor, 26 gate terminal 2 was originally built in 1968 as a freight terminal, but it was converted to commercial traffic due to over capacity at old Terminal 1. It now handles transborder traffic to the US for Air Canada and their
Star Alliance partner United Airlines, but these flights will move to the new Terminal 1 during early 2007 and Terminal 2 will be demolished during 2007 and into 2008. A 5 floor parking garage is attached to the north of the terminal building.
*
Air Canada (Atlanta, Boston, Charlotte, Chicago-O'Hare, Dallas/Fort Worth, Denver, Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers, Kansas City, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, Milwaukee, Minneapolis/St. Paul, New York-LaGuardia, Newark, Orlando, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Raleigh/Durham, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle/Tacoma, St. Louis, Tampa, Washington-Reagan, West Palm Beach)
**
Air Canada Jazz (Atlanta, Baltimore/Washington, Boston, Charlotte, Cleveland, Columbus, Dallas/Ft. Worth, Detroit, Harrisburg, Hartford, Houston-Intercontinental, Indianapolis, Manchester (NH), Milwaukee, Nashville, Pittsburgh, Raleigh/Durham, Rochester (NY), White Plains)
*
United Airlines (Chicago-O'Hare, San Francisco [starts September 6th, 2006])
**
United Express operated by
Mesa Airlines (Washington-Dulles)
**
United Express operated by
Shuttle America (Denver, Washington-Dulles)
Terminal 3
Terminal 3 was built in
1989 to offset traffic from old Terminal 1 and Terminal 2. It was built as a private venture and was state of the art. It also has a US customs pre-clearance facility.
*
Aeroflot (Moscow-Sheremetyevo)
*
Aerosvit Airlines (Kiev)
*
Air France (Paris-Charles de Gaulle)
*
Air India (Amritsar, Birmingham (UK), Delhi, Mumbai)
*
Air Transat (See Destinations under Charter Flights Below)
*
American Airlines (Chicago-O'Hare, Dallas/Fort Worth, Los Angeles, Miami, New York-LaGuardia)
**
American Eagle (Boston, New York-JFK, New York-LaGuardia)
*
British Airways (London-Heathrow)
*
BWIA West Indies Airways (Port of Spain)
*
CanJet Airlines (Calgary, Deer Lake - starts summer 2006, Halifax, Moncton, New York-LaGuardia, Sarasota, St. John's)
*
Cathay Pacific (Hong Kong)
*
Continental Airlines (Houston-Intercontinental, Newark)
**
Continental Express operated by
ExpressJet Airlines (Cleveland, Houston-Intercontinental, Newark)
*
Cubana de Aviación (Cienfuegos, Camaguey, Havana, Holguin, Varadero)
*
Czech Airlines (Prague)
*
Delta Air Lines (Atlanta, Salt Lake City)
**
Delta Connection operated by
Atlantic Southeast Airlines (Atlanta)
**
Delta Connection operated by
Comair (Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky, New York-JFK)
*
El Al (Los Angeles, Tel Aviv)
*
Finnair (Helsinki [seasonal])
*
Flyglobespan (Manchester (UK) [starts November 3, 2006])
*
Harmony Airways (Vancouver)
*
Iberworld (Madrid [seasonal])
*
Kelowna Flightcraft (Kelowna)
*
KLM (Amsterdam)
*
Korean Air (Seoul-Incheon)
*
LOT Polish Airlines (Warsaw)
*
LTU International Airways (Düsseldorf [seasonal])
*
Malév Hungarian Airlines (Budapest)
*
Martinair (Amsterdam [seasonal])
*
Midwest Airlines **
Midwest Connect operated by
Skyway Airlines (Milwaukee)
*
MyTravel Airways (London Gatwick)
*
Northwest Airlines (Detroit, Memphis, Minneapolis/St. Paul)
*
Olympic Airlines (Athens)
*
Pakistan International Airlines (Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore)
*
SATA International (Faro, Lisbon, Ponta Delgada, Porto, Terceira)
*
Skyservice (see destinations below)
*
TACA (San José (CR), San Salvador)
*
Thomas Cook Airlines (Edinburgh, London-Gatwick)
*
Transaero Airlines (Moscow-Domodedovo)
*
US Airways (Charlotte, Philadelphia)
**
US Airways operated by
America West Airlines (Las Vegas, Phoenix)
**
US Airways Express operated by
Air Wisconsin (Charlotte, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Washington-Reagan)
**
US Airways Express operated by
Piedmont Airlines (Pittsburgh)
*
WestJet (Abbotsford, Calgary, Charlottetown, Edmonton, Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers, Halifax, Kelowna, Las Vegas, Moncton, Montréal, Orlando, Ottawa, Saskatoon, St. John's, Tampa, Thunder Bay, Vancouver, Victoria (BC), Winnipeg)
*
Zoom Airlines (Cardiff, Glasgow, London-Gatwick, London-Stansted, Manchester (UK), Montréal, Paris-Charles de Gaulle) [all seasonal]
Charters
*
Air Transat (
Summer Destinations: Las Vegas, Amsterdam, Athens, Birmingham (UK), Dublin, Edinburgh, Exeter, Frankfurt, Glasgow, Hamburg, Lyons, Madrid, Munich, Newcastle, Paris, Ponta Delgada, Shannon, Toulouse;
Winter Destinations: Acapulco, Camaguey, Cancún, Cayo Coco, Bongo,Cayo Largo, Holguin, Ixtapa, La Romana, Manzanillo, Montego Bay, Montreal, Panama City, Porlamar, Puerto Plata, Puerto Vallarta, Punta Cana, St. Maarten, San Andres, San Jose, Santa Clara, Veradero, Fort Lauderdale, Orlando, Belfast, Faro, Glasgow, Lisbon, London, Manchester (UK), Porto)
*
Conquest Vacations (St. Petersburg (FL))
*
Sunwing.ca Vacations (St. Petersburg (FL))
*
Kelowna Flightcraft (Kelowna)
*
Skyservice (
Summer Destinations: Belfast, Belgrade, Calgary, Cancun, Cayo Coco, Dublin, Edmonton, Faro, Fort Lauderdale, Holguin, La Romana, Lamezia, Las Vegas, Lisbon, London-Gatwick, Manchester (UK), Montego Bay, Nassau, Ohrid, Oranjestad, Orlando, Pescara, Philipsburg, Port of Spain, Portland, Puerto Plata, Puerto Vallarta, Punta Cana, Roma, San Jose del Cabo, Santiago, Shannon, Split, St. Johns, St. Petersburg, Timişoara, Trieste, Vancouver, Varadero, Venice, Zagreb;
Winter Destinations: Acapulco, Camaguey, Cancun, Cartagena, Cayo Coco, Cienfuegos, Faro, Fort Lauderdale, Holguin, Huatulco, Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo, La Ceiba (Honduras), La Romana, Las Vegas, Liberia (CR), Los Cabos, Managua, Manzanillo, Margarita, Mazatlan, Merida, Montego Bay, Nassau, Oranjestad, Orlando, Panama City, Philipsburg, Port of Spain, Puerto Plata, Puerto Vallarta, Punta Cana, Santa Maria, Santiago, Santo Domingo, St. John's, St. Kitts, St. Lucia, St. Petersburg, Tampico, Vancouver, Varadero, Willemstad)
In addition, many
cargo airlines serve the airport.
*
List of airports in the Greater Toronto Area*
CFYZ, a radio station which broadcasts travel and flight schedule information from the airport.
*
Saying Goodbye*
Pearson Profile*
Greater Toronto Airports Authority
