Airport Toronto (Canada) - Pearson International

Toronto Pearson International Airport, also known as Lester B. Pearson International Airport or simply Toronto Pearson (IATA: YYZ, ICAO: CYYZ), is an international airport serving Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated 27 km (17 mi) northwest of Downtown Toronto in the city of Mississauga. It is the busiest airport in Canada^[3][4] and is a hub of flag carrier Air Canada and is also a hub for Air Canada Jazz. The airport is operated by Greater Toronto Airports Authority as part of Transport Canada's National Airports System.^[5] It is one of eight Canadian airports with facilities for United States border preclearance.

Toronto Pearson handled 32.3 million passengers^[4] and 429,262 aircraft movements^[3] in 2008. It was the 22nd busiest airport by aircraft movements in 2008 with 429,829 flights.^[6] In 2006, the airport was selected as the best global airport by the UK based Institute of Transport Management.^[7]

History

Malton Airport (1937-1960)

The airport was created from nine farmland properties that were purchased by the Toronto Harbour Commission in 1937. It first opened in 1939 as Malton Airport, named for its location near Malton, bounded by Derry Road to the north, Airport Road (6th Line) to the east, Elmbank Side Road to the south and Torbram Road (5th Line) to the west.

The first terminal was built in 1938 and consisted of a standard frame terminal building from a converted farm house. The original airport covered 420 acres (1.7 km²) with full lighting, radio, weather reporting equipment, two hard surface runways and one grass landing strip.

Malton Airport was sold to the City of Toronto in 1940 and was used as a military training airport. An air traffic control centre was added in 1942 and the airport served as a British Commonwealth Air Training Plan facility during World War II.

A second terminal, similar to the existing structure at the Toronto City Centre Airport, was built along Airport Road in 1949 to replace the first terminal (converted farm house). It was able to handle 400,000 passengers a year, and had an observation deck on the roof. Further expansion of the airport saw the expropriation of land to the south of Elmbank Side Road and westwards past Torbram to Dixie Road. The airport's growth eventually lead to the disappearance of much of the town, Elmbank. The runways for Malton consisted of 14/32, a 11,050 ft (3,368 m) runway used for test flights for the CF-105 Arrow (Avro Arrow) fighter from the Avro Canada plant and now exists only as a taxiway to 05/23; 14/32, a 11,475 ft (3,498 m) north-south runway (replaced by 15L/33R); and 10/28, a 7,425 ft (2,263 m) northwest-southeast runway which now exists only as a taxiway.

Transport Canada obtained control of Malton Airport in 1958, and the airport was renamed Toronto International Airport in 1960.

Toronto International Airport (1960-1984)

The second terminal was demolished in the late 1960s to make way for the Terminal 1 (T1) building. The original T1 (also called Aeroquay One) had a square central structure topped by a parking garage with about eight levels and ringed by a two-storey passenger concourse leading to the gates. It was designed by John B. Parkin and construction took place between 1957 and 1964.

In 1972, the Canadian government expropriated land east of Toronto for a second major airport, Pickering Airport, to relieve congestion at Toronto International. The project was postponed in 1975, partly due to opposition by community activists and environmentalists. However, the government retained ownership of the expropriated land.

Considered state-of-the-art in the 1960s, Terminal 1 became overloaded by the early 1970s, resulting in the building of another terminal. Terminal 2, originally intended as a freight terminal, opened on June 15, 1972. However, the failed development of the Pickering Airport forced the airport to modify Terminal 2's plan into a two floor, 26-gate passenger terminal. Initially, it was served only by charter airlines, but became the hub for all Air Canada passenger flights on April 29, 1973. A tunnel with moving sidewalks at the northwest corner of Terminal 2 connected it with Terminal 1.

The site of Terminal 2 was to have been the location for the planned Aeroquays Two and Three, duplicates of the design of the original Terminal 1 (Aeroquay One), but their inefficiency in handling wide-body passenger aircraft by the late 1960s forced the airport to abandon the circular terminal concept.

Terminal 2 was designed for three airlines: American, British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC), and Canadian Pacific Airlines (CP Air). In the later development stages, it became apparent that it would not be viable in this form, the major complaint being the lack of indoor parking and the lack of windows. As AA, BA (formerly BOAC) and CP opted out of T2, Air Canada, as the government airline, was forced to move its operations there against its will. Initially, it was operated as three separate areas, befitting the three airlines for which it was designed: furthest west, (designed for CP) the Domestic zone; at the centre (designed for BA), International; furthest east, (for AA) Transborder. In the late 1970s, T2 was redesigned again; this iteration lasting until the acquisition of Canadian Airlines in 2000. The western zone remained Domestic, but was now colour coded red. In the middle, a separate Rapidair area was created for flights to Ottawa Macdonald-Cartier International Airport and Montreal-Dorval International Airport; it was red as well. East of that was the Transborder area, coloured white. A new section was added on the east end for International flights and was coded blue. An airside corridor along the southern edge of T2 was added, giving access to and from Canada Customs; this made it possible for aircraft arriving in one zone to depart with passengers from another zone without regating the aircraft.

Toronto Pearson International Airport (1984-present)

The airport was renamed to Toronto Pearson International Airport in 1984, in honour of Lester B. Pearson, the 14th Prime Minister of Canada and recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. Operationally, the airport is often referred to as Toronto Pearson. Terminal 3 opened in 1991, to offset traffic from Terminal 1 and Terminal 2. Before its opening, Terminal 3 was the designation for the CP Air hangar at the airport during 1971 to handle the increased volume at Terminal 1.

There is one infield terminal located near the cargo tentants, however, it is not used for by any airline or cargo airline

As part of the National Airports Policy, management responsibilities of the Toronto Pearson were transferred from Transport Canada to the Greater Toronto Airports Authority in 1996. The C$4.4 billion Airport Development Program commenced with focus on terminal development, airside development, infield development, utilities and airport support facilities over a 10-year period. Work began to replace Terminal 1 and Terminal 2 with a new Terminal 1, which along with a Terminal 3 would become the two passenger terminal facilities at Toronto Pearson.

To ensure the ability of Toronto Pearson to accommodate its growing aircraft volume, substantial redevelopment of the airside and infield systems took place. Cargo facilities were added in the centre of the airport between the parallel north-south runways, to increase capabilities and to offset the loss of the cargo facilities that were removed for the new terminal.^[8] Two new runways were built to increase the number of aircraft that Toronto Pearson can process. A north-south runway, 15R/33L, was added and completed in 1997. Another east-west runway, 06R/24L, was completed in 2002.^[9]

After the September 11 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.

The new Terminal 1 opened on April 6, 2004. Previously, Terminal 2 had a facility for United States border preclearance and handled both domestic and international transborder traffic. Domestic traffic was moved to the new Terminal 1 when it became operational, leaving Terminal 2 to handle transborder United States traffic for Air Canada and their Star Alliance partner United Airlines.

Terminal 2 saw its last day in operation as a passenger terminal on January 29, 2007 and airlines moved to the newly completed Pier F at Terminal 1 the following day. Demolition of Terminal 2 began in April 2007 and is expected to continue until November 2008.^[10] Terminal 1 was designed in a way that will allow for future expansion. Future projections see Toronto Pearson handling 55 million passengers annually by 2020^{[citation needed]}, and Terminal 3 will also be expanded as needed to service the passengers.

On June 1st, 2009, the A380 from Emirates Airlines touched down at YYZ for the first time. This is actually the first time the A380 has landed in Toronto in history.

Traffic flow is steady at Pearson throughout the year, but during the day, peak passenger, cargo and aircraft movements are between 3:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. daily.^{[citation needed]}

Infrastructure and services

LINK Train

In July 2006, the automated LINK Train people mover was opened, with two 6-car trains running between Terminals 1 and 3 and the 6A Station, where a reduced rate and airport staff parking lot exists between Airport Road and Viscount Road. The link train is currently out of service and will reopen in July 2009 due to extensive maintenance. A new Parking Garage (currently being constructed @ 6B Parking lot), opposite the 6A Station (linked via a bridge that crosses Viscount Road), will open in Oct/Nov 2009 and will have a maximum capacity of 8,500 vehicles. This will be a mixed use building (long term parking, employee parking and rental car operations).

Support

• Main control tower - 200 ft (61 m) was completed in 2000 and replaced the old tower (now demolished).
• Deicing Centre 1998
• Central Heating Plant
• Central Utilities Plant
  • Terminal 3 Switching Station
  • Bramalea Transformer station
• Carlingview Stormwater Control Facility
• Etobicoke Stormwater Management Facility 2000
• Moore Creek Stormwater Control Facility

Cargo operations

There are two main cargo facilities at Pearson.^[11]

The Cargo West Facilities are located between runways 15L/33R and 15R/33L, and the Cargo Area 5 or VISTA Cargo Centres Incorporated are located north of Terminal 3.

Also, FedEx Express Canada Cargo occupy facilities at west side of airport near runway 05/23. An additional separate cargo area is located north of the aviation facilities.

Tenants using the Cargo West Facilities

Tenants using the Cargo Area 5/VISTA Cargo Centres

Tenants using the cargo area north of the aviation facilities

• Shell Aerocentre Hangars and Flight Lounge
• All Cargo Airlines Limited
• Air 500

TBA usage tenants

• Cargolux ^[12]

North Business Aviation Area

Next to the cargo terminals off Derry Road is refer to as the North Business Aviation Area. It is home to several tenants:

• Skycharter - private charter operator since 1968
• Hydro One (formerly Ontario Hydro) Helicopters - used for repair and maintenance work of hydro towers
• World Aviation Centre - now home to Landmark Aviation

Other airport tenants

• Peel Regional Police is the primary general police service at the airport. Airport Division is located on 2951 Convair Drive, on the south side of the airport near the Facilities Building along Highway 401.
• The Royal Canadian Mounted Police maintain a Toronto Airport Detachment to provide federal police services. The Canada Border Services Agency as well as the Canadian Security Intelligence Service maintain extensive operations at the airport.
• The Greater Toronto Airports Authority administration offices are located on the south side of the airport. They were re-located when the original office was torn down to make way for the new Terminal 1's parking facilities.
• Esso Avitat
• Skyservice

Passenger terminals

Toronto Pearson International Airport currently has two operating terminals: Terminal 1 and Terminal 3. T1 opened on April 6, 2004. The old Terminal 1, which closed simultaneously, was demolished to make room for additional gates at Pier E. Pier F at Terminal 1, which has an enlarged end called "Hammerhead F", opened on January 30, 2007 to replace Terminal 2. This pier is for international traffic and adds 7 million passengers per year to the airport's total capacity. Redevelopment of the airport was a logistical challenge as the existing terminals remained operational throughout construction and demolition.

Toronto Pearson International Airport is one of eight Canadian airports that has United States border preclearance facilities. US Border Pre-clearance is located in both Terminal 1 and Terminal 3.

Terminal 1

Terminal 1 is designed to handle domestic, international and transborder flights in one facility. The Terminal features three piers: Piers D and E with 38 gates (opened November 1, 2005) and Pier F with 23 gates (opened January 30, 2007). Pier F serves transborder and international flights, replacing Terminal 2 and the Infield Terminal (IFT). A Pier G is slated to be built in the future if demand warrants.^[13]

The terminal was designed by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill International Ltd., Adamson Associates Architects, and Moshe Safdie and Associates. It is one of the largest terminal buildings in the world, and holds the largest parking garage in north america.

Infield Terminal (IFT)

Constructed during 2001/02, and opened on April 6, 2003, the IFT was built to handle traffic displaced during the Terminal 1 development. The IFT has 11 gates (521 to 531), and is currently not in use. It will be reactivated once passenger demand rises to a point where Terminal 1 needs to be expanded again. It is frequently used as a location for film and television shoots.

East Holdroom

The east holdroom, also referred to as the "east beach," was added in 1990 and originally served as a satellite terminal for Terminal 2, handling mostly short-haul transborder flights for Air Ontario and later, Air Canada Jazz. Although it can only accommodate approximately twelve turbo-prop aircraft, the east holdroom has been designated all of Terminal 2's former gate numbers (200-299) and will remain in operation until further expansion of Terminal 1. The east holdroom was originally accessed by a shuttle bus from Terminal 2, but is now accessed by a shuttle bus from Terminal 1 after clearing the US Border Preclearance facility.

Terminal 3

Terminal 3, which opened on Thursday February 21, 1991, was built to offset traffic from the old Terminal 1 and Terminal 2. Terminal 3 was initially advertised as "Trillium Terminal 3" and "The Trillium Terminal". It was built as a private venture and was a state of the art terminal containing, among other things, a US customs pre-clearance facility. A parking garage and a hotel (formerly Swissôtel, now Sheraton) is located across from the terminal. A bridge walkway conveniently connects the terminal to the hotel and parking garage. In 1997 the GTAA purchased Terminal 3, shortly thereafter implementing a C$350 million expansion.^{[citation needed]}

The GTAA Terminal 3 Redevelopment Team (T3RD) was formed to oversee the terminal expansion.^[14] In 2004, the Pier C Expansion opened. In June 2006, the East Processor Extension (EPE) started operations. With a soaring, undulating roofline, the EPE added 40 new check-in counters, new retail space, more secure 'hold-screening' for baggage and a huge picture window offering one of the most convenient apron viewing locations at the airport. Improved Canadian Border services and a more open arrivals hall were included in Phase I of the expansion. Phase II of the EPE has been completed in 2007 and includes larger security screening areas and additional international baggage claim areas. Due for completion by late 2007 is the West Processor Expansion Shell with complete outfitting to be complete by early 2008.^[15]

Airlines and destinations