Aéroports de Montréal (ADM) will present a plan “by the end of fall” to combat congestion and customs waiting times in Montréal-Trudeau. However, the organization expects an “improvement” in communication during the work of the Ministry of Transport and is calling for a place on the Mobilité Montréal committee.
Published at 11:31 am.
This is supported by the entourage of the President and General Director of ADM, Yves Beauchamp, who met last Monday with the Minister of Transport Geneviève Guilbault to take stock of several issues.
At the end of September, La Presse reported that pitfalls were piling up at Montreal-Trudeau Airport, from queues for cars or buses to waiting times at customs. And the worst is probably yet to come, as extensive work needs to be carried out to increase the capacity of the pier.
Two weeks later, things seem to be picking up. A “remedial plan” covering, among other things, “congestion at piers and waiting times at border control” should be presented “in due course, by the end of the fall,” says an ADM spokesman, Eric Forest.
It is already clear that a new parking lot will be opened at the beginning of 2024, with the possibility of a remote pier, which, according to Aéroports de Montréal, could improve things in the medium term.
In the longer term, we continue, there is also a major project underway to “update ADM’s strategic plan.” A landside development plan, which includes increasing the capacity of the jetty and rehabilitating the airport façade, will be unveiled soon with several remedial measures, but not expected in 2023. The master plan should extend to 2043 and will also be updated.
Quebec also needs to improve
During the meeting with Ms Guilbault, Mr Beauchamp “discussed with the minister various issues affecting the airport site, including the desired improvement in communications and remedial measures during the road works carried out by the MTQ,” a spokesman says. Words by ADM: Eric Wald.
“It was also requested that ADM be located at Mobilité Montréal so that it would be better able to learn more about traffic delays on the access roads to the airport,” explains Mr. Forest.
In Minister Guilbault’s office, we say that we are very open to the idea of integrating the airport organization into Mobilité Montréal, the body that coordinates all projects in the metropolitan region. “We are even wondering whether we would set up a subcommittee or working group specifically for the airport sector,” says communications director Maxime Roy.
He claims that Ms. Guilbault will soon convene a meeting of the Mobilité Montréal steering committee at the end of October.
In October 2022, La Presse reported that Mobilité Montréal had only held one meeting in the past five years. Sources then complained about the lack of leadership at the top of the organization. Ms. Guilbault promised a few months later that Mobilité Montréal would meet more frequently in 2023. “We can do better in the coming years. […] We will be better in 2024. That is the commitment I am making today,” she said.
Mirabel, the “wrong debate”
Several readers have asked us in recent weeks: Could the closure of the Mirabel international terminal have prevented the current situation? Not in ADM’s eyes.
“For us, this is a false debate in the sense that if international flights had remained in Mirabel there would be similar problems. The terminal at that time was not large enough to accommodate the number of currently registered passengers and access by road is difficult. Major investments would have had to be made in the infrastructure and we would have the same financing difficulties as we have today,” replies Communications Director Anne-Sophie Hamel.
Ultimately, “the addition of a second international airport for passengers would reduce airlines’ customer base and increase their operating costs,” she believes. For ADM, the loss of international flight exclusivity would “result in a decline in market share and therefore increased risk for investors, thereby contributing to a deterioration in our creditworthiness.”
An idea of the financial challenge
Back in 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 put into Trudeau Airport if the pandemic returned. At the time, Mr. Rainville spoke of “a few billion” to restore his financial health. To date, ADM in Ottawa has reached 170 million, including 100 million for the Réseau Express Métropolitain (REM) antenna, which will cost 600 million to build by 2027. To date, ADM’s net debt remains approximately 2.27 billion.