Pearson T1 - Pier F

[Bogtrotter]

Re: Terminal 1

"Shame about the railings at the bacardi bar. Looks a bit budget."

I agree, but that's kind of a niggling thing that can be changed at any time. Looks like a nice little spot for a pre-vacation mohito :hat

 

[EnviroTO]

Re: Terminal 1

Thanks to you and your insider for the pics.

They built that huge pier F and the only aircraft attached to it in those pics are tiny little Embraer jets! I didn't expect to see that. My guess was that I would have been in awe of the number and size aircraft on the international pier.

 

[yyzer]

Re: Terminal 1

Hey Enviro, the pictures were taken in early afternoon, it gets much busier as the day progresses. This summer should be very busy at Pier F, especially with Air Canada getting their 777s.

 

[joel in TO]

Re: Terminal 1

Just flew internationally in and out of the hammerhead last week and have a few observations:

- beautiful design - the pictures don't do it justice
- excellent passenger flow, although the high speed walkways are still not fully installed so its a bit of a walk all the way along the pier
- Very, very disappointing on the hammerhead food options. There is a Tim hortons (which has only a partial menu - bagels, donuts, coffee), a coyote grill, a casey's and nothing else serving food. This is horrible at dinner time as there simply is not enough capacity and no quick options (for instance pizza which is always quick). When i was there, Tims was out of food, the lineup for caseys was over 30 minutes as was the lineup for coyote grill which is supposed to be "fast" food... Many passengers were starving for fear of missing their flights while in the outrageous lines. Why the GTAA didn't include some high capacity, FAST food outlets like a pizza place and other similar establishments boggles my mind... Complaints were everywhere to be heard the day i was there - hopefully this will reach the ears of the GTAA management and get them to fix this.

Overall, an extremely beautiful building, the experience of which is diminished by very poor planning in the food department.

 

[unimaginative2]

Re: Terminal 1

I just flew through the Hammerhead as well, and I had the same observations. The walk is a little bit long from the gate to the exit, but that should be alleviated somewhat by the high-speed walkways when they open.

I was quite surprised by how small the Hammerhead international area seemed. The food selection was pretty pitiful, which surprised me since people are often waiting a long time for international flights. The duty free is also a bit small for an airport of that size. The GTAA could be making a lot more on retail in that area.

I'm curious as to how the International/Transborder swing gates work. How many gates are they able to convert along the "arm" of Pier F?

 

[EnviroTO]

Re: Terminal 1

There are swinging glass walls along the whole pier so that the international gates can be as few as 4 gates and as many as 22 (24 if Embraers could fly overseas). The only gates which must be international are gates 174 - 177. In addition, many of the gates on the south side of Pier E and along the liner between Pier E and F are swing gates Domestic-Transborder (and international but not likely to be used as such since it would require using the Pier E entrance). I think only gates 191 and 193 must be Transborder. Gates 101-145 excluding 132, 134, and 136 must be Domestic.

 

[Bogtrotter]

Re: Terminal 1

I remember getting a very hefty and tasty wedge of pizza in the new terminal when heading down to Cuba last year, but I guess that wasn't in the new hammerhead..?

 

[p5archit]

Re: Terminal 1

The short of the long here is that the GTAA really missed an opportunity with respect to the amenities and retail. Architecturally the airport is fine, but take a look at any major international airport, ie: CDG-Paris, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Hong Kong, Heathrow, Vienna Int'l, they all have great retail sections, malls if you will and great food possibilities where you can sit and enjoy the flying experience.

I get the feeling that such things were not really part of the grand scheme of things for the architects or the GTAA- "get 'em out!" And I am sure I will be chastised for making these remarks, because the airport is better than anything than was there before. True enough, but when it came to excelling in the amenities department, they dropped the ball and made it the same as before.

My traveling experiences makes me believe that this is a North American phenomena-lots of airport and little of anything else. Anyone who has been to Schiphol-Amsterdam or Copenhagen knows exactly what I mean.

p5

 

[maxy505]

Re: Terminal 1

Even San Francisco's newer terminal was loaded with book stores and fast food joints... mmm I had a good burrito there.

 

[Bogtrotter]

Re: Terminal 1

Terminal three is pretty bad for that as well. Hmm- maybe if Louis Turpen had stayed on the new Pier 1 would offer ewey-gooey burritos as well.

I wonder why the options are so few in the new pier? It's not as if they're unaware of what's going on at other major airports :\

 

[allabootmatt]

Re: Terminal 1

I have found the food in the US portion of T3 to be pretty pitiful--I'm generally an AA customer, so it's my base for getting to and from TO--it's always a grim trip, victuals-wise, on the way back.

Haven't used the new terminal yet except once, shortly after it opened, when I was in the IFT anyway. Looking forward to it being used for transborder so I will see more of it.

 

[yyzer]

Re: Terminal 1

Interesting comments about the food services at T1 and T3 - and pretty accurate, I think...don't understand why the GTAA have not increased the restaurant/bar/shopping facilities...one of their goals is supposed to be to increase revenue from non-airline sources...

hopefully things will gradually improve..

 

[unimaginative2]

Re: Terminal 1

Pretty much every major European airport has a substantial shopping/services complex, usually combined with a train and transit station. The retail selection at Pearson is pretty limited by European standards.

I'm glad to hear that about the swing gates. I had been under the impression that the airport was extremely flexible with respect to gate types, so I'm glad to hear that's true.

 

[oneillt]

Re: Terminal 1

I remember flying through Tokyo's airport a few years ago. My wife and I decided to do some shopping and almost missed our flight. We wondered why we did any souvenir shopping when there was so much of it at the terminal. However still love the new design for terminal 1.

 

[alklay]

Re: Terminal 1

Does the new terminal even have space for additional shops and food outlets or is what we see, what we will have (without an addition on the new addition)?

I have no idea but I get the impression that there is no more room for additional retail and that perhaps this has turned out to be a major oversight of the development.