Toronto Pearson International Airport

[nfitz]

This expansion of Terminal 1 has been planned for years. Presumably they've targeted when they want it to come on line, and then have worked backwards to how to build it the cheapest - which isn't necessarily the fastest. It's not like if it takes 2 years or 5 years to build, that it has much impact on the rest of the airport operations - unlike the new T1 construction.

For example, they may be avoiding winter construction, and may have less overlap of various types of construction as they did when they built the original terminal.

 

[jcam]

That is a long time for only a pier addition. However, could be built in stages with final build-out resulting in 2022 (admittedly I'm reaching here)

The next pier could be build without extending the main ticket hall...but they might extend it too...which becomes a bigger proposition.

 

[Woodbridge_Heights]

One thing is for sure it will not be built with the same urgency that the main terminal was built. So as nfitz suggested perhaps they are building on a cost effective time frame rather than a ASAP one. After all it's not like the pier is absolutely needed right now.

Also if it is being built as a transborder pier (meaning pre clearing US Customs) they may be looking at a more efficient manner of getting people through customs, checked in, cleared, and into the terminal. Just as they have recently done at T3 and T1. Having a clean slate may allow them to address the issue differently.

 

[Dan416]

I could also be mis-remembering the time frame. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[Burnt creek]

Piers and gates are about handling the aircraft count and doesn't really correlate with passengers at all. A 400 seat 777 requires a gate for about 1.5 hours; and a 37 seat Dash 8 requires a gate for 45 minutes. Smaller aircraft jumps, like swapping a 319 for a 321, increases capacity by about 40% and has very little impact on the time tables.

Terminal aircraft movements, about the only proxy we have for determining gate usage, is increasing at about 1% per year.

This is true. When the planning began for the new terminal 1, oil prices were down in the 40$ a barrell range (ironically where they are now). As a result, the 50 seat regional jets were the fad because it allowed airlines to add frequencies and run more hub operarions as opposed to point to point service. The RJ's opened up new routes to towns that would not have had air service because no airframe previously existed that could have operated those routes profitably. More frequencies allowed airlines to meet scheduling demands of business travelers. The result was more and more aircrafts in the sky, more and more aircraft movements and hence more demand for gate space.

Then something happened. Oil spiked up to 100 a barrell. Hence, Regional jets (especially the 50 seat ones)became unprofitable to operate and airlines started dumping RJ's in favour of bigger planes. So instaed of five flights a day to X city with an RJ, its now made more economic sence to operate maybe 2 or 3 on abigger plane.

This is why when you look at the pearson expansion plans, some might wonder why everything looks so woefully behind. Its just that things changed due to oil prices and aircraft (technology) development. If you scroll down on the doc below to pages 14-18, you'll note that pier G was suppose to open in 2014, pier H and I in 2020.

http://www.torontopearson.com/uploadedFiles/GTAA/Content/About_GTAA/Strategy/Master_Plan/MP - Chapter 6 - Passenger Terminals.pdf

 

[Filip]

I heard that they're starting construction of Pier G next year. Apparently the GTAA has announced this to all their employees. And I think they said it would take 6 years to build? Or was it 7? Regardless, I guess we'll see next year if that goes ahead.

Interesting... I heard the GTAA is soliciting consultants to advise on another staged expansion plan stretching to 2025 - with completion of not just Pier G, but H and I.

I don't think the other two piers are necessarily warranted. In fact Pier H is a very large one.

 

[rbt]

Interesting... I heard the GTAA is soliciting consultants to advise on another staged expansion plan stretching to 2025 - with completion of not just Pier G, but H and I.

The last master plan was published in 2008 and is getting pretty stale. G, H, and I constructed by 2025 is slightly more aggressive than their published master plan which envisioned Pier G completion by 2014, Pier H in 2020, and Pier I they weren't even sure they wanted (scheduled for 2030 but maybe never).

I suspect the consultants are for a master plan update. G is coming but H probably isn't necessary for a while if they build an airside people mover between T1/T3.

 

[kEiThZ]

I have a feeling there will be some major reviews coming. Air Canada wants Toronto to be a much more US focused hub, allowing them to serve the Europe to US market and the Europe to Latin America market (to a lesser extent). Meanwhile changing market dynamics means fewer regional jets. First high prices killed them. Now, higher licensing requirements for airline pilots and putting the squeeze on regional carriers and slowly forcing larger aircraft sizes and fewer frequencies. These trends will necessitate design changes.

 

[Edward Skira]

Interesting to see they are planning an offramp from the 401 directly to the airport cargo area.

 

[pstogios]

That's a bizarre place to put an off-ramp. Where would it go?

Also does "Airport East Access Lands" refer to Finch West or Eglinton West LRT's and how they would access the airport?

 

[kEiThZ]

They'll have to replace T3 at some point. I would assume that additional capacity at T1 would have to come first, to provide required capacity during the transition.

 

[Woodbridge_Heights]

That's a bizarre place to put an off-ramp. Where would it go?

Also does "Airport East Access Lands" refer to Finch West or Eglinton West LRT's and how they would access the airport?

The ramp would go into the mid field cargo complex (the reddish highlighted area in the image), I imagine it would provide access for cargo trucks on the 401 to the airport cargo area.

 

[jcam]

They'll have to replace T3 at some point. I would assume that additional capacity at T1 would have to come first, to provide required capacity during the transition.

My understanding is they intend first to link T3 to T1 on the airfield side. It's in their near-term capital plan as something like $700M, so I think its more than just a second people mover...might be a physical building connection.

 

[rbt]

My understanding is they intend first to link T3 to T1 on the airfield side. It's in their near-term capital plan as something like $700M, so I think its more than just a second people mover...might be a physical building connection.

Yeah, I assumed there would be some shuffling of operations around so, for example, T3 might be all US-only operations for all airlines and the people mover would be considered CAN-side.

If each terminal has a US zone, it gets tricky to allow US<->US transfers and CAN<->CAN transfers via a single people mover system; time segregation (separate trains which go to select stops and a single set of tracks?) Gatwick Pier 6 has a pedestrian bridge over a taxiway; £110m in 2005 might be roughly equal to $700M CAD in 2020.

 

[jcam]

Yeah, I assumed there would be some shuffling of operations around so, for example, T3 might be all US-only operations for all airlines and the people mover would be considered CAN-side.

If each terminal has a US zone, it gets tricky to allow US<->US transfers and CAN<->CAN transfers via a single people mover system; time segregation (separate trains which go to select stops and a single set of tracks?) Gatwick Pier 6 has a pedestrian bridge over a taxiway; £110m in 2005 might be roughly equal to $700M CAD in 2020.

They just spent a good chunk of money redoing the US security in T1, so I don't imagine they'll be shifting all US traffic out of there.