Toronto Pearson International Airport

[Richard White]

Both T1 and T3 have run up against space limitation in their security and customs areas. In addition, having split facilities as they do today leads to inefficiencies where T1 might be overloaded and T3 may have agents twiddling their thumbs. Part of this is the numerous added restrictions and some new equipment since T1 was designed.

I imagine the second part is that air-side malls are quite beneficial financially to the airports. The T1/T3 processing facilities would make for one heck of a huge air-side waiting/mall/foodcourt.

It may be time to look at imploding T3 and expanding. T3 is becoming stale and outdated compared to more modern airports and could use an upgrade. Yes it would cost alot BUT if it is not done YYZ will reach a point where they have planes waiting on the tarmac for open sluts.

 

[Woodbridge_Heights]

It may be time to look at imploding T3 and expanding. T3 is becoming stale and outdated compared to more modern airports and could use an upgrade. Yes it would cost alot BUT if it is not done YYZ will reach a point where they have planes waiting on the tarmac for open sluts.

My vote for misspelling of the year...

 

[Filip]

LOLOL

In all seriousness, I am glad Pearson is using remote gates - much better option than leaving passengers waiting on the tarmac for over 30 mins for a gate.

When arriving in Munich on a Lufthansa A340, we were bused into the terminal. This is normal at most global airports.

 

[Supersvt48]

It's a tightrope that GTAA has to walk. When T1 was built there was huge complaints from Airlines as well as passengers why the costs were so high. So many more people sought out alternative airports (Buffalo, Hamilton). If they overbuild there is a risk of a similar move by airlines and passengers.

But if they under build there is a similar risk. Too crowded or too painful to get on a plane and hence go to another airport.

I don't understand why Pearson is one of the most expensive airports compared to other airports in the world. Yes...the initial build out was a 4.4 billion dollar expansion but that was 13 years ago. There are many airports building/expanding well into the billions of dollars. Chicago O'Hare 8.5 billion expansion was just approved. LAX is spending 14 billion on updating and expansion. HKG is spending 18 billion on expansion . YVR is 6.5 bilion. JFK 10 billion. Never mind Dubai and Istanbul . How can these airports, after their expansion is complete, not become some of the most expensive airports in the world compared to Pearson? Pearson should be a relative bargain by the time those projects are complete. The Airport Authority sat on their asses for too long. Pearson is growing at over 3 million passengers annually. If they put shovels into the ground right now, a new pier won't be ready for at east 2 years. That would be 6 million more passengers passing through the airport. Where do these people go? Typical Toronto: Mediocrity at the highest price.

 

[innsertnamehere]

You know why? it's because Toronto is 100% privately funded. All those other airports get huge amounts of government infrastructure funding. Toronto has to finance it entirely through airport improvement fees. Which means a lot of costs.

I think GTAA has been taken a bit aback by the sudden and rapid growth of the airport over the last few years. They expected growth to occur at a much slower rate.

 

[Tim MacDonald]

I think the point trying to be made is that with the insanely high airport fees we pay here, there shouldn't be instances where we are running short on gates to unload passengers. When growth demands are also factored in, the questioning of the GTAA's decision to not build Pier G with Pier H is a fair one.

Doesn't matter what airport it is there will always be cases of having to use remote stands or force aircraft to wait for a gate. Gates are a valuable commodity and won't sit empty for long - especially during peak periods. Each day is a puzzle and sometimes the pieces don't fit exactly but you do the best you can and minimize the inconvenience where possible.

I still remember the days of the Old T1 at Pearson where I had to hold passengers on arrived, gated flights because the customs and immigration hall was full. In some cases you had to close the aircraft doors because the passengers were getting a little antsy! The summer of 1990 really saw that terminal beyond the breaking point.

 

[Supersvt48]

YVR is not getting any public money. They are funding the expansion themselves by incurring debt and charging more to airlines and passengers through the airport improvement fee. Same with ORD and LAX.

 

[Amare]

It may be time to look at imploding T3 and expanding. T3 is becoming stale and outdated compared to more modern airports and could use an upgrade. Yes it would cost alot BUT if it is not done YYZ will reach a point where they have planes waiting on the tarmac for open sluts.

I couldn't agree more and it's not only the fact that it's stale and starting to look drab. T3 is consistently a zoo, on the inside and out. On the inside, the general floor area is just not sufficient to handle all the passengers that flow through the area on a daily basis. On the outside there is a constant never ending lineup of cars heading to both the arrivals and departures levels pretty much throughout the day, and it's not just limited to certain hours. It's so bad that security officers often have to direct traffic because it's just pure chaos around the area. Words dont even to the situation justice, one really has to go and take a look for their own eyes.

The GTAA really needs to look at their master plan again because they really cheapened out on it and overlooked how bad the passenger congestion issue is and will be in the future.

Personally, I would choose any airline that flies out of T1 no matter the cost just to avoid the chaotic T3 experience.

 

[innsertnamehere]

^That is a lot of hyperbole. T1 is obviously better but I'm not going to drop another $200-$300 for an Air Canada flight. I went to Ireland in June - Air Canada was I believe $800 for the flights.. Picked up some Air Transat tickets for $530. Not worth $270 for T1.

 

[Amare]

^That is a lot of hyperbole. T1 is obviously better but I'm not going to drop another $200-$300 for an Air Canada flight. I went to Ireland in June - Air Canada was I believe $800 for the flights.. Picked up some Air Transat tickets for $530. Not worth $270 for T1.

To each their own. Personally i've had issues getting into/out of T3 with all the traffic via car and transit, as well as separate issues with luggage claims.

Regardless of my personal preferences, fact is that something needs to be drastically overhauled at T3. The way it operates today shouldn't continue.

 

[pman]

I’ve had the same experience as INH. Cathay Toronto to Sydney via HK is over $800 cheaper than AC via YVR, both premium economy. I’ll happily put up with T3 for that. Not that T1 is all that crash hot anyway these days, at least for international departures.

 

[TransitBart]

LOLOL

In all seriousness, I am glad Pearson is using remote gates - much better option than leaving passengers waiting on the tarmac for over 30 mins for a gate.

When arriving in Munich on a Lufthansa A340, we were bused into the terminal. This is normal at most global airports.

This is not normal. It is the mark of second rate and older and vacation destination airports. It is also a very poor choice in a climate like ours with six months of cold weather.

 

[Streety McCarface]

This is not normal. It is the mark of second rate and older and vacation destination airports. It is also a very poor choice in a climate like ours with six months of cold weather.

You'll only ever see bus runs at large airports for domestic (usually LCC) flights unless something is really wrong in Europe.

 

[Tim MacDonald]

I've flown all my trips out of T3 in the last year (Mix of transborder, Sun, Tpac) and honestly didn't think it was that bad. Had no trouble reaching the terminal and the lines weren't too bad. Yes, it could have more food options. When they built the offices behind the check-in counters and took out some of the shops and restaurants that really changed things. Imploding it isn't necessary right now. The only terminal that really deserved to be destroyed was the old T1. Perhaps things got bad with the reactivation of the IFT in June but so far I haven't noticed any major problems. Growth is never painless.

 

[Jasmine18]

I think they wanted to expand faster but slowed down as growth did not pick up much when T1 opened but now they are falling behind it seems.