Toronto Pearson International Airport

[innsertnamehere]

at 38.6 million pax and 7% growth Pearson is on track to crack 40 million a year in 2015.. big numbers there.

Pier G has got to be coming very soon if these growth numbers keep going.

 

[mdrejhon]

Things are getting better in some ways. Like UPX for one.

With one massive exception...

The Pearson airport food is getting almost as bad as airline food! With all the food construction closures, moves, and tired fast food, they need to start installing seatback tray tables in the lobby to complete this equation.

If this keeps up, we'll win a prize for worst airport food -- by a website that normally rates for worst airline food.

Unless you're lucky enough to be in one of that concourse with that one fancy restaurant (I forget which). But almost certainly never in the concourse you're departing from.

 

[Markster]

He brought the fine dining options, the shopping, the agreements with global carriers, with Air Canada and West Jet (further strengthening the fortress hub strategies) and now the passenger growth is pouring in, to the point they had to urgently (but elegantly) un-mothball the T3 satellite (with a full renovation and shopping/dining options) and start accelerating the planning of Pier G.

Just this evening my dad emailed me, telling me that's where his flight to Thunder Bay is departing from (6 hours late...). I was surprised to hear he was in the satellite.

 

[rbt]

For those interested.. found the annual meeting really interesting. Pearson is on a bit of a roll lately. 6.8% growth in 2014 and already at 7% growth YTD.

I knew the stewardship of Howard Eng was a godsend to GTAA. Coming from the world's greatest airport (HKG) he brought a wealth of expertise to Pearson, a clear direction and a mission statement I like 'to be the best airport period' - ambition is admirable.

GTAA didn't really do much to achieve this. Air Canada takes all the credit for this with a 10% capacity increase in the last year.

 

[rbt]

at 38.6 million pax and 7% growth Pearson is on track to crack 40 million a year in 2015.. big numbers there.

Pier G has got to be coming very soon if these growth numbers keep going.

You need a new pier for more flights. Larger aircraft and new seating plans are mean more people for the same number of flights. They've still got plenty of headroom, particularly once Air Canada starts rolling out large numbers of 787's.

 

[innsertnamehere]

Sure, that frees up a lot of capacity, but it can only go so far if you are seeing a 7% increase in passengers every year. Presume construction starts in 2 years.. 4 years of construction, opens 2021 or 2022. You are looking at an airport in 2022 that is handling in excess of 60 million passengers a year. No way you can fit that into the existing facilities.

 

[rbt]

Sure, that frees up a lot of capacity, but it can only go so far if you are seeing a 7% increase in passengers every year.

Sure, but they won't see 7% increases once the interior redesigns and replacement aircraft delivery programs are complete. Air Canada (AFAIK) has no plans for substantial fleet expansion, just renewal/redesign with more seats per aircraft. Pearson aircraft movements (aircraft take gates) are up 2% and we don't know if those are peak-period of off-peak.

Off-peak flights and larger aircraft do not require more gates. That PAX might require expansion of check-in, baggage handling, security, lounges, air-side inter-terminal train, etc. but not the number of gates.

Peak periods at Pearson tend to reflect business commuter times (roughly 6:30am to 8:30am, 4:30pm to 7pm). A large chunk of that international growth is completely free infrastructure wise as it occurs on the edges of peak periods.


A new pier will happen, quite possibly by 2020 but not because of PAX growth.

 

[Filip]

The last rumour I heard is that the original plan for Pier G is scuttled and they are looking at a 'twin' of Pier F (complete with hammerhead) to accommodate larger planes on international routes.

One of the piers will become Air Canada and some Star Alliance carriers only (and I assume will come with all the marketing associated with it) and the other will be for everyone else. The new pier will be built with Pearson's new vision in mind. Imagine a shopping mall within an airport...

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

That's an excellent rumour, and the mall thing is a no-brainer - practically every self-respecting international hub is doing it.

AoD

 

[Filip]

That's an excellent rumour, and the mall thing is a no-brainer - practically every self-respecting international hub is doing it.

AoD

I'm surprised they've only figured that out recently. The sheer size and emptiness of T1's Pier F and E upon opening was unique.

I assume they're rejigging some of the space in the pier to allow retail. There are long blank corridors in the pier's arm.

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

My understanding is that the "mall" component at most of the other airports is usually located not in the pier but where it attaches to the terminal proper, on the air side.

AoD

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

Interesting article from 2012:

http://www.airport-world.com/item/1259-toronto’s-evolution

AoD

 

[Woodbridge_Heights]

The last rumour I heard is that the original plan for Pier G is scuttled and they are looking at a 'twin' of Pier F (complete with hammerhead) to accommodate larger planes on international routes.

One of the piers will become Air Canada and some Star Alliance carriers only (and I assume will come with all the marketing associated with it) and the other will be for everyone else. The new pier will be built with Pearson's new vision in mind. Imagine a shopping mall within an airport...

I'm surprised they've only figured that out recently. The sheer size and emptiness of T1's Pier F and E upon opening was unique.

I assume they're rejigging some of the space in the pier to allow retail. There are long blank corridors in the pier's arm.

Really??? I haven't heard of a plan to twin Pier F. If the twinned pier is built on the East end of the grounds that really leaves very little room for expansion with additional piers: Initial plans were for two more piers in the mold of pier E plus an extra commuter pier. Although it was determined that the plan would result in excessive walking distances for passengers, and so was reduced to the one additional pier (Pier G) + commuter pier.

Re. the emptiness of Pier F I have found that the have thrown too much stuff (Retail, etc) into the hammerhead portion of Pier F. When I traveled in 2009 I found Pier F expansive and open. However travelling again this past January I felt almost claustrophobic by comparison, just so many shops and food outlets and the pathways seemed to be much narrower this time.

I really can't see the need for another giant Pier F type expansion, at least unless and until they decide to renovate (and potentially connect to T1) T3. At which point I can see T3's current B Pier becoming the hammerhead pier. At least this way there would be some balance in terms of having a hammerhead pier at the North and South end of the airport, thinking about usage of the 6-24 and 5-23 runway pairs and optimizing transit times from the gates to the runways here. However this is 30-40 yrs down the line.

Side note a new Master plan is due IIRC at some point in the next year to year and a half. I'm interested to see how they have revised their plans.

 

[junctionist]

It's too bad to hear of the subpar food options. I read an article about a year ago that there's an international trend to bring gourmet food options to airports. I hope we don't miss out on that movement.

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

It's too bad to hear of the subpar food options. I read an article about a year ago that there's an international trend to bring gourmet food options to airports. I hope we don't miss out on that movement.

I think this is mainly an issue at T3, not T1 where the new F&B operations are located?

AoD