Passenger comfort is a priority at Montreal-Trudeau International.
Jim Cherry knew he had a big job on his hands when he took over 15 years ago as president and CEO of Aéroports de Montréal (ADM), the local airport authority responsible for the management, operation and development of Montréal–Mirabel and Montréal–Trudeau international airports.
Montréal–Trudeau, known then as Montréal-Dorval, was badly in need of a major capital injection to upgrade its aging infrastructure.
"Back in 2000, we were dealing with somewhere between eight million and nine million passengers a year, and dealing with them badly," says Mr. Cherry. "Our infrastructure and systems were totally inadequate."
Over the next 15 years, ADM invested $2.5-billion and made Montréal–Trudeau one of the best airports in the world.
"Without that investment we would not have had anywhere near the growth we've experienced."
Jim Cherry is president and CEO of Aéroports de Montréal. PHOTO: VINCENZO D'ALTO
"Without that investment we would not have had anywhere near the growth we've experienced, adds Mr. Cherry. "We wouldn't have been able to deal with the number of passengers we're dealing with now and the number of airlines that use the airport."
He estimates that about half of the $2.5-billion investment was needed simply to meet the demand that was already there. The rest went into preparing the airport for future growth that Mr. Cherry knew was coming.
This year, Montréal–Trudeau expects to serve 16.5 million passengers using 30 airlines to fly to 135 destinations around the world.
Providing passengers with the services they expect at a major international airport was another priority for ADM. There are now approximately 106 commercial outlets at Montréal–Trudeau including restaurants and retail stores, which meet travellers needs on the one hand and generate revenue for the airport on the other.
Diversifying revenue streams helps keep landing and service fees as low as possible, making Montréal–Trudeau more attractive to the airlines, which in turn leads to more destinations and frequency of flights.
"None of that would have been possible had we not made the investments in building and services," says Mr. Cherry.
While catering to the needs of passengers and airlines was a key aspect of the upgrades, ADM knew that a holistic approach was necessary to achieve its overall operational goals, and that included a strong focus on improved environmental performance.
Among the enhancements were a bi-energy system based on natural gas and electricity, and energy-efficient insulated glass in the terminal building, which reduced electricity costs by 50 per cent even though square footage of the terminal was doubled. This allowed Montréal–Trudeau to become the first airport in the world to sell carbon credits. And when a new runway was constructed, concrete from the old one was recycled and used as fill.
Montréal–Trudeau also uses a state-of-the-art ethylene glycol recovery, recertification and reuse facility that enhances the airport's environmental performance. The $10-million facility concentrates ethylene glycol used in aircraft de-icing operations and restores it to at least 99.5 per cent purity for reuse. It also reduces the use of potable water by two million litres a year and lowers ethylene glycol costs by up to 30 per cent for airlines.
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