Southern Ontario’s airports are working together to meet the challenge of massive growth in passenger numbers within 25 years.The Globe and Mail
Pooling expertise to prepare for an expected 110 million passengers annually in southern Ontario within the next 25 years is the strategy behind the formal launch earlier this year of the Southern Ontario Airport Network (SOAN).
Members of the network include: Toronto Pearson International Airport, Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport, Hamilton John C. Munro International Airport, Kingston/Norman Rogers Airport, Lake Simcoe Regional Airport, London International Airport, Oshawa Executive Airport, Niagara District Airport, Peterborough Airport, Region of Waterloo International Airport, and Windsor International Airport.
Each airport will continue to make independent strategic decisions based on local business drivers and community needs and acceptance while working within SOAN to explore the opportunities and constraints to air service development in the region. The objective is to work together to support growth and amplify the overall impact of air service for southern Ontario.
The network's priorities for the next five years are to:
Raise awareness and profile of the Southern Ontario Airport Network airports as:
˚ Enablers of trade, tourism and foreign direct investment (FDI) in Ontario and Canada;
˚ Sources of jobs in each airport community and beyond;
˚ Providers of diverse airport options for passengers, shippers, businesses and air carriers;
˚ Enablers of Toronto Pearson's role as Canada's mega hub airport.
Promote southern Ontario with the goal of attracting greater tourism, trade and FDI;
Develop a common source of data that will allow all airports to understand the future needs of this growing region and identify future air service development opportunities.
In its founding statement, SOAN points out that no one airport alone can meet all the region's diverse demands. Based on current terminal capacity, the regional air travel capacity across all airports in southern Ontario is currently estimated at 89 million passengers per year.
By the late 2030s, regional air travel demand is likely to outpace the current capacity of the region's airports, making it more difficult to accommodate the needs of passengers and aviation stakeholders. If nothing changes, by the mid-2040s, there could be an excess passenger demand of around 20 million passengers per year who could face crowded and congested facilities in southern Ontario, or may even leave the region to have their travel needs met. The economic impact of those passengers not being served in southern Ontario could reach as high as $15-billion in GDP.
Produced by Randall Anthony Communications for Globe Content Studio. The Globe's Editorial Department was not involved in its creation.