New Airport Will Be Jewel in Transportation Crown-Toronto PearsonInternational Airport

December 27, 2003

New Airport Will Be Jewel in Transportation Crown 
Brampton Guardian, Canada 
 
More than 33 million people will pass through the new Terminal 1 at Toronto 
Pearson International Airport when it opens in April. 
Federal transportation minister David Collenette took part in a media tour last 
week of the 390,000 sq.-m. facility. 

The $4.4 billion airport development program is a 10-year plan, started in 1998 
by the Greater Toronto Airport Authority (GTAA), a not-for-profit corporation 
that operates Toronto Pearson International Airport. 

It consists of four major projects including new access roads, parking garage, 
airside improvements, relocated and expanded cargo facilities, the expansion 
and relocation of ancillary support services and the new $3.3 billion Terminal 
1 facility. 

"The expansion is online, on time and within budget," said Collenette, calling 
the new terminal one of the finest structures in the world. 

The crescent-shaped building was constructed with enough concrete to build two 
CN Towers and enough steel for three and a half Eiffel Towers. 

The existing Terminal 1, built in 1964 and designed to only handle 3.5 million 
passengers a year, will be demolished in May. 

Development will be phased 

Phased development will continue, said GTAA officials, as demand requires, 
culminating in the replacement of Terminal 2. 

"Anyone who travels knows (both terminals) are well beyond their best-before 
date. We had to start fresh," said Collenette. 

The redevelopment project has been funded entirely by airport revenues, landing 
rights and passenger fees. 

Collenette boasted there has been no contribution from taxpayers and the 
facility is "owned and will continued to be owned by the people of Canada." 

However, the airlines are upset at the GTAA's decision to increase landing fees 
and increase the general terminal fee, said International Air Transport 
Association (IATA) officials, a watchdog that represent and serves 280 airlines 
through a united voice. 

IATA argues Toronto is at the bottom of the top 30 airports in terms of air 
travel traffic, yet it's one of the top 10 most expensive airports. 

To the naysayers, Collenette simply said, "if you want a world class facility, 
you have to spend the money." 

After this year's SARS outbreak that sent air travel and tourism numbers 
plummeting, the transportation minister said this new terminal will show the 
world that, "Toronto is back, we are back in the world and open for business." 

Throughout construction, the airport and its surrounding maze of connecting 
roadways stayed functional, without delaying any passengers. 

Ground access to and from Toronto Pearson will be "simplified", said GTAA 
officials. 

Roadway expansions are almost completed, including covered pedestrian bridges 
and new approach roads that lead directly into the new terminal. 

Huge parking garage 

An eight-storey parking garage, said to be the largest of its kind in North 
America, will accommodate 12,600 cars. 

Inside the new state-of-the-art facility, designers have treated the public to 
a clean, airy and organized atmosphere. 

The terminal is teeming with windows to increase natural light in spaces like 
the baggage claim, which is normally a dark and grim area filled with people 
waiting impatiently for their luggage. 

Wide open floor spaces have been incorporated around 250 passenger check-in 
counters, and 50 express check-in machines have been installed to ease 
line-ups. 

The terminal's retail component consists of eight stores, 13 restaurants and 10 
newsstands and bookstores that include major names like Roots, Maclean's and 
Sunglass Hut. 

Splashes of colour have been added to the predominantly white sterile facility 
by an eclectic mix of artwork incorporated in several areas "to captivate the 
minds of millions of air travelers," said Louis Turpen, president and CEO of 
the GTAA. 

One of the final pieces to Pearson Airport's development plan is the 
construction of an Automated People Mover (APM) that will shuttle passengers 
between Terminal 1, Terminal 3 and the parking lot in about three and a half 
minutes. 

The APM will carry as many as 2,150 people each way every half hour when it 
becomes operational in December 2005.

 
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