Airport of the World: Aéroports de Montreal Dorval
August 1, 1998 Leave a comment
Aéroports de Montreal
Since August 1st 1992, ADM has been the Local Airport Authority responsible for the management, operation and development of Montreal International Airports – Dorval and Mirabel, through a 60-year lease signed with Transport Canada. ADM is a non-profit organization. The Board of Directors is comprised of eight members, chaired by Mrs Nycol Pageau-Goyette.
AMS’ mission is to exceed guest and business partner expectations by providing airport services designed to render their airports among the most accessible and welcoming in the world; to foster sustained growth for their airports while safeguarding the sound position of the Corporation; and, to contribute to economic development of the Greater Montreal area.
ADM has 580 employees in service. Revenues are close to $120 million annually.
Wholly-Owned Subsidiaries
– Aéroports de Montreal Capital Inc.
– Integrated airport development projects involving finance, operations, investment or construction.
– Aéroports de Montreal International Inc
– Consulting services in airport planning, development, management and operations.
General Information Montreal International Airport – Dorval
Operational area: 1,325 hectares (property and development zone)
Passengers: >6,843,242 passengers in 1997
| Start of operations: | 1941 |
| Operational area: | 1,325 hectares (property and development zone) |
| Passengers: | 6,843,242 passengers in 1997 |
| Aircraft movements: | 195,193 movements in 1997 |
| Air cargo: | 58,677 metric tons in 1997 |
| Number of employees on the site: | Approximately 18,000 |
| Main characteristics: |
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The Dorval Terminal
The Dorval Terminal is housed in an eight-store multi-purpose building whose ground floor and first floor are used to accommodate the flow of passengers.
Two concourses equipped with boarding rooms extend off either side of the main building. The East concourse is used for domestic flights, while the West concourse serves transborder flights.
An aeroquay, a modern building equipped with additional boarding rooms is also linked to the terminal by two tunnels with moving sidewalks. The West side of the aeroquay services international flights while the East side services transborder flights. The concourse and aeroquay provide access to 52 gates, 32 of which are equipped with loading bridges.
The airport has three runways, the longest of which measures 3,353 m. In addition to the passenger processing area (which includes the terminal and boarding rooms), other zones at Dorval include those for general aviation, aircraft maintenance (Air Canada maintenance base), and air cargo.
The Arrivals level is on the ground floor. The East side accommodates domestic flights while the West side is used for transborder and international flights.
The Departures level is on the first floor. Here we also find many of the services available to passengers (ticket and check-in counters, boutiques, shops, cloakroom and restaurants).
Shopping at Dorval
With a new shopping concourse, Dorval honours its promise to offer travellers products and services that fulfil their needs in a warm and elegant setting so typical of Montreal, all at prices comparable to those found in downtown retail establishments.
Coming or going, travellers can now delight in a variety of attractive boutiques which feature everything from novelty items to handicrafts and souvenirs. Those who enjoy leafing through the offerings of bookstores and news-stands or indulging a sweet tooth will find themselves in seventh heaven. Anyone looking for speedy services – banking or insurance – will find it on the spot! There are also three boutiques nestled in the heart of Dorval’s domestic finger, a novel shopping recourse sure to please all travellers. In the spring, a bistro and restaurant will join these new retail arrivals in this sector.
Dorval’s expanded restaurant facilities serve up something for everyone’s taste. Marriot Catering offers you a choice of 15 small and large restaurants, some of them ideal for a quick snack and others for those who want to sit back and enjoy a full-course meal..
Improvement Programme
ADM has implemented a programme for the modernization and improvement of its airport facilities – a programme that requires an investment of $190 million over five years. Already in 1993, 1994 and 1995, ADM spent more than $110 million on many different projects. Between 1993 and 1996, the following were among the projects either completed or launched:
Construction of a new ramp on the Arrivals level to accommodate taxi, limousine, bus and minibus traffic and designation of an area for the exclusive use of private vehicles picking-up arriving passengers; erection of a marquee to protect users in unpleasant weather; and the addition of a third lane to the drop-off area on the Departures level
Expansion and modernization of the domestic arrivals lounge including installation of new baggage carrousels to improve both service and aesthetic appearance, and to comply with new fire regulations.
Design of a new transborder departure area including moving a cooling tower and construction of a baggage room to conform to American Government standards and increase baggage processing capacity, as well as to provide greater flexibility.
Redesign and expansion of the domestic finger including refurbishing of ceilings; construction of new vertical access; refinishing of walls, columns and floors in the public areas; renovation of the washrooms; and remodelling a boarding lounge. This work is intended to make the waiting rooms more comfortable for clients and to improve access to the waiting room located on the main floor of the finger.
A temporary international concourse has been retrofitted at the Western end of the terminal building. It can accommodate up to eight wide-bodied jets. The project primarily involves the refurbishing of departure lounges and the acquisition of a few boarding bridges.
Expansion of the terminal’s main facade, joining of the transborder and domestic arrivals lounges, erection of a marquee on the upper ramp and construction of an international finger at Dorval to handle scheduled international flights – these are just a few of the projects ADM is working on.
Air Cargo
Montreal’s international airports provide good access to the East coast of North America, home of one of the heaviest concentrations of consumers in the world. Through Dorval and Mirabel, one can reach up to 100 million people within a radius of 1,000 km, which means that the airports provide direct access to one third of the entire population of Canada and the United States.
Mirabel and Dorval link shippers and forwarders with an extensive, fully developed highway network, via highly efficient intermodal trucking services. This road network allows users to rapidly reach every major destination in the Eastern seaboard, from Halifax to Miami, Chicago and the American MidWest.
Montreal’s comprehensive intermodal network is rounded out by the Port of Montreal, the second most important stop for East coast North American container traffic, and the extensive railway systems operated by Canadian Pacific and Canadian National. And as the airport authority says: “The quality of the road network and trucking services serving Dorval and Mirabel make each airport as desirable a destination for shipping goods to Europe as they are a drop-off point.”
The absence of congestion at Mirabel and Dorval makes them highly accessible and extremely efficient. They offer all the advantages of major North American airports, without the delays and inconveniences that one finds in many other centres of the same type.
When cargo must be stored, Montreal’s airports have all the space required. Mirabel offers more than 60,000 m2 of warehouse space, while Dorval provides 40,000 m2. Cargo handlers at both airports are experts at handling valuable materials, including anything from diamonds to works of art destined for major expositions. The same care is exercised for all merchandise – from envelopes to automobiles – irrespective of its size. This also holds true for perishable goods, from flowers and plants to food. Security is guaranteed and access to storage sites is severely restricted.
For many years, ADM offers an incentive landing price schedule in order to encourage international cargo activities in Mirabel. This initiative measure allowed obtaining important cargo operators and among them can cited FedEx, Air France and Lufthansa.
The landing price schedule consists of decreasing rates determined according to the total weight of aircraft operated by the airline company during a period of 12 months.
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Total cost per year
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Total cost per flight
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Reduction
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1 flight per month
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6 954 $
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579 $
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–
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1 flight per week
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30 132 $
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579 $
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–
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5 flights per week
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111 983 $
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431 $
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20 %
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7 flights per week
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145 775 $
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400 $
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31 %
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