Canadian Airports Up Taxes, Undergo Major Expansion
<B>Canadian Airports Up Taxes, Undergo Major Expansion</B>
By Carolyn Green
<I>Montreal - </I>Aeroports de Montreal, the not-for-profit local airport authority that operates both Dorval Airport and Mirabel Airport, announced it is extending its schedule for expansion at Dorval by five years, to 2009.
At the same time, ADM announced plans to increase its airport departure tax at Dorval, the city's main airport, by 50 percent, to US$9.75, to help finance the expansion. Additionally, it is slapping on a US$6.50 airport departure tax at Mirabel, the 26-year-old airport originally used for international flights, but now servicing charter flights and cargo business. The new tax structure will take effect July 15.
Revenues accrued from the tax increase at Dorval and the implementation of a departure tax at Mirabel should give the authority an additional US$19.5 million annually, officials said.
Richard Regimbald, vice president of engineering for ADM, said the schedule was revised mainly to ensure that the authority adequately could finance the expansion, which is valued at US$465.4 million and follows previous improvements to Dorval costing US$195 million.
Regimbald said that because Dorval now is the city's primary airport, coupled with the fact that it is more than 40 years old, expansion and renovation is necessary to better serve today's travelers. Additionally, he said, when the improvements--many of them involving transborder travel--are in place, Montreal should become a strong secondary Canadian hub for domestic travel, as well as international business, for both Canadian and U.S.-based passengers.
Certainly, Air Canada, the airport's prime tenant, shares the ADM vision. "We share the goal of working within reasonable costs with an overall objective of achieving the best facility for the investment, thereby preserving Dorval Airport's competitiveness as a prime East Coast connection hub," said Pierre Chapleau, director of real estate for the Montreal-based airline.
By October, Air Canada will offer nonstop service from various Canadian cities to 61 U.S. destinations, including 14 from Montreal.
The expansion at Dorval is being done in three phases. The first phase, now underway and scheduled for completion in 2003, will cost US$162.5 million and will see the enlargement of the main terminal to provide space for 32 new checkin counters to be used primarily for domestic and international flights. A new transborder concourse with 17 gates also is being built as part of the first phase. Regimbald said some of the transborder gates will be "swing gates," which can be used for both U.S. and domestic flights.
He said a key benefit to swing gates is that they give airlines more flexibility in positioning their aircraft so that passengers can make easy connections without a long walk to another gate in a different part of the terminal. Another element to the first phase is the addition of new baggage handling facilities.
The second phase of the expansion, which will cost US$198.3 million and be carried out in 2005 and 2006, will see a major extension of the main terminal to create a transborder and international arrivals hall. Also, new Customs and Immigration facilities will be part of the extension. For international passengers, ADM plans to construct a new international concourse with 12 gates.
The third phase, valued at US$104.7 million and scheduled to be completed in 2009, will see the creation of new checkin space and baggage handling facilities for transborder flights. In addition, a new U.S. Customs pre-clearance area will be built.
Dorval now serves 10 million passengers annually. Once the three-phase expansion is completed, officials expect it will be able to accommodate 15 million travelers annually.