Toronto Pearson International Airport

History

In 1937, the Government of Canada agreed to support the building of two airports in the Toronto area. One site selected was on the Toronto Islands, which is the present-day Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport. The other site selected was at Elmbank, northwest of Toronto near the town of Malton in what was then Toronto Township (which would later become Mississauga to avoid confusion with the nearby city of Toronto), which was originally intended to serve as an alternate to the downtown airport but instead would become its successor due to having a much larger space without being constrained by Lake Ontario and Toronto Inner Harbour. The first scheduled passenger flight at the Malton Airport was a Trans-Canada Air Lines DC-3 that landed on August 29, 1939.

During the Second World War, the Royal Canadian Air Force established a base at the airport as a component of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan. RCAF Station Malton was home to several training schools and was in operation between 1940 and 1946.

In 1958, the municipal government of Toronto sold the Malton Airport to the Government of Canada, which subsequently renamed the facility to Toronto International Airport, under the management of Transport Canada. The airport was officially renamed Lester B. Pearson International Airport on January 2, 1984, in honour of Toronto-born Lester B. Pearson, the 14th prime minister of Canada and recipient of the 1957 Nobel Peace Prize. The Greater Toronto Airports Authority (GTAA) assumed management, operation, and control of the airport in 1996, and has used the name Toronto Pearson International Airport for the facility since the transition.

Since Toronto has more than one airport, YTO is used for the area designation. At the same time, Pearson is coded YYZ, Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport is YTZ, and Toronto/Buttonville Municipal Airport in Markham, until its closure on November 24, 2023, was YKZ. YZ was the code for the station in Malton, Ontario, where Pearson Airport is located, and hence the IATA code for Pearson Airport is YYZ. The telegraph station in Toronto itself was coded TZ, which is why Toronto's smaller Billy Bishop Airport is coded YTZ.

Terminals

Toronto Pearson International Airport has two active public terminals, Terminal 1 and Terminal 3. Both terminals handle the three main sectors of air travel—domestic, transborder (to the United States), and international. As a result, terminal operations at Toronto Pearson are organized primarily by airline and airline alliance rather than by the type of route.

The former Terminal 2, which opened in 1972, was permanently closed and demolished in 2008 to allow for the expansion of the current Terminal 1.

Terminal 1

Terminal 1 is a 346,000-square-metre (3,724,000 ft2) facility with 58 gates. It was designed by a joint venture known as Airports Architects Canada, consisting of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, Adamson Associates Architects, and Moshe Safdie and Associates. The terminal opened in 2004, replacing the former Aeroquay One (also referred to as the original Terminal 1).

Terminal 1 is primarily used by Air Canada and its subsidiaries, all members of Star Alliance, Oneworld member Royal Air Maroc, and several non-alliance airlines including Air North, Emirates, and Etihad Airways.

The terminal contains three concourses: D, E, and F. Concourse D is used for domestic flights, Concourse E for international flights, and Concourse F for transborder flights to the United States. Concourse F functions as a United States border preclearance area.

Terminal 1 also includes multiple airline lounges and passenger facilities. Two gates (E73 and E75) are designed to accommodate the Airbus A380 aircraft, which has been used on flights to Toronto by airlines such as Emirates and Etihad Airways.

Terminal 3

Terminal 3 is a 178,000-square-metre (1,916,000 ft2) facility with 46 gates, designed by B+H Architects and Scott Associates Architects Inc. The terminal opened in 1991 and previously served as a major hub for the now-defunct airline Canadian Airlines.

Terminal 3 is used by most Oneworld airlines except Royal Air Maroc, as well as all SkyTeam airlines. Other airlines operating from the terminal include Air Transat, Flair Airlines, Porter Airlines, and WestJet.

The terminal contains three concourses—A, B, and C. Concourse A is used for transborder flights to the United States and includes a United States border preclearance facility. Concourses B and C handle domestic and international flights and are connected airside.

Infield Concourse

The Infield Concourse (IFC) was originally built to handle passenger traffic during the construction of the current Terminal 1. Its 11 gates opened gradually between 2002 and 2003. In 2009, the facility was closed for regular operations after the completion of the new Terminal 1, although the Greater Toronto Airports Authority retained it for potential future use.

The terminal was renovated in 2015 to serve as a reception facility for government-sponsored refugees of the Syrian civil war. Additional renovations were completed in 2018, and the concourse was reactivated as an extension of Terminal 3 to accommodate seasonal demand. Passengers traveling through the IFC are transported by bus between Terminal 3 and the concourse.

VIP Terminal

Skyservice operates a private FBO terminal at Toronto Pearson located on Midfield Road in the airport's infield area. The facility handles most private aircraft arriving and departing from the airport and provides services such as concierge assistance, private customs and immigration processing, catering, baggage handling, and ground transportation for passengers.

Infrastructure and operations

Runways

Toronto Pearson has five runways, three of which are aligned in the east–west direction, and two in the north–south direction. A large network of taxiways, collectively measuring over 40 km (25 mi) in length, provides access between the runways and the passenger terminals, air cargo areas, and airline hangar areas.

Airfield operations

Toronto Pearson is home to the Toronto Area Control Centre, one of seven area control centres in Canada operated by Nav Canada. The airport uses a Traffic Management Unit (TMU), located in the apron control tower at Terminal 1, to control the movement of aircraft and other airport traffic on the ground. The main air traffic control tower at Toronto Pearson is located within the infield operations area of the airport.

The airfield maintenance unit is responsible for general maintenance and repairs at Toronto Pearson. During the winter months, the unit expands into a dedicated 24-hour snow removal team of more than 200 workers tasked with ensuring normal operations at the airport, as Toronto Pearson regularly experiences 110 to 130 centimetres (43 to 51 in) of total snow accumulation in a typical winter season. The airport employs over 94 pieces of snow removal equipment, including 11 Vammas PSB series, four Oshkosh Corporation Snow Products HT-Series snowplow units, and 14 snowmelters.

Pearson Airport's Central De-icing Facility is the largest in the world, servicing over 10,500 aircraft each winter. The six de-icing bays, covering a total area of 24 hectares (60 acres), can handle 12 aircraft simultaneously and take between 2 and 19 minutes to de-ice each aircraft depending on factors such as weather and aircraft specifications.

The Toronto Pearson Fire and Emergency Services, operated by the Greater Toronto Airports Authority (GTAA) maintains three stations at the airport; one to the north, one to the south, and one offsite to the east, with more than 80 firefighters providing fire and rescue operations at Toronto Pearson. They are equipped with six crash tenders as well as several pumpers, aerial ladders, and heavy rescue units. The Toronto Pearson Fire and Emergency Services operates in conjunction with the Fire and Emergency Services Training Institute (FESTI), located at the northwest end of the airport grounds.

Cargo facilities

Toronto Pearson handles approximately half of all the international air cargo in Canada. The airport has three main cargo facilities, known as Cargo West (Infield), Cargo East (VISTA), and Cargo North (FedEx).

The Cargo West facility (also known as the Infield Cargo Area) is located between runways 15L/33R and 15R/33L. It is a multi-tenant facility including three large buildings with 52,600 square metres (566,000 ft2) of warehouse space, a common use cargo apron, vehicle parking, and a truck maneuvering area. A four-lane vehicle tunnel connects the Infield Cargo Area to the passenger terminal area of the airport.

The Cargo East facility (also known as the VISTA cargo area) is located north of Terminal 3. The VISTA cargo area is a multi-tenant facility of several buildings organized in a U-shape, with 29,500 square metres (318,000 ft2) of warehouse space and an adjacent common-use cargo apron.

The Cargo North facility is the Canadian hub for FedEx Express. The site occupies an area on the north side of the airport near runway 05/23 and is home to two buildings operated exclusively by FedEx with 32,100 square metres (346,000 ft2) of warehouse space and a dedicated cargo apron.

Security

The Peel Regional Police is the primary law enforcement agency at Pearson Airport. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) also maintain a Toronto Airport Detachment at Pearson Airport, which provides federal law enforcement services.

The Canadian Air Transport Security Authority (CATSA) is responsible for security screening procedures at Pearson Airport. Other government agencies with security operations at Pearson include the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), and Transport Canada. In addition, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) from the United States also conduct operations at the airport to facilitate United States border preclearance.

Other facilities

Pearson Airport has seven aircraft maintenance hangars, operated by Air Canada, Air Transat, WestJet, and the GTAA, which are used for line maintenance and routine aircraft inspections. At the north end of the airfield are numerous independently operated hangars for charter aircraft and personal private aircraft based at Pearson Airport, along with passenger and maintenance facilities to service them.

The Greater Toronto Airports Authority maintains administrative offices on Convair Drive, near the southeast corner of the airfield. Gategourmet and CLS Catering Services both operate dedicated flight kitchen facilities at Pearson Airport for airline catering services. Aviation fuel is supplied by Esso Avitat (Jet A-1) and Shell Aerocentre (Jet A and A-1), both located in the infield operations area of the airport.

Bombardier Aviation's Bombardier Global Express business jet final assembly is completed at the Bombardier Aerospace Campus located on the north side of the airfield.

Airlines and destinations

Ground transportation

Train

The Union Pearson Express (UP Express) is an airport rail link running between Pearson Airport and Union Station in Downtown Toronto, with intermediate stops at Weston, Mount Dennis, and Bloor GO Train stations. Trains depart every 15 minutes from Pearson Airport station and provide a 28-minute travel time to Union Station, the busiest intermodal transportation facility in Canada. Union Station offers connections to numerous GO Transit regional rail and bus services as well as inter-city rail links on Via Rail's Quebec City–Windsor Corridor. Combined UP Express and inter-city tickets may be purchased from Via Rail. The UP Express operates daily between 5:27 am and 12:57 am of the next calendar day.

The Terminal Link (formerly the Link Train) is an automated people mover that facilitates inter-terminal transportation at Pearson Airport. It runs between Terminal 1, Terminal 3, and Viscount station located at the Viscount Value Park Lot. The Terminal Link train operates free daily, 24-hour service with trains departing all stations every 4 to 8 minutes.

Bus

Several public transit bus services operate bus routes to Toronto Pearson International Airport. Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) operates daily, 24-hour public transit bus service from Pearson Airport to various subway stations in Toronto, with route 900 Airport Express being the main express bus service to the airport from Kipling station on Line 2 Bloor–Danforth of the Toronto subway, and route 52 Lawrence West / 352 Lawrence West Night / 952 Lawrence West Express operate service along Lawrence Avenue to Lawrence and Lawrence West stations on each leg of the subway's Line 1 Yonge–University. Additionally, route 900 Airport Express buses have a unique airport-themed livery and luggage racks. The TTC Blue Night Network operates local night bus routes to Warden Avenue in Toronto's east end via Bloor Street and Danforth Avenue, Eglinton station via Eglinton Avenue and Sunnybrook Hospital. Route 906 Airport-Humber College Express connects the airport at Viscount station of the Terminal Link with Line 6 Finch West at Humber College station. Although the airport terminals and Viscount station are situated outside of the Toronto city limits, TTC bus services at Pearson Airport and Viscount station do not require a supplementary fare. With the exception of TTC Route 906, all TTC buses that serve the airport directly serve both Terminals 1 and 3.

Two public transit operators based in Peel Region also operate routes to the airport: Brampton Transit and MiWay. Brampton Transit operates all-day public transit bus service from Pearson Airport to the city of Brampton, with express service operating to Bramalea Terminal. Brampton Transit buses arrive and depart from Terminal 1. MiWay operates all-day public transit bus service from Pearson Airport to the city of Mississauga, with express service to City Centre Transit Terminal, Humber College station, and Winston Churchill Transitway Station, and local routes to Westwood Square Terminal, Renforth station, and Meadowvale Town Centre Terminal. MiWay buses arrive and depart from Terminal 1, Terminal 3, Viscount, and the infield operations area of the airport.

GO Transit operates two 24-hour bus routes from the airport to cities across the Greater Toronto Area: route 40 to Richmond Hill Terminal and Hamilton GO Centre and route 94 to Pickering GO Station and Square One Bus Terminal. GO Transit coaches arrive and depart from Terminal 1.

Air Canada operates "land-air" motorcoach connection services between Pearson Airport and several nearby airports which are deemed too close geographically for regularly scheduled flights to be operated economically. The service provides ticketed Air Canada and Star Alliance passengers with multiple daily non-stop ground connections between their respective departure/arrival airports and Terminal 1 at Pearson.

Car

Toronto Pearson is directly accessible from Highway 427 and Highway 409 with Airport Road and Dixon Road providing local access to the airport. There are 12,200 parking spaces available in parking garages adjacent to Terminal 1 and Terminal 3, in addition to several other parking lots located in the immediate area.

Car rentals are available from various major car rental agencies located in the parking garages adjacent to both terminals. Car rentals are also available from off-airport car rental agencies located near Viscount station, accessible from both terminals via the Terminal Link.

Taxis and limousines can be accessed at designated taxi stands located outside of both Terminal 1 and Terminal 3. Only official airport-licensed taxis and limousines can legally pick up passengers at Toronto Pearson, and all airport-licensed taxi and limo companies use GTAA-authorized flat rate fares for travel from the airport.

Ridesharing services Uber and Lyft are available at Pearson Airport. Designated rideshare pickup zones are located at both Terminal 1 and Terminal 3. Terminal 1 pickup is from the ground level, while Terminal 3 pickup is from the arrivals level.

Future

In February 2017, the GTAA announced a proposed transit hub to be located across from Terminal 3 that would connect with Union Pearson Express and may connect with other transit lines extended to the airport. They include Line 5 Eglinton LRT of the Toronto subway and GO Expansion (formerly known as GO Transit Regional Express Rail). This proposal would eliminate the Terminal Link connecting Terminals 1 and 3 with a bridge from the transit hub to Terminal 3 and another bridge connecting Terminal 3 to Terminal 1.

Since 2020, Metrolinx has been planning the second phase of the Eglinton Crosstown west extension, which is a western extension of the under-construction Line 5 Eglinton to a proposed transit hub at Pearson Airport across the terminals at the site of Viscount station. The extension is scheduled to open in 2030–31. As of 2020, the extension to Pearson Airport is under study by Metrolinx and the GTAA. The line will connect the airport to Midtown Toronto and Scarborough with additional transfers to downtown Toronto via Line 1 Yonge–University. Metrolinx is also studying a potential connection with Line 6 Finch West to the transit hub with additional transfers on Line 1 Yonge–University to York University and Vaughan Metropolitan Centre. Other connections, such as the Mississauga Transitway, which would connect the airport to Mississauga City Centre, are being studied.

Statistics

Annual traffic

Notes

Accidents and incidents

The airport's deadliest accident occurred on July 5, 1970, when Air Canada Flight 621, a DC-8 jet, flew on a Montreal–Toronto–Los Angeles route. The pilots inadvertently deployed spoilers before the plane attempted landing, forcing the pilots to abort landing and takeoff. Damage to the aircraft that was caused during the failed landing attempt caused the plane to break up in the air during the go-around, killing all 100 passengers and nine crew members on board when it crashed into a field southeast of Brampton. Controversy remains over the cleanup effort following the crash, as both plane wreckage debris and human remains from the crash are still found on the site.

On June 26, 1978, Air Canada Flight 189 to Winnipeg overran the runway during an aborted takeoff, and crashed into the Etobicoke Creek ravine. Two of the 107 occupants on board the DC-9 were killed.

On July 9, 1981, a KF Cargo Howard 500, pitched nose up after takeoff, stalled, and crashed due to improper loading of parcels, exceeding the centre of gravity. All three crew members were killed.

On January 11, 1983, a Sun Oil Co. North American Sabreliner crashed approximately 8 miles from runway 24R on an ILS approach to YYZ after descending steeply from the clouds and losing control, before crashing to the ground. All two crew members and three passengers died. Cause unknown.

On June 22, 1983, Douglas C-47A C-GUBT of Skycraft Air Transport crashed on takeoff roll at Toronto International Airport while on an international cargo flight from Cleveland Hopkins International Airport in northeastern Ohio. Both of the crew members were killed.

On August 2, 2005, Air France Flight 358, an Airbus A340-300 (registration F-GLZQ) inbound from Paris, landed on runway 24L during a severe thunderstorm, failed to stop, and ran off the runway into the Etobicoke Creek ravine. It came to a stop next to busy Highway 401. In the ensuing fire, there were 12 serious injuries, but no fatalities. The investigation predominantly blamed pilot error when faced with severe weather conditions.

In popular culture

The music video for the song "The Good in Everyone" by Canadian rock band Sloan was filmed on Convair Drive at the southwest end of runway 06L/24R at 43°39′35.2″N 79°37′31.1″W.

In 1987, English rock band Pink Floyd used a hangar at the airport for rehearsals for their A Momentary Lapse of Reason Tour.

A photograph taken by George Hunter of the original Terminal 1 (Aeroquay One) at Toronto Pearson International Airport is included on the Voyager Golden Record, carried on the Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 interstellar space probes.

Rush

Canadian rock trio Rush had an instrumental piece titled "YYZ," which is on their 1981 album Moving Pictures. Two of the band's members, Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson, are natives of Toronto. The song, often requested by fans, was frequently played by the band in concert as an encore.

A VHF omnidirectional range system at the airport broadcasts the YYZ identifier code in Morse code, which the band once heard when Lifeson was flying them into the airport. The band's drummer, Neil Peart, said in interviews that the rhythm stuck with them. Peart and Lee have both said, "It's always a happy day when YYZ appears on our luggage tags."

The piece's introduction repeatedly renders "Y-Y-Z" in Morse code using various musical arrangements.

In 2023, a Rush-themed specialty bar opened in the airport's Terminal 1. The bar, Henderson Brewing@YYZ, is run by the craft brewery Henderson Brewery, based at the southern end of Junction Triangle in Toronto.

Rush also released a music video in 2022 of the band performing "YYZ" atop the CN Tower to mark the 40th anniversary of the release of Moving Pictures.