Montreal can handle 3 airports, group says
'Regional vision' needed. But each facility needs right vocation, Board of Trade president says
ALLISON LAMPERT, The gazette
Published: Tuesday, May 08, 2007
The Montreal region can sustain three airports, provided each has the right vocation, the president of the Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal says.
In an interview, Isabelle Hudon echoed a 2002 call by the board of trade's former president to develop a "regional vision and strategy" for Montreal's three airports: Pierre Elliott Trudeau, Mirabel and St. Hubert.
Her comments followed last week's plea by administrators of the Aeroport de Saint-Hubert for federal funding to kick off its $300-million airport development plan. Airport authorities say they need a federal commitment by the end of May to spend $70 million on renovating and enlarging St. Hubert's longest runway - or risk losing a planned expansion by client Pratt & Whitney Canada.
St. Hubert's plan - which would use public and private funding to renovate all three runways and build a passenger terminal, a hangar and a plane de-icing facility - is raising a series of tough questions over airport management in the Montreal region.
James Cherry, CEO of Aeroports de Montreal, which manages Trudeau and Mirabel airports with no public funding, asked why St. Hubert should be entitled to a federal subsidy. And after struggling for years to resolve the duality of Mirabel and Trudeau, does the region really need a beefed-up third airport?
Privately, some Mirabel officials are fuming at the idea of the federal government helping St. Hubert with a plan that would make the South Shore airport a competitor for industrial clients.
Both Mirabel and St. Hubert are losing money. At St. Hubert, administrators have managed to reduce the airport's deficit from $1.3 million in 2004 to $500,000 last year.
The $300-million plan, which would support Pratt's expansion, would make the airport profitable, managers say.
"I am very happy to see that Pratt & Whitney wants to do all that research in the Montreal region," Hudon said. "It's a must to quickly answer Pratt & Whitney's request."
She thinks Montreal can have three viable airports.
"I think it's great to have a location on the South Shore, it's great to have a location on the North Shore and it's great to have a location on the island," Hudon said. "It's all about finding the right niche and the right clientele for each airport."
alampert@thegazette.canwest
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I thought that Mirabel was sold and no longer to be used as an airport???
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