Montréal-Mirabel International Airport, (or Montréal International (Mirabel) Airport) (IATA: YMX, ICAO: CYMX) originally called Montreal International Airport and widely known simply as Mirabel, is a large airport located in Mirabel, Quebec, near Montreal and was opened 4 October 1975. The airport now serves only cargo flights, and is a manufacturing base of Bombardier Aerospace, where final assembly of regional jets (CRJ700 and CRJ900) aircraft is conducted. It is the second largest airport in the world in terms of area (392 km²).

Despite being intended to become the eastern air gateway to Canada, the airport's location and lack of transport links, as well as Montreal's economic decline relative to Toronto, made it unpopular with airlines. Eventually it was relegated to the simple role of a cargo airport. The airport, initially a source of pride, eventually became an embarrassment widely regarded in Canada as being a boondoggle and a white elephant.

It was planned to handle 50 million passengers a year though the actual constructed facilities are capable of far less than that. Technically speaking, it is still the only airport in Canada planned to accommodate those numbers. Toronto-Pearson however, is slowly on its way to surpassing it.^[

Mission and Strategic Orientation

Aéroports de Montréal, a non-profit corporation without share capital, is responsible for the management, operation and development of Montréal - Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport (formerly the Montréal-Dorval International Airport) and Montréal-Mirabel International Airport under the terms of a 60-year lease entered into with Transport Canada in 1992.

Aéroports de Montréal's mission is threefold:

• Provide quality airport services that are safe, secure, efficient and consistent with the specific needs of the community
• Foster economic development in the Greater Montréal area, especially through the development of the facilities for which it is responsible
• Coexist in harmony with the surrounding environment, particularly in matters of environmental protection.

In accordance with the strategic orientation established in 2002, Aéroports de Montréal plans to succeed in each of its three core sectors - passengers traffic, air cargo and industrial development - and develop each of its airport complexes to its full potential. From this perspective, Montréal-Trudeau will act as a hub for domestic, transborder and international passenger traffic, while Montréal-Mirabel will be developed as an industrial and all-cargo airport.

To accomplish its mission and implement its strategic plan, Aéroports de Montréal relies on a staff of 600 employees. Some 52 regularly scheduled carriers and 25 all-cargo companies link Montréal to a large number of airports around the world. In 2004, 10.3 million passengers and 252,000 tonnes of cargo transited through our airport facilities at Montréal-Trudeau and Montréal-Mirabel. Some 275 establishments active on the airport sites generate a total of 50,000 direct, indirect and induced jobs.

The Dorval Airport

The birth of Dorval Airport goes back to the beginning of the 1940s. At the time, it was becoming clear that the Saint-Hubert Airport (Montréal's first official airport, in operation since 1927) could no longer meet the city's growing aviation needs. The Minister of Transport purchased the land at the Dorval Race Track, thus ensuring the best possible location for the new airport.

Montréal-Dorval International Airport went into operation on September 1, 1941 with three paved runways. By 1946, the airport was already hosting more than a quarter million passengers a year. This number grew to more than a million by the mid-1950s. At the time, Trudeau was the busiest airport in all of Canada.

In November of 1960, the airport was renamed Aéroport international Dorval de Montréal. On December 15 of that year, the Minister of Transport inaugurated a new 30 million dollar terminal. It was the largest terminal in Canada and one of the biggest in the world. Montréal-Dorval International Airport was the gateway to Canada for all European air traffic, serving more than two million passengers a year.

Eight years later, Montréal-Dorval International Airport underwent a major expansion program. Given the expected increase in air traffic and restrictions on airport development in urban environments, the Canadian government decided to construct a new airport in Sainte-Scholastique (Mirabel). International flights were to be transferred to the new airport in 1975.

The Arrival of Mirabel

On November 29, 1975, Montréal-Mirabel International Airport went into service. With an operations zone of 7,000 hectares and a buffer zone of 29,000 hectares, it became the largest airport in the world. All international flights, and many connecting flights to major Canadian centres, were transferred to Montréal-Mirabel International Airport. Twenty-three international airlines moved their overseas activities to Montréal-Mirabel International Airport. As a consequence, the mission of Montréal-Dorval International Airport was redefined to encompass domestic flights and flights to the United States. In the years that followed, a new economy emerged on a continental scale.

The Role of Aéroports de Montréal

In December of 1986, the federal government announced that Montréal-Dorval International Airport and Montréal-Mirabel International Airport would be united under the control of a single, integrated management body. This new body commenced operations on April 1, 1988.

In 1993, Aéroports de Montréal successfully completed our first full financial year dedicated to the simultaneous development of the two airports and regional development. In 1995, Aéroports de Montréal announced an investment program worth 150 million dollars to fully restore Montréal-Dorval International Airport and to improve some of the existing infrastructure of the Montréal-Mirabel International Airport.

Each of our two airports now has a distinct mission. Our development program targets specific markets to better compete on a North-American scale. Montréal - Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport offers carriers and passengers full transfer services for all types of regular flights, whereas Montréal-Mirabel International Airport targets cargo and industrial. 

Montréal-Dorval and Montréal-Mirabel international airports continue to supply distinct services while adhering to the core values and mission of Aéroports de Montréal.

Montreal-Mirabel International Airport   

Address: 12300 Service A-4 Street
Mirabel, Québec,
Canada J7N 1E8

Tel: (514) 394-7377, 1(800) 465-1213

URL: http://www.admtl.com/

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