Toronto Pearson another mega hub in North America?: An ever-increasing demand for regionalized air travel and more international routes usher in the need for more mega hubs. Toronto Pearson International Airport (CYYZ/YYZ) is poised to become just that, and airport planners have requested government support and funding.
In our last blog about Southern Ontario, we discussed the need for a comprehensive, regional approach to addressing the ever-growing air travel demands for this densely populated and industrialized region of Canada. Now, the latest discussions from the Greater Toronto Airports Authority (GTAA) center around transforming Toronto Pearson into a mega hub by 2035.
A simplistic definition for “mega hub” is an airport that offers many available connections – both domestically and internationally. Further qualifiers include handling at least 50 million passengers annually, 20 million of which travel to or from international destinations. Of the world’s current 100 largest airports, half are considered mega hubs.
The criteria for determining rank at these airports is the number of possible connections for inbound and outbound flights within a six-hour window. Using this metric, the largest 100 airports are assigned a connectivity score. Chicago O’Hare International Airport (KORD/ORD) is presently ranked number one in the world. Looking at share by region for the top 50 mega hubs, North America accounts for 46 percent; Asia Pacific for 32 percent; Europe 12 percent; Latin America 8 percent; and the Middle East and Africa 2 percent. This is according to OAG, an air travel intelligence company that provided the ranking for the world’s mega hubs in 2016.
Projections indicate that the 41 million passengers served by Toronto Pearson in 2015 will likely swell to 80 million by 2020. But there are some critical milestones that must be met to make mega-hub status a reality for this airport. First and foremost, Toronto Pearson needs to become a multi-modal hub, meaning the methods of transit to and from the airport itself must be enhanced if not completely overhauled. The roadways leading to the airport are badly congested; improvements are needed. A rapid rail system would help, and a network of airport buses should help unclog the roadways. Plans of this magnitude, however, would require a major financial investment from the federal level.
Additionally, Toronto Pearson must dramatically improve and streamline internal processes so that backlogs can be eliminated at security screening and customs and immigration checkpoints. This is paramount if the airport plans to serve the tens of million more passengers in the coming years while continuing to provide an excellent passenger experience. There are numerous examples of airports around the world that have successfully balanced dramatic increases in passenger volume while maintaining good quality service – Hong Kong, Frankfurt and Singapore, to name a few.
And lastly, the remaining milestone would be improving the ease of using Toronto Pearson for international travelers. This involves relaxing regulations and policies that govern how international passengers can enter the country and use Canadian airports for pass-through to other international destinations. Some suggestions include reviewing the visa and electronic travel authorization process and see how they can be amended to incentivize passengers to use the airport. Naturally, this will require tremendous support from the government in Ottawa – a great deal of political clout and a long-term commitment. But as GTAA is quick to point out, the rewards from all of this are well worth the effort.
GTAA contends that for Ontario to stay competitive with other global city-regions and maintain access to global markets, Toronto Pearson must take this next step. Moreover, it’s required to ensure that Canada retains access to international markets.
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Mitch is the CEO of 30 West IP where he is also an instructor providing pilot training on international procedures. With an illustrious career of over 34 years in the cockpit, Mitch has acquired over 13,000 hours of flight time flying worldwide, with over 9,000 hours of this in Challenger and Gulfstream aircraft. He is an experienced safety officer and was also an IS-BAO project manager for a fortune 500 flight department. He has presented on Safety and Operations topics at the NBAA International Operators Conference and the Canadian Business Aviation Association Convention and is currently on the NBAA International Operators Committee and serves as the North Atlantic Regional Lead. Mitch is also a member of an FAA working group on General Aviation International Authorizations and Tabletop Exercises (GIATE). He was recently selected to represent IBAC as a member of the ICAO Personal Training and Licensing Panel (PTLP) and was also recently named as a 2020 recipient of the NBAA Tony Kern Professionalism in Aviation Award for his contribution to the business aviation community.
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Paulo has extensive experience in medical advisory in the aviation industry. As a cardiologist, he provides technical guidance and analysis for MedAire’s MedLink medical advisory service and is MedAire’s liaison with civil aviation regulators and industry associations. Paulo worked with Varig Brazilian Airlines for 23 years, 10 of which were spent as General Medical Manager. A member of the MedAire Medical Advisory Board, Paulo is also President of the Ibero-American Aerospace Medical Association, a member of the International Academy of Aerospace Medicine, a member of the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) Safety Committee, a Fellow of the Aerospace Medical Association (AsMA), and a Fellow of the Civil Aviation Medical Association. Throughout his illustrious career, Paulo has held industry leadership roles including Chairperson of the AsMA’s Air Transport Medicine Committee, President of the Airlines Medical Directors Association, President of the Brazilian Society of Aerospace Medicine and was a member of the IATA Medical Advisory Group from 2002 to 2006.
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