Saint-Hubert Airport will get a new terminal building

Details of the project will be announced Monday morning at a press conference attended by Yannick Roy, general manager of the airport, Genevieve Guilbeault, deputy premier of Quebec and minister of transportation and sustainable mobility, and Catherine Fournier, mayor of Longueuil.

According to our information, the terminal will be located in the east of the airport, will cover an area of ​​40,000 square meters and will have nine boarding gates. An infrastructure of this size can accommodate up to three million passengers each year.

It’s Air Toronto Porter Airlines which must settle there to make 12 daily domestic flights. Currently, about 200 planes take off from this airport every day.

long-standing disputes

For several years, the activities of Saint-Hubert Airport caused friction with the residents of the strip due to aircraft noise.

The Foundation particularly welcomes trainee pilots whose aircraft fly over residential areas at low altitudes. In June 2010, the airport was forced to ban flights on Sundays on its main runway and impose certain restrictions on other days of the week due to complaints accumulated about these aircraft.

In August 2018, the airport opened a new main runway capable of receiving large aircraft such as Airbus A220/320 and Boeing 737-200.

A year later, more than 300 citizens of Saint Bruno de Montarville filed a petition to complain about noise pollution. I do not believe that economic development should come at the expense of the health and safety of citizensthe city’s then mayor, Martin Murray, said at the time.

In the Longueuil agglomeration council, the noise of nocturnal planes caused a heated exchange in November 2019. Police officers even had to be called to remove some people, who eventually left on their own.

Last February, the city of Longueuil and the airport management announced that they had reached a “historic agreement” to reduce noise pollution to which residents are exposed. One of the main measures is the ban on commercial flights between 11pm and 6am.

It should be understood that at the moment, almost all the complaints we received were related to Boeing 737-200 flights at nightsaid the airport’s general manager Yannick Roy. The new measures will come into force next April.

concern among the population

Reactions from area residents to the announcement are expected on Monday. Matthew Pelado, chair of the Longueuil Pollution Control Commission, laments the authorities’ lack of data and transparency during such development projects.

” And they will arrive on Monday and tell us: “There will be economic development, there will be jobs.” certainly. In the sector, it may bring tourism, perhaps. But it all depends on the wind. »

The Embraer aircraft is from Toronto-based Porter Airlines, which plans to set up shop in the new terminal at Saint-Hubert Airport.

Photo: Courtesy of Porter

Saint-Hubert Airport has for several years wanted to position itself as a hub for flights to the Quebec regions. However, its ambitions for international flights remain unclear.

last october, there He presses He had obtained a report in which Aéroports de Montréal, the operator of Montreal-Trudeau Airport, had expressed reservations about the Longueuil Foundation’s development projects.

To allow further mitigation is to risk re-history of Dorval and Mirabel, marginalizing Montreal as a destination, the capital of world civil aviation.-Can we read there.

According to information obtained by Radio Canada, the new station will only be for regional flights. The airport will also pledge not to renew some lease agreements with flight schools, which will reduce the number of flights.

Work should begin in the spring and be completed by fall 2024.

with information from Mathieu Proust