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irport Developm

entProgram

4C H A P T E R

AI R P O RT DEV E L O P M E N TPR O G R A M

v

accommodated on the east side of

the Airport. This option also

reserved the Infield area for other

development.

It should be recognized that while

the cost of opting for the incre -

mental approach was significantly

less in the short to medium run,

the result would have been an

inefficient split terminal and

ground access system that would

not have been balanced against the

full poten tial of the airside system.

This option would have also

necessitated construction of an

Chapter 4 > AI R P O RT DE V E L O P M E N T PR O G R A M

4.1

A I R P O R T D E V E L O P M E N T P R O G R A M

Chapter 4

4 . 1 O V E R V I E W

At the end of 1996, the Greater

Toronto Airports Authority

(GTAA) assumed responsibility

for Toronto Pearson International

Airport. At that time the Airport

had an estimated airside, terminal

and groundside capacity of

28 mil lion passengers annually.

Passenger volumes at that point

had reached 24 million passengers

per year and were growing at

approximately one million pas -

sengers annually, making the need

for system expansion urgent, par -

ticularly given the long lead times

involved in planning, construct ing,

and activating new facilities. At

the same time, much of the

existing terminal capacity was

obsolete and in need of replace -

ment or refurbishment.

In 1995, the GTAA Board of

Directors was faced with two

distinct options to address the

Airport’s future facility needs

required to meet projected

demand. They could continue

with the incremental approach to

airport expansion by infilling

available real estate and maxi -

mizing the residual capacity of

existing facilities, or they could

undertake a total redevelopment of

the Airport, thereby optimizing

the facility’s full development

potential. The first option of

continuing the incremental

approach had a low initial cost

and allowed rapid delivery of

badly needed facilities. It limited

east side develop ment to an ulti -

mate capacity threshold of

approximately 35 million pas -

sengers per year. In order to

balance terminal capacity against

ultimate airside capacity, this

option would have necessitated the

development of addi tional

terminal facilities in the Infield

area allowing expanded capacity

for another 15 mil lion passengers

per year.

The advantage of the latter

option was that undertaking

the com plete redevelopment

of the Airport would yield a

more efficiently organized

facility along with a much

greater ultimate annual

capacity of over 50 mil -

lion passengers, all

New Terminal 1 and Parking Garage

Chapter 4 > AI R P O RT DE V E L O P M E N T PR O G R A M

4.2

under ground people mover

between the Infield and the east

side passenger terminal facilities

for connecting passengers. After

careful considera tion of these two

options, supple mented by input

from the air carriers, the GTAA’s

Board of Directors elected to

pursue the latter option: total

redevelopment.

In order to realize its goal of rein -

vent ing Toronto Pearson, the GTAA

embarked upon a com pre hen sive

Airport Development Program

(ADP). This program called for the

staged replacements of Terminals 1

and 2, the con struc tion of two

addi tional run ways, and the

development of greatly expanded

cargo and ancillary aviation

facilities. The phas ing of each

component of the devel op ment

program has been demand-driven,

based on Trans port Canada

forecasts of aviation activity, and

designed to optimally match the

timing of capital spend ing to the

satis fac tion of demand at

reasonable levels of service.

The Airport Development Program

encompassed three major com po -

nents, each with its own timetable

and priorities:

• Airside Development Project

• Terminal Development Project

• Infield Development Project

4 . 2 A I R S I D E D E V E LO P M E N TP R OJ E C T

The primary objectives of the Air -

side Develop ment Project are to

increase airside capacity to meet

demand and to improve the

opera tional efficiency of the

Airport. The program included

completion of a dual taxiway

system around the existing

terminal apron area to increase

taxiway capacity, as well as the

planned construction of two new

east/west runways and their asso -

ciated taxiway systems to boost

airside capacity in the primary

wind direction to approximately

140 operations per hour (or a

View of Redeveloped Airside Facilities

New Terminal 1

Chapter 4 > AI R P O RT DE V E L O P M E N T PR O G R A M

4.3

practical annual capacity of

approximately 50 mil lion

passengers per year).

The first new east/west parallel

runway was located on the south

side of the airport lands. Con -

struc tion began in 1998 and Run -

way 06R-24L was operational by

the fall of 2002.

The final phase of airside develop -

ment includes the construction of

a closely-spaced east/west runway

on the north side of the airport

lands, which will be the sixth and

final runway in the ultimate air -

side system. The demand require -

ments for this final runway are

expected to occur within the

2013-2019 time period.

4 . 3 T E R M I N A LD E V E LO P M E N T P R OJ E C T

At the time the GTAA assumed

responsibility for the Airport, a

number of concepts had been

proposed for expanding terminal

capacity. Careful review of these

plans by the GTAA revealed that

none could be relied upon to pro -

vide adequate capacity to match

the full potential of the airside

system. What is more, all of these

plans left in place certain serious

weaknesses of the then terminal

layout, namely a convoluted and

counterintuitive access roadway

system and one of the smallest

aircraft aprons for an airport of

comparable activity in North

America.

In order to ensure that the full

potential of Toronto Pearson

could be realized, an entirely fresh

look was taken at the terminal

expan sion issue. In particular,

previous constraints on available

real estate and the need to retain

Terminal 2 were relaxed. As a

result of this rethink, an entirely

new concept for terminal expan -

sion emerged which promised to

realize not only the full potential

of the Airport to meet demand,

but to do so in a manner which

would solve the problems posed

by the apron and access roads.

The new terminal envisaged would

consist of a single horseshoe-

shaped central processor housing

the departure check-in area,

baggage claim halls and meeter/

greeter areas, which would be

connected to six radiating piers

offering 86 bridged gates. Such a

facility would have the potential of

accom mo dating 35 million

passengers per year. When

combined with Terminal 3 (the

two terminals being linked by a

con venient, Automated People

Mover system) the Airport could

deliver a combined annual

capacity of over 50 million passen -

gers, thereby matching the

ultimate capacity of the airside

(runway and taxiway) system. The

concurrent total reconstruction

and expansion of the highway

access system was planned to

ensure that the ground side access

capacity would match this

terminal and airside expansion.

Since old Terminals 1 and 2 occu -

pied much of the land needed for

the new terminal, and since the

capacity provided by these existing

terminals was needed to accom -

mo date traffic during con struc -

tion, the new terminal complex

LINK Automated People Mover

Old Terminal 1 Demolition

Pier F Construction

Chapter 4 > AI R P O RT DE V E L O P M E N T PR O G R A M

4.4

had to be constructed in stages.

Con struc tion was planned such

that as each successive phase was

completed, traffic could be trans -

ferred from a portion of the old

terminals to the new. Once

vacated, those portions of the old

terminals could then be demolish ed

to make way for further terminal

construction and the entire

process repeated progres sively

from west to east.

The first component of the new

terminal to be completed was a

large portion of the central pro -

cessor and the first two piers

(D and E), offering some 14

bridged gates and nine commuter

aircraft positions. While these two

piers were ulti mately intended to

accom mo date primarily domestic

and trans border traffic, they were

initially dedicated to domestic and

inter national traffic when opened

in April 2004. This capacity, sup -

plemented by another 11 gates

made available from a passenger

hold room facility located in the

Infield area, permitted old

Terminal 1 to be vacated

and demolished.

Once old Terminal 1 was removed,

it was possible to complete more

gate positions on Pier E and the

central processor such that in

October 2005 an additional 10

bridged gates were opened in the

new terminal and reliance on the

Infield Terminal was thereby

significantly reduced. Removal of

old Terminal 1 also freed up space

for construction of Pier F.

On January 30, 2007, Pier F was

brought on stream resulting in a

total of 49 bridges and nine

commuter positions in new

Terminal 1. At this point, usage

of the new terminal was re -

oriented such that international

flights were transferred to their

intended loca tion in the hammer -

head of the new Pier F. All

transborder flights moved from

Terminal 2 to occupy the stem of

Pier F, as well as those gates in

Pier E and the central processor

that were freed up by the move of

international traffic to the

hammer head. With the opening

of Pier F, the Airport Develop -

ment Program as origi nally

envisaged by the Board of

Directors was complete with

Pier F Hammerhead

Pier F Interior

Chapter 4 > AI R P O RT DE V E L O P M E N T PR O G R A M

4.5

adequate new terminal capacity

available for the first time to

accom mo date expected future

demand over the next five years.

Demolition of Terminal 2 will

now free up space for the con -

tinued expansion of the new

terminal complex in future years

as demand warrants. The final

elements of terminal expansion

will include construction of up to

three addi tional piers bringing the

total gate count to 86, in addition

to park ing positions for com mu ter

air craft and off-gate ground-

loaded aircraft. These last stages of

airport development are expected

to be complete before the

planning horizon of 2030.

4 . 4 I N F I E L D D E V E LO P M E N TP R OJ E C T

The Infield site lies between the

parallel north-south runways and

encompasses 143 ha (352 acres).

The need for the Infield Develop -

ment Project arose as a result of

growth in cargo demand and dis -

placement of the former air cargo

area by the new terminal, as well

as an expansion of Pier C on

Terminal 3. The Infield

Development Project was designed

to meet the current and future

requirements of the tenants

displaced by the Terminal and

Airside Development Projects.

These tenants were relocated to a

multi- tenant air cargo complex in

the Infield area located between

the runways. Two airline mainte -

nance hangars, a ground equip ment

maintenance building and a flight

kitchen were also relocated to the

Infield site.

In addition, an 11-gate passenger

hold room facility, the Infield

Terminal, was constructed to

temporarily provide additional

gate capacity during the

demolition of old Terminal 1 and

during con struc tion of its

replacement.

Improvements to public ground -

side access to the Infield were

com pleted on the Airport’s west

side, as was restricted airside

vehicular access to the main

passenger terminal apron, via a

four-lane tunnel under the

north/south Runway 15L-33R.

4 . 5 S U M M A RY

The primary objective of Toronto

Pearson’s Airport Development

Program has been to completely

reinvent the Airport so as to create

a facility that will better serve

passengers, ship pers and the

airlines in the coming decades, and

thereby support the continued

growth of the economy in the

Greater Toronto Area. Figure 4-1

presents the work completed

under the ADP.

While the results of this program

have met the immediate needs of

the Airport, new require ments

have emerged. Figure 4-2 presents

a summary of post-ADP projects

Infield Development

Infield Hangar, Business Aviation, Air Traffic Control and Ancillary Facilities

Chapter 4 > AI R P O RT DE V E L O P M E N T PR O G R A M

4.6

underway to address the imme -

diate future (i.e. 2008-2013)

including the following:

• Completion of the apron in the

vicinity of Terminal 2

• Construction of a 7,500 space

parking garage in Area 6B.

Figure 4-2 also presents the

longer-term development needs.

These projects, while significant in

their own right, can be under -

taken incre mentally as demand

warrants, building on the solid

legacy of the Airport Development

Program, to realize the full

potential of the Toronto Pearson

site for the benefit of the Greater

Toronto Area, southern Ontario

and all of Canada. Beyond 2013,

the projects are as follows:

• Pier G of the new terminal

complex

• Expansion of the Terminal 1

Parking Garage to 12,500 spaces

timed to coincide with

the commissioning of Pier G

• Sixth runway

• Piers H and I.

Infield Cargo, Air Traffic Control and Tunnel Entrance

Chapter 4 > AI R P O RT DE V E L O P M E N T PR O G R A M

4.7

Chapter 4 > AI R P O RT DE V E L O P M E N T PR O G R A M

4.8