Montreal Metropolitan Airport Welcomes 1st Pax

Montreal Metropolitan Airport (MET) welcomed its first passengers and commercial flight yesterday, marking the official start of operations and the commencement of service by the YHU Terminal teams.

Designed to complement rather than compete with Montreal’s Pierre Trudeau International Airport, the facility aims to offer an enhanced experience for travellers and increased capacity for airlines operating single-aisle aircraft.

Porter Airlines’ inaugural flight departing from MET for Vancouver was honoured with a water salute performed by the airport fire service. This long-standing aviation tradition is used to mark significant milestones in the life of an airport or airline.

This historic day also featured a formal ceremony and a ribbon-cutting in the presence of Longueuil Mayor Catherine Fournier and Quebec Minister of Tourism Amélie Dionne. The event unfolded in front of an audience of stakeholders from the business, tourism, and transportation sectors in the Montreal and South Shore regions.

“This new terminal is the result of a collaborative effort involving citizens and elected officials—an effort that began long before the groundbreaking ceremony. And today, we are proud to see that 80% of the population on Montreal’s South Shore supports the MET project,” said Simon-Pierre Diamond, Interim President of MET – Montreal Metropolitan Airport

Porter Airlines was a key drive of the project, and CEO Michael Deluce had this to say: “Launching 11 new routes from a brand‑new airport — alongside an expanded partnership with Pascan Aviation to connect regions and major Canadian cities — is significant milestone for Montreal, Quebec and Canada. We are strengthening connectivity, the economy, and tourism. I am grateful to our team at Porter, as well as partners at MET and YHU for our shared commitment to better serve travellers.”

Catherine Fournier, Mayor of Longueuil, said the opening of the facility marked the culmination of years of collaboration with airport leadership to ensure the development was carried out in way acceptable to the community.

“That partnership is delivering tangible results: overnight flights are prohibited, operating hours are regulated, air quality monitoring sensors have been installed, and $8.2 million in road improvements funded by the developer will help ease traffic in the area, in addition to generating more than $6 million annually in property tax revenues for the benefit of the community,” Fournier said.