Montreal Could Get A De Facto Second Airport For Domestic Flights

Porter Airlines is bringing more flight options to Montrealers through both of its local airports, Montreal's Trudeau Airport (YUL) and Montréal Saint-Hubert Airport (YHU). The airline has identified "more than 10 potential YHU routes" to add to its roster, including flights to both major Toronto airports as well as stops in Vancouver and St. John's.

These additional routes could bring more passenger air traffic to the smaller Montreal-area airport, YHU, where new terminal development for Porter is being modelled after a similar revitalization process that took place at Toronto's Billy Bishop airport, according to a February 27 press release.

"Saint-Hubert has incredible potential as a complementary secondary airport for Montréal, with a convenient location for a significant portion of the local market and also easy access to downtown Montréal," said Porter CEO Michael Deluce.

The new terminal isn't just for Porter — planned collaborations include a deal with Pascan Aviation, whose current YHU network focuses on Quebec regional trips. The two airlines plan "to develop a codeshare partnership" allowing them to "seamless[ly]" move passengers to each other, presenting more opportunities for Quebecers to travel.

These investments are projected to create as many as 500 permanent jobs across the nine bridged aircraft gates and vendors.

"Montréal Saint-Hubert Airport is proud to welcome Porter Airlines," Yanic Roy, the airport's managing director, said in the press release.

"This new partnership will provide world-class air services to the Greater Montréal population and the Québec regions. It will also ease air travel between the province and the rest of Canada, and be a key item for the development of the Longueuil aerospace cluster."

This article's cover image was used for illustrative purposes only.