Construction begins and 6.8 million travelers expected: here's how to avoid congestion at Montreal-Trudeau Airport this summer

Montreal-Trudeau Airport is preparing to handle heavy summer traffic, which could be exacerbated by construction work that will begin in the coming months.

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This extensive redevelopment could add pressure on the road network around the airport, which is already congested.

To prevent the endless queues seen in summer 2023 from recurring, Aéroports de Montréal is renewing certain measures put in place last year to facilitate the flow of movement around and within the airport.

Jérôme Conraud, Assistant Vice President of Airport Planning, assures that the teams are ready to adapt to the evolving situation over the summer.

"We have a mitigation group, a committee that works and monitors the situation from week to week. We're adapting and we're going to change our approach," he says. "We're going to implement new measures to be more directive if necessary. We're not ruling anything out."

"Our big challenge will be to maintain traffic flow at the public landing stage. It's saturated, and if it gets clogged, the network gets clogged," he adds.

Two additional landing stages (east and west) open between 1 p.m. and 8 p.m. therefore give travelers additional options for arriving on site, using a shuttle that connects to the terminal in less than five minutes.

Most parking lots also offer a 40-minute free period to avoid congestion at public drop-off areas.

Once inside the airport, several services are available to the public to speed up the check-in process.

The Mobile Passport Control app allows travelers departing for the United States to enter certain information in advance and provides access to a priority line at customs.

The YUL Express service allows travelers to reserve a time slot for security screening in order to benefit from a priority line.

A transit planner is also available on the Montreal-Trudeau Airport website.

Major redevelopment

Major work is planned for this summer to carry out extensive developments which should be completed by 2028.

Montreal-Trudeau Airport will have more parking, a new landing stage, new roadworks, a new jetty and a Réseau express métropolitain station within three years.

Access ramps will be closed this summer and the multi-storey car park will be closed from November and demolished early next year, reducing the number of spaces available during the works.

Although temporary parking will be in place, approximately 20% of the total capacity will be unavailable for a period of time, including the upcoming holiday season and March Break 2026.

See the full explanation in the video above