Howard Eng, president and CEO of the Greater Toronto Airports Authority (left), and Marc Garneau, Canada’s Minister of Transport, celebrated Toronto Pearson’s Airports Council International Airport Service Quality Award for Best Large Airport in North America during a ceremony on November 12.SUPPLIED
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) expects 8.2 billion passengers to travel by air in 2037, a near doubling of the number expected for 2018. That’s a 3.5 per cent average compound annual growth rate that will continue to see more demand for airport facilities and increased importance of megahubs, like Toronto’s Pearson International, as key points of global connectivity.
OAG, an industry-leading provider of global air traffic information, ranks Toronto Pearson fifth on its latest index of megahubs, which includes the world’s 50 most internationally connected airports. The index is generated by comparing the number of scheduled connections to and from international flights with the number of destinations served from the airport.
Toronto Pearson ranks second in North America in terms of international passenger traffic – more people enter the U.S. through Toronto Pearson than at Chicago O’Hare, Newark or Atlanta – and is the ninth busiest airport in North America, according to the latest annual traffic data from Airports Council International – North America.
Numbers paint a clear picture of just how important Toronto Pearson is to keeping Canada connected to the world. At peak times, the airport serves an average of 155,000 passengers a day, and through daily, non-stop flights to 180 destinations, connects travellers to 70 per cent of the world’s economies.
It’s also an airport that travellers enjoy: this year, Toronto Pearson was voted by passengers as the Best Large Airport in North America through Airports Council International’s Airport Service Quality (ASQ) Survey, the world’s leading airport passenger service and benchmarking program.
But it’s the economic impact that underscores the real power of Toronto Pearson’s connectivity: the airport facilitates 6.3 per cent of Ontario’s GDP; 300,000 people work in the employment zone around the airport, 49,000 at the airport itself; and 7 per cent of Canada’s exports are routed through Toronto Pearson – twice as much as all Canada’s other airports combined.
“Continued passenger growth, particularly in the international sector, confirms Toronto Pearson’s role as a key driver of tourism, trade and jobs in the region and for Canada,” says Howard Eng, president and CEO of the Greater Toronto Airports Authority (GTAA). “A vital, connected airport is central to the ongoing economic growth of the region it supports, and Toronto Pearson continues to prioritize global connectivity to help ensure greater opportunities for our businesses and our communities.”
Richard Florida, director of cities at the Martin Prosperity Institute at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management, says Toronto Pearson yields an economic impact of more than $40-billion a year, equal to 15 per cent of Greater Toronto’s economic output.
But the impact of Toronto Pearson isn’t limited to the city alone, he adds, pointing out in an article for the 2017 GTAA annual report that the airport is also a key asset to the broader mega-region spanning Kitchener-Waterloo to the west, Ottawa and Montreal to the east, and Rochester and Buffalo to the south.
Produced by Randall Anthony Communications. The Globe’s editorial department was not involved in its creation.