Traffic jams at Montreal-Trudeau airport

There has been a post-pandemic surge in car traffic entering Montreal-Trudeau airport causing long line ups at drop off and pick up areas. The delays have been frustrating for those trying to catch a flight, and picking up family and friends at the airport.

“The traffic is so much there. You know, you get frustrated and you get nervous,” said Altaf Butt, a Montrealer, adding, “it’s always like that. The traffic is full now, right now.”

“A few weeks ago, my family and I returned from a trip to Europe. Our plane landing at about this time shortly after four in the afternoon. And when I message my friend who was waiting for us in the cell park to come pick us up, it was still about an hour and a half before he could make it up there to get us just absolute chaos, absolute chaos,” said Denis Labossiere, visiting from Cornwall, Ontario.

“One time it was supposed to take me only like 8 minutes and it took me about 35 minutes just to do like the round. So it was very bad,” explained Jenny Cadieux, a Montrealer.  

“I came to drop my daughter last week and I saw the traffic was so congested, it wasn’t moving at all. And we were kind of panicking,” said Farina Rahman, from Montreal. “There were so many cars and we were panicking if we’re going to be late for our flight.” 

 In a written response to CityNews, Aéroports de Montréal, the company that manages Montréal-Trudeau Airport, says that they have taken various actions to reduce the congestion including the opening of a new CellParc, a free two hour waiting car park. They encourage visitors to use the free parking lots rather than waiting in their cars at the pick up drop-off area.

 “I’m telling you, I just pulled over here to avoid it,” said Fouad Daye, a Montreal parked in one of the CellParc lots. “I prefer to wait here.”

Aéroports de Montréal says that there has been an increase in passenger traffic at the airport that has exceeded pre-pandemic numbers – revealing that more than 5.9 million travellers used the airport from May to July of this year. This represents more than a 7 per cent increase in passenger traffic compared to the same three months in 2019.

The airport authority also says they will open a new twenty-eight-hundred multi-level parking garage before spring break that will not be accessible by the main ramp. They’ll also offer a new satellite passenger drop off. In the long term, Aéroports de Montréal says they have plans to increase the terminal drop-off capacity with upgrades to the current area. The changes will be announced in the near future.

“I hope they will do something really fast because it’s it’s quite concerning,” added Cadieux.

“I think they could do a lot more with the pick up and drop off area. I think it needs to be expanded,” suggested Labossiere. “I think they need more enforcement of the rules as well. Everyone knows there’s no parking in that far right hand lane. You stop to pick up and drop off. But I mean, any time you go by there, there’s at least two or three cars that are parked in empty.”