Boycott of US travel: little effect on Montreal-Trudeau, according to airport CEO

The decision by many Quebecers to avoid the United States as a travel destination in response to tariff threats will have little impact on traffic at Montreal-Trudeau International Airport, its CEO believes. 

For the moment, it is still premature to measure the effects of the boycott movement, but the number of passengers transiting there to the United States does not show any signs of decreasing, indicates the president and CEO of ADM Aéroports de Montréal, Yves Beauchamp. And he does not expect that the data provided soon by the airlines will suggest a “significant impact.” 

“It is clear that there may be changes in behaviour. On the one hand, passengers who will travel less to the United States. But on the other hand, we may have travelers from Europe who will want to go through the connecting platform in Montreal rather than going to the United States,” he said in a press scrum, on the sidelines of a conference of the Montreal Council on Foreign Relations (CORIM), Tuesday afternoon. 

In recent weeks, several media reports have relayed the testimonies of Quebecers and Canadians who have decided to cancel their trip south of the border due to trade tensions between Canada and the United States. 

Beauchamp reports that the Canadian Airports Council has commissioned a study presenting forecasts in the event of the application of new customs tariffs. 

“In the worst-case scenario where tariffs were imposed and lasted for a certain period of time, we believe that growth currently for Canadian airports should fall back to the number of passengers we had in 2023,” said the CEO of ADM, specifying that he was speaking here of the average for all airports. 

“For YUL, which is probably one of the most international airports in Canada and possibly in America, I don’t think it will affect us significantly, but we are still vigilant. (…) We are ready to react if there are any influences,” he added. 

For its 2023 fiscal year, ADM had recorded just over 21 million passengers, up 32.5 per cent from the previous year. It was indicated that in 2023, passenger traffic for its transborder sector, i.e. the United States, represented approximately 105 per cent of that recorded in 2019 for this same segment. 

Results for the 2024 financial year have not yet been released. 

“The safest means of transport”

Beauchamp was called to respond to the plane crash at Toronto’s Pearson Airport on Monday, where a plane crashed on landing and flipped on its back. About 20 people were injured. 

“It’s tragic. These are very rare events, and an air accident is something you never want to experience. It’s clear that our thoughts are with the injured, some of whom are seriously injured,” he told reporters. 

The crash comes in a series of air tragedies in recent weeks, including those in Washington and Philadelphia. 

Despite these events, Beauchamp maintains that air transport remains safe. 

“When we look at the number of passengers based on the number of flights, if we compare it to any other means of transportation, whether road or otherwise, it remains the safest means of transportation,” he said. 

The ADM executive was attending Airports Council International CEO Justin Erbacci’s conference on “The Future of Global Air Transport.” 

Erbacci notably addressed the issue of financing for airport administrations as massive investments will be needed by 2040 to develop airports to meet the growing number of passengers. 

He says airports need more flexibility to collect the aeronautical fees they need. But he says many countries limit how airport authorities can raise new revenue. His organization wants to help airports find other sources of funding, including trying to tap private investment. 

–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews