On Wednesday, work began at the Saint-Hubert airport which will include a new terminal with nine boarding gates.
The new terminal should be operational in 2025.
With this project, which was announced last February, Montreal-Saint-Hubert Airport (YHU) aims to become a hub for Canadian commercial flights.
The new terminal is being built in partnership with Porter Airlines, which could eventually serve all major Canadian cities from the airport, located in Longueuil on Montreal's South Shore.
This is a private investment of over $200 million by the airport, in partnership with Porter Aviation Holdings and Holiday Inn, with a hotel also planned for the site.
General contractor PCL has been appointed to carry out the work.
YHU points out that the company, which has an office in Montreal, has already completed more than 30 airport projects in North America.
Although the new terminal is due to open in mid-2025, no timetable has yet been made public.
The airport expects to make an announcement this autumn.
The 21,000 square metre terminal will eventually have an annual capacity of four million passengers.
When the project was announced in February, a number of conditions were laid down to protect the quality of life of local residents. There will be no night flights, and commercial flights will not be allowed with just any aircraft.
A development table was set up with elected representatives and various stakeholders in the region. It now has four working groups, which will focus on mobility, sustainable development and the noise climate, innovation and tourism, according to the airport.
Montréal Saint-Hubert YHU airport CEO Yanic Roy said that the region will benefit from significant economic spin-offs.
"The transformation of YHU will increase airport capacity in the Greater Montreal area and consolidate regional air services in Quebec," he added in a press release.
In addition to Porter, Pascan plans to add other regional services.
The work starting on Wednesday is preparatory, and the next phase will be excavation and levelling of the land.
Current airport operations will not be affected by the work, YHU said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Aug. 16, 2023.
