Montreal's second airport gets a new name, $90 million in federal funding

Porter Aviation Holdings Inc. and Macquarie Asset Management, a consortium backing the Montreal-area airport overhaul, secured a $90 million loan from the Canadian Infrastructure Bank for the project.

The newly renamed Montreal Metropolitan Airport, or MET — formerly Montreal St. Hubert Airport — will grow from a small local airport to a commercial aviation hub similar to Toronto's Billy Bishop, which Porter has used since 2006 to build a larger regional network. . The airport is located in Saint-Hubert, about 14 kilometers south of downtown Montreal.

The owner of Porter Airlines and a subsidiary of Australia's largest investment bank broke ground on the new terminal in August 2023, serving four million passengers a year and providing another location for Porter, which is growing rapidly in Canada's second largest city.

Porter Billy Bishop built an extensive regional network at the Toronto City Airport. (Photo credit: Porter Airlines)

Porter says it will continue to expand its existing operation at Montreal's Trudeau Airport (YUL) and will also introduce a MET-based domestic network with the airport code YHU. The small airport has a long history dating back to 1927.

Total investment in the airport exceeds 200 million dollars. Completion of the 21,000-square-meter (225,000-square-foot) facility, with nine bridge aircraft gates, has been pushed back to fall 2025 from an original plan of late this year.

A Crown corporation, Canada's Infrastructure Bank is dedicated to supporting revenue-generating projects in the public interest.

Michael Delus, Porter Airlines (photo credit: Michael Delus, Porter Airlines)

“St. Hubert has tremendous potential as an additional secondary airport for Montreal, conveniently located for a significant portion of the local market and with easy access to downtown Montreal,” said Michael Delus, president and CEO of Porter Aviation Holdings. The deal was announced in February 2023.

“We have proven this concept at Billy Bishop, now one of the best city airports in the world, and look forward to working with our partners at St. Hubert to help create a similar success story.”

Porter estimates its investment in YHU will add more than 500 permanent jobs, including in-terminal and operations positions, as well as a new pilot and flight attendant crew base.

The topics that this article explores