Aéroports de Montréal to invest $14.2M to improve customs area

In a bid to lessen wait times at the Canadian customs area, Aéroports de Montréal announced at its annual general meeting on Thursday that it will invest $14.2 million to improve the situation.

ADM will make the improvements in conjunction with the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) and a firm of experts in airport planning and design.

The $14.2 million will go toward reorganizing the customs area; the creation of a connecting flight centre for transit; posting of wait times information; the addition of a team dedicated to facilitating passenger flow and the installation of next-generation customs control stations (at the end of 2017).

The new connecting flight centre will be to separate connecting flight passengers as early as possible from passengers ending their journey in Montreal.

A temporary connecting flights centre will be built and operational as of this summer. A permanent and larger $20-million centre is expected for the end of 2018. The posting of wait times to reach the primary inspection line will be working as of this summer.

A new model of automated control station that can handle all Canadian, American and international passengers will be installed in major Canadian airports. The rollout at Trudeau airport is slated to begin at the end of 2017, with a price tag of $9 million.

In all, ADM is investing about half a billion dollars over the 2016-2017 period. Other projects include:

increasing capacity for the checkin process, with work underway in the East sector mainly occupied by Air Canada. The work is expected to be completed in 2018; optimizing the baggage room; the construction of checkpoints for non-passengers and vehicles;

ongoing work on the departures drop-off zone;

sustainable development projects.