Airport Guide

History of Toronto Pearson International Airport

Originally opened in 1939 as Malton Airport after nine farmland properties were purchased by the local harbour authorities, the site was soon sold to the City of Toronto in 1940 for use as a military training base.

Once the Second World War had come to an end, a new terminal was added in 1949, with the airport renamed Toronto International in 1960, the year in which a futuristic new terminal was also constructed to cope with soaring passenger demand.

Plans to build a second major airport, Pickering Airport, nearby, fell through after years of wrangling, and as such the 1970s and 1980s saw near-continuous expansion and modification, while the airport was named after prime minister Lester Bowles Pearson in 1984.

One of two planned new runways was opened in 2002, as was a new Terminal 1 in 2004, while work is currently ongoing on the demolition of Terminal 2, which will duly be replaced.

Travelling to Toronto Pearson International Airport

Though plans are in place to introduce a train link to Toronto International, at present the only way to get to the airport is by road.

However, there are excellent transport links between the terminals and the city centre, located some 17 miles to the west.

Regular bus services depart from Kipling and Lawrence West Stations, from where there are also links onto the metro system.

Running alongside these public transport links are private alternatives, often offering quicker, more direct services from hotel lobbies to the terminal doors, though these are more expensive.

Airlines flying from Toronto Pearson International Airport

Easily the busiest airport in the whole of Canada, Toronto International welcomes dozens of different airlines and offers flights to destinations all over the globe on a daily basis.

National carrier Air Canada uses Toronto as its principal hub and therefore dominates the departure board.

Domestic services offered by the airline include flights to Calgary, Edmonton, Ottawa and Vancouver, while among the many international flights currently operated are those to Barbados, Buenos Aires, Dublin, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, Paris, London Heathrow and Rome.

The flagship carrier's low-cost subsidiary Air Canada Jazz also offers a wide range of flights across North America, including services to Atlanta, Austin, Halifax, Quebec City, St Louis, Washington DC and Winnipeg.

Other major airlines flying from Toronto include United Airlines, Sunwing Airlines – which offers numerous services to South America and the Caribbean – and Continental Airlines.

Also flying from the airport are Czech Airlines, British Airways, Delta, Cathay Pacific, Pakistan International, Aeroflot, Air France and many more.