Montreal

    ● Montreal-Trudeau International Airport (IATA code: YUL) is the main international airport for the city

    ● Montréal Saint-Hubert Longueuil Airport (IATA code: YHU) serves short routes, primarily within the Quebec province

    ● Montreal-Mirabel International Airport (IATA code: YMX) only serves cargo operations

Montreal-Trudeau is the only Transport Canada designated international airport for the Montreal area. The airport is situated 20 km (12 mi) from downtown Montreal, but also serves Greater Montreal and other regions in Quebec, eastern Ontario, and even Vermont and northern New York in the United States. Trudeau is the busiest airport in the Quebec province, and the third-busiest airport in Canada measured by passenger traffic and aircraft movements. In 2019, YUL served 20.3 million passengers and had 236,907 flights.

Montreal-Trudeau Airport is situated 20 km (12 miles) from downtown Montreal. Airport coordinates are 45° 28′ 14″ N, 073° 44′ 27″ W. It has an elevation of 36 m (118 ft) above mean sea level.

The Minister of Transport purchased the land at Dorval Race Track in the early 1940s. This area was considered the best location for a large airport due to its good weather conditions and few foggy days. The airport opened on September 1, 1941, as Dorval Airport/Aéroport Dorval with three paved runways. By 1946, the airport was serving more than a quarter million passengers a year, growing to more than a million in the mid-1950s. During World War II, thousands of Allied aircraft passed through Dorval on the way to England. At one time Dorval was the major transatlantic hub for commercial aviation and the busiest airport in Canada, with flights from airlines such as British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC). Until 1959, it also doubled as RCAF Station Lachine. Airport diagram for 1954.

In November of 1960, the airport was renamed Montreal–Dorval International Airport/Aéroport international Dorval de Montréal. On December 15th of that year, the Minister of Transport inaugurated a new $30 million termina. At the time of construction, it was the largest terminal in Canada and one of the biggest in the world. It was the gateway to Canada for all European air traffic and served more than two million passengers per year. Eight years later, Montréal–Dorval International Airport underwent a major expansion program. Despite this, Prime Minister of Canada Pierre Elliott Trudeau (who represented a Montreal riding) predicted that Dorval would be completely saturated by 1985 and also projected that 20 million passengers would be passing through Montreal's airports annually. They decided to construct a new airport in Sainte-Scholastique, which became Montréal–Mirabel International Airport. As the first phase in the transition that would eventually have seen Dorval closed, all international flights (except those to and from the United States) were to be transferred to the new airport in 1975.

Montréal–Trudeau underwent a major expansion and modernization effort aimed at increasing the terminal's capacity and substantially enhancing the level of passenger service. In February 2000, with a budget of CAD716 million, plans for an extensive expansion plan that would bring Montréal–Trudeau up to standard with other North American airports its size was announced. The airport terminal had for the most part remained the same, with the exception of minor renovations, since its opening in 1960. With increased passenger volume resulting from the transfer of international scheduled passengers from Mirabel Airport in 1997, as well as Air Canada's intentions to make Montréal–Trudeau its Eastern Canada hub, there was a strong need to greatly expand the terminal, whose capacity of roughly 7 million passengers per year had been exceeded.

The expansion program included the construction of several brand-new facilities, including a jetty for flights to the United States, another for other international destinations and a huge international arrivals complex. An 18-gate Transborder Concourse opened in 2003, an 11-gate International Concourse opened in 2004 new customs hall and baggage claim area for non-domestic flights and an expanded parking garage opened in 2005. Additionally, sections of the domestic area were renovated and expanded in 2007, accompanied with additional retail space. The International part of the Aeroquay satellite was demolished in 2008, leaving the domestic part for regional carriers.The completion of the CAD716 million expansion gives Montréal–Trudeau the ability to serve 15 million passengers a year. This ironically accomplished one of the goals that was to be met with the construction of Mirabel. Aéroports de Montréal financed all of these improvements itself, with no government grants. By the end of 2007, CAD1.5 billion had been spent to upgrade Montréal–Trudeau.

Montreal-Trudeau airport has one two-storied terminal. The terminal is divided into four different zones.

Public area: There are two distinct areas in the public part of the airport. One is dedicated for the check-in of flights within or outside Canada, with the exception of the U.S. The other one is for flights departing for the U.S. Both public areas are equipped with self-service check-in kiosks, a prayer area, along with shops and cafés.

Domestic Jetty: The domestic jetty, which is accessible via security checkpoint A, is divided into two parts: a satellite jetty connected by a tunnel to the main terminal and a wing attached to the main terminal building. The main jetty houses 16 gates: 1-12, 15, and 47-49. The satellite jetty holds another 10 gates: 17, 19, 21, 23, 25, 27, 28, 30, 32 and 34. There are only two boarding bridges located inside the satellite, as the other gates are mostly used for prop aircraft. These parts of the airport are the only departure areas remaining that were part of the original terminal.

International Jetty: The International jetty, also accessible via the security checkpoint A, is dedicated to flights with destinations outside Canada and the United States. This jetty holds 18 gates: 50-53 and 55-68. Gates 53 and 62 are used exclusively for Passenger transfer vehicles. In this area, travellers can shop, eat and relax with a wide variety of boutiques, restaurants, cafés, spa facilities and one of the biggest airport duty-free shops in Canada. At the far end of the jetty, there is a wide open space with a lot of natural lights through floor to ceiling windows and a big skylight on the rooftop.

Transborder Jetty: Lastly, there is a jetty dedicated to all U.S. bound flights, which holds 18 gates: 72 through 89. For access to gate 87, 88 or 89, passengers must go down one level via an escalator. Gate 56, 58 and 60, which are part of the international jetty, can also be used for a U.S. bound flight. They can be isolated from the other gates by moving glass walls known as swing gates. Unlike other jetties, the transborder jetty requires passengers to go through security checkpoint C and then the U.S. Customs and Border Protection and lastly through the duty-free shop before accessing their gates. The gate area contains the same services as the other parts of the airport such as shops, restaurants, rest zones and cafés. If needed, some gates can be isolated in order to offer additional security checkpoints if an aircraft flies to a potential risk zone like Washington–National.

06L/24R is 11,000 ft (3,353 m) long and 200 ft (61 m) wide, aligned northeast-southwest

06R/24L is 9,600 ft (2,926 m) long and 200 ft (46 m) wide, aligned northeast southwest

10/28 is 7,000 ft (2,100 m) long and 200 ft (46 m) wide, aligned east-west