Developing Aéroports de Montréal’s ‘emerging international hub’

james cherry president and ceo aeroports de montreal

James Cherry, President and CEO, Aéroports de Montréal: “Montréal-Trudeau is building on its position as an emerging international hub with a growing customer base, both in terms of passengers and airlines, and it is now the most ‘international’ of Canada’s major airports.”

James Cherry has been President and CEO of Aéroports de Montréal since 2001, and is a member of its Board of Directors. He is also the Immediate Past Chair of ACI North America, and he was Chair of ACI World in 2009. He gave Samantha Jenkins a briefing on Aéroports de Montréal’s rising passenger numbers, international route growth, and implementation of advanced technologies.

A Montréal native, James Cherry has a wealth of experience spanning more than 30 years in the international aerospace, defence, and rail sectors. His background includes senior executive positions at Bombardier, Oerlikon Aerospace, CAE Electronics, and Alstom Transport.

Cherry has been President and CEO of Aéroports de Montréal (ADM) since 2001, as well as a member of its Board of Directors. Under his leadership ADM, which operates Montréal-Trudeau and Montréal-Mirabel airports, is committed to delivering advanced technologies, sustainable development, and passenger and route growth, as well as strengthening Montréal-Trudeau’s position as an international hub. The figures certainly highlight the success of this strategy – Montréal-Trudeau alone has seen passenger traffic rise by 4.6% this year, with throughput expected to surpass 15 million; the percentage of transit passengers has risen from 6% to 20% in recent years; and the airport now serves over 135 non-stop destinations offered by 30 airlines. Air China recently launched a strategically significant direct service between Beijing and Montréal, which follows the signing of a ‘sister airport’ partnership between ADM and Beijing Capital International Airport, under which the two airport authorities will strengthen cooperation and share best practices. Meanwhile, Iceland’s Icelandair and Wow Air will serve Montréal-Trudeau in May 2016.

“Montréal-Trudeau is building on its position as an emerging international hub with a growing customer base, both in terms of passengers and airlines, and now offers the best connections between French countries and North America.” Cherry explained. “We have many opportunities to grow in the short, medium and long term, and are doing everything necessary to encourage carriers to launch new services in a timely manner. We are also continuously introducing measures to hasten connection times between trans-border and international flights, and this is helping to spur our airline interest.”

Passenger numbers are projected to reach over 15 million passengers this year, and a major investment programme is underway to meet demand. The CAD$250 million (€175m) future expansion of Montréal-Trudeau’s international jetty, due to open in May 2016, will feature six new boarding gates, and a large entertainment and commercial area. A major expansion of apron space was completed in 2013 to accommodate the international jetty, resulting in more fluid aircraft traffic to the area.

ADM is also lobbying for the construction of a modern, all-electric light rail system to connect Montréal-Trudeau with downtown Montréal. Cherry is adamant that such a world-class rail link is “critical” to the future success of Montréal-Trudeau in creating a “world-class international airport”.

Pioneering approach

Implementation of the latest technologies is central to ADM’s innovative approach. Montréal-Trudeau has been a pioneer in self-service check-in, self-service bag drop and bag tagging, electronic monitoring of passengers and baggage, and automated border control (ABC). “The airport has common-use check-in kiosks in all sectors, and in its trans-border sector it offers a generic bag drop for all passengers, virtually eliminating queuing,” Cherry enthused. “Today, the vast majority of Montréal-Trudeau passengers check-in using a self-service option, including a high proportion online.”

Cherry also articulated a commitment to mobile technologies and modular technologies, such as the airport’s automated baggage room for outbound flights, which is unique to North America. Montréal-Trudeau is also one of the first Canadian airports to fully deploy a hi-tech, self-service automated border control system. The ABC kiosks are installed alongside a number of CANPASS and NEXUS self-service kiosks, which Cherry noted “allows us to significantly increase the number of arriving passengers we can process at the same time”.

One area in which Cherry is particularly proud is the airport’s high achievements in carbon reduction. ADM is a signatory to the Aviation Industry Commitment to Action on Climate Change, while Cherry was Chair of ACI World, and is one of the few airports in North America with an ISO 14001-certified Environment Management System. Initiatives at Montréal-Trudeau have seen 43,984 tons of CO2 saved between 2004 and 2012, energy consumption reduced by an estimated 40% between 2001 and 2010, and standardised greenhouse gas emissions reduced by over 75% – all under Cherry’s leadership. These efforts have led to Montréal-Trudeau being accredited at the ‘Reduction’ level of ACI’s Airport Carbon Accreditation.

Montréal-Trudeau now produces a state-of-the-art ethylene glycol recovery, and recertification and reuse of the glycol for de-icing. This will significantly reduce the airport’s environmental footprint while reducing de-icing charges for airlines. “This facility makes us a world-leader in the recycling of ethylene glycol and is an important step in our efforts to promote sustainable development in all aspects of our operations,” Cherry said.

Cherry’s progressive approach is seeing Montréal-Trudeau expand its role as a continental gateway and a dynamic hub for passenger traffic between Europe and the Americas.


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