Montréal–Mirabel International Airport: Financial Times special edition (1974)

Description

Montréal–Mirabel International Airport was once planned to become one of the largest airports in the world. Loosely modelled on Dallas Fort-Worth International Airport, Mirabel was to boast six runways, six passenger terminals and an annual capacity of at least 50 million passengers and millions of tons of cargo. Mirabel opened on October 4, 1975. Initial facilities included two 12,000-foot (3,658-meter) runways and a passenger terminal. For a variety of reasons, annual passenger traffic kept hovering around the two-million mark and the airport never developed beyond its first-phase layout. In 2004, Mirabel was permanently closed to passenger traffic. The project has been partially redeemed by the development of a successful aviation cluster, with companies like Bombardier, Pratt & Whitney and Bell Helicopter being based in and around the airport and employing thousands of people. Mirabel is also an important cargo airport.

The Financial Times of Canada was a weekly, tabloid-sized business newspaper published between 1912 and 1995. This edition of The Financial Times was published in September 29, 1975–and is fully dedicated to Mirabel. Focus is on various aspects of the mega project, such as the design of the facilities, its traffic potential and development of the areas around the airport. Interestingly, as this is a work of independent journalism, some critical questions are posed as well, such as about the validity of the traffic projections and the lack of surface transport connections. See the preview images for more information on the content. A must have for anyone interested in the history of Mirabel Airport!

This document has been carefully restored and scanned at the highest quality possible.