Mirabel Airport
 

<BR> <BR>Message: Just curious, can anyone explain the boarding arrangements at Mirabel Airport, where instead of the normal piers, strange buses rather like a tundra-buggy back up to the terminal building, load the passengers and then lower themselves to ground-level before trundling off to the aircraft some distance away and repeating the process in reverse ? <BR>I don't know how baggage is handled. <BR>Both times I used the airport it was dark, so I was unable to see all the details...it seems a strange system to me. <BR>BTW, I found the Airbus used by Canada 3000 to be a little roomier than other transatlantic flights I've been on. <BR>

I thought Mirabel was no longer in use and all flights were in and out of Dorval. Is this wrong?

I flew out of Mirabel in January of this year, it is used by Canada 3000, Air Transat and other charter airlines. Dorval is used by scheduled airlines

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I lived in Montreal when Mirabel was being built and first opened. The hype about using the buses was that the planes did not need to be moved for snow removal or de-icing. It was to be more 'flexible' than fixed walkways. I have not been there in so long I did not know that it was not the first string airport anymore. At that time Dorval was run down. They must have improved it a lot since then.

Rand, <BR>Thanks for your reply, I though it might be someting like that. But it just seems to be a very slow and clumsy procedure. FYI, Mirabel now has what looked like a brand-new terminal.