Driving by Mirabel will provide you with a similar experience. I think most major Canadian cities went through the "we are growing, we need a new airport" fiasco. A few US cities went through this as well, hence Dulles, Denver, Dallas, and recently Austin. Edmonton built their new airport (half way to Calgary!), and subsequently closed their city airport! (I was one of the last to enjoy a CP 737-200 landing into Edmonton and the subsequent $10CAD cab fare to the true center of downtown.) Toronto chattered about building an airport in Pickering (30 miles east of Toronto.) .. and Montreal actually built YMX. Montreal was the only one to actually "reneg." My Mirabel experience was being caught downtown after a meeting and a 6pm flight to Vancouver. I was with my local sales rep who was giving me a 'lift' to the airport. At 5pm we passed the Montreal Forum, and then were sitting in traffic on the highway. Visual: Boisterous, smoking, cell-phone chatting french woman driving a 5 speed Acura in Montreal rush-hour traffic. She asks "quel airport?" Oh damn, ticket is in the truck. We gambled on Dorval, knowing that with my full-fare ticket, I could get to Toronto and onto Vancouver if needed. Mirabel was another hour past Dorval. Matthew On Saturday, February 15, 2003, at 08:04 AM, JoeThree@aol.com wrote: > In January, 1989, I flew through Mirabel on a British Airways L-1011, > flying > DTW-YMX-LHR. > > We landed well after dark, and taxiied for nearly ten minutes before we > arrived at the terminal. During the time we were taxiing, I did not > see a > single sign of life other than the runway and taxiway lights. No > hangars, no > ground vehicles, no other aircraft, until we were within sight of the > terminal. It felt as though our TriStar had landed in a small airport > in the > Canadian bush, instead of at the international gateway for one of the > world's > most exciting cities. > > We were on the ground for about an hour for servicing and to pick up > additional passengers (at that time, Detroit did not have a big enough > traffic base to support nonstop transatlantic flights), and in that > time, I > saw just six other aircraft: two Minerve DC-8s, a Sabena DC-10, and a > 747, an > L-1011, and a 767 of Air Canada. I'm sure working in the tower at YMX > was one > of the lowest-stress ATC jobs in Canada! > > Joe Wolf > Minneapolis, Minnesota > > Airport Codes: > > DTW: Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport, Michigan > YMX: Montreal Mirabel > LHR: London Heathrow >