YYZ Toronto Airport and Destinations
 

I didn't see a Toronto Airport thread, such as we have at SSP Vancouver, so I took the risk of starting one. Toronto Airport, YYZ, is something all Canadians can be proud of. For overseas travellers connecting in North America, but wanting to avoid the visas and complex security checks at US airports, landing at YYZ eliminates this, and changing there to a US destination cuts it in half.

And the YYZ destination roster is unreal. There is just about every airline (not every; Royal Air Maroc, Air Algérie, and Qatar Airways all fly only out of YUL)

Still the destination roster, is vast: All through Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, Africa, India, The Pacific Rim countries ..... and of course all the main US cities, even Portland, Phoenix, Seattle and San Diego in the west, where I'm from.

And the new terminal is so sleek, and has a great people mover to terminal 3. YYZ is a dynamite airport. And it has rail connections downtown yet to come.

The YVR Vancouver thread is sometimes quiet, sometimes informative, and sometimes a snakepit of discussion. I urge you to include this thread in your series of threads .... if there isn't one already in which case I'll be wearing custard pie! ;)

I transited via YYZ just this Monday on my way to Boston. I found it an okay airport to transit through, although lots of walking is required even inside on terminal.

I think the biggest drawback for YYZ is the missing rail connection to city. I have once taken the bus connection and it was so cumbersome... :(

that is on its way luckily.

YYZ is a beautiful airport but someone needs to feed their baggage handlers some coffee, I've never been to an airport where baggage takes so long to get to the bag hall.

Also some better dining options would be great!

On a plus both the domestic and international lounges are quite nice.

I agree, it's a decent airport that could be better. I've often been called in for secondary questioning with immigration, and still got to the luggage belt before my cases.

YYZ's Innovative Dining looks interesting

http://www.torontopearson.com/en/innovativedining/#

7 new restaurants/bars/etc are coming in 2013. Looks very exciting :)

http://www.torontopearson.com/en/sho...edining/2013/#

..... not to mention some of the destinations coming up. Such as Toronto - Addis Ababa Boeing 787 service

Is there a separate thread for discussion on the AirRail Link connecting Union Station to YYZ?

Sorry but I absolutely dread flying into YYZ. I always have problems at customs and yes, the wait for your luggage seems almost eternal. They've still got plenty of work to do in Malton.

BTW, I thought they were thinking of axing the Union Station-Pearson rail link. They really need to get that done: it's a put-off for visitors when they find out they can't take the train into the city.

It is presently under construction and should open in, I believe, 2015. You can find more information at the Metrolinx site as well as the Union Pearson Express site.

A bunch of NIMBYs wanted it axed because the trains won't be electrified for the first couple of years. It is going ahead, with the evelavted spur to the airport well under construction.

Fantastic. That must have been an old article I read. That will instantly put Pearson up a notch.

China Eastern will launch service from PVG (Shanghai Pu Dong)-YYZ on June 25/14 with Airbus A340-600 aircraft with service on WED,FRI and SUN.

Schedules just appeared in the GDS but have yet to be announced.

I think you posted this a couple of years back, and have heard that's it's going through. At first, it will as I understand, be diesel, then convert to electric.
When that happens, it will become a lot more nimby-tolerable. They'll have little to wail about if GO trains anjd freight trains are already using that track.
One major point for me is crossing Bloor Street. Is that a level crossing? Whatever the case, I think the YYZ - Union trains should be tunnelled at such critical points.
Faster, safer.

All level crossings have been eliminated as part of the project, but Bloor Street hasn't been at grade for over a century from my understanding. The separations constructed in the last few years were primarily smaller sideroad crossings.

^ Yes, grade separation between rail and Bloor Street has been in place for over a century for sure!

Just for clarification sake, the Air-Rail link ("UP" - Union Pearson Express) will be up and running for the public to use June 6, 2015. 25 minute trip from Downtown to the Airport.

I've noticed that the passport control for arrivals has improved over the past few years, starting around 2011 or so. It's been streamlined and there are some self-serve type stations in place now.

Baggage handling doesn't seem to be much worse than anywhere else I've flown to. At least not so bad that the experience is worth remembering.

On the topic of passports, the government needs to get rid of that stupid self-serve system. It just slows everything down. You have to line up to use the kiosk to get that little sheet, then line up again to have the human clerk read over the sheet! The human clerk should just do everything, it will be faster.

When I travelled to England in 2013, it took me three times longer to get readmitted to my own country than it did to get admitted to the UK, because of how slow the wait-twice system is here.

I have found baggage handling to be a bit slow, but I mainly fly to smaller airports. Pearson is a very large airport so I expect baggage times to be a bit longer, I guess.

Lord how I fucking hate those stupid customs declaration forms. Always fun filling it out on a plane. No goddamn room to write shit without a magnifying glass. WASTE OF FUCKING TIME!! I go to Europe 2-3 times per year and the officers barely look up when they stamp my passport.


Pearson also charges the most exhorbitant prices for a glass of wine or a mug of beer. Ten-fucking-dollars or more (without tip) for a lousy glass of wine. WTF? Everything is super pricey at Pearson except the wretched Rim Whoreton's.

And why is the high speed moving sidewalk always out of order?

UPX is now open. Anyone taken it yet?