Toronto City Centre Airport
From Freepedia
| Toronto/City Centre Airport | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| IATA: YTZ - ICAO: CYTZ | |||
| Summary | |||
| Airport type | Public Land Aerodrome | ||
| Operator | Toronto Port Authority | ||
| Serves | Toronto, Ontario | ||
| Elevation AMSL | 251 ft (77 m) | ||
| Coordinates | 43° 37' 39" N
79° 23' 36" W | ||
| Runways | |||
| Direction | Length | Surface | |
| ft | m | ||
| 06/24 | 2,880 | 878 | Asphalt |
| 08/26 | 4,000 | 1,219 | Asphalt |
| 15/33 | 2,780 | 847 | Asphalt |
The Toronto City Centre Airport in Toronto, Ontario is a regional airport located on the northwestern portion of Centre Island, one of the Toronto Islands. Its IATA Airport Code is YTZ and ICAO code CYTZ.
Opened in 1939 as the Port George VI Airfield, it became generally known as the Island Airport. At opening it was intended to be Toronto's principal airport; a secondary airport was built in Malton, ON (now part of Mississauga) for use in case of inclement weather. However, these roles quickly became reversed, and the Malton Airport became the main airport, a role in which it continues today as Toronto Pearson International Airport. In 1994, the name was officially changed to Toronto City Centre Airport.
The original 1939 wooden frame terminal building is still present and used although not as a commercial passenger terminal. The only major change to the structure was a change to sloping glass in the control tower to facilitate night operations.
Contents |
Ownership and Usage
The airport is owned by the Toronto Port Authority. The operation of the TCCA is subject to a Tripartite Agreement, created in 1983 at the request of the City of Toronto, among the then Toronto Harbour Commissioners (now the Toronto Port Authority), the Government of Canada and the City of Toronto. The 1983 Agreement makes provisions for a restricted list of aircraft allowed to use the airport due to noise levels, prohibitions on jet traffic except for MEDEVAC flights and prohibition against the construction of a fixed link between Toronto Island and the mainland.
The TCCA is used primarily for medical emergency flights (due to its proximity to downtown hospitals), commuter airlines (at this point only Air Canada Jazz flights to Ottawa), small charter flights, private aircraft, and flight training. There is a floatplane base adjacent to the main airport. Currently, some 120,000 flights land and take off from the airport each year, down from a historic high of 240,000 in the mid-1960s. About 80,000 passengers use the airport annually down from a peak of 400,000 in the 1980s when the City Express commuter airline was based at the airport.
Since the late 1990s there has been great debate over the future of the airport, which has required constant financial assistance from the federal government. The Toronto Port Authority has called for either expansion of the airport to accommodate up to 900,000 passengers annually, or its closure. Expansion plans include the increased use of turboprop planes and the construction of a new terminal building, as well as a 22-million dollar lift bridge to connect to the mainland.
It is noteworthy that "expansion" is a misleading term, because none of the plans include enlarging airport runways or property. Some people have speculated about the possible introduction of regional jets to serve destinations such as New York City, Chicago, Detroit and Washington DC but there has been no serious proposal for this and the legal changes to the tripartate agreement governing the airport would have to be made and runways would have to be extended to support regional jets.
The main proposal for increasing traffic at the TCCA was a new airline to be started by Robert Deluce which would use locally built Bombardier Aerospace Q400 turboprop aircraft to provide service to several destinations. Mr. Deluce's proposal was tied to the construction of a fixed link to the airport.
Local activists, among them the lobby group Community AIR (Airport Impact Review), oppose the expansion on the grounds of increased air and noise pollution, as well as safety concerns. They claim that the increase in traffic will hamper recent government initiatives to rejuvenate the Toronto waterfront; proponents point to the expansion as a financial boost for the city's downtown. One of the proposed locations for the Expo 2015 bid is to locate a major portion of the event where the airport is presently located. This would require the agreement of the federal government to order the Port Authority to close the Airport.
The Island Airport Bridge
The airport is served by a ferry from the foot of Bathurst Street (at 121 metres, it is reputedly the world's shortest regularly-scheduled ferry route). Access to the airport from the rest of the Islands is restricted. There was a plan to link the island to the mainland by a new bridge, and in 2002 Toronto City Council, while Mel Lastman was Mayor of Toronto, amended the tripartite agreement to permit a fixed link and approved the construction of a lift bridge.
It almost happened, with contractors showing up at the foot of Bathurst St on the first day of planned construction work. A mix up at City Hall was to blame, with confusion about what had been signed when and by whom. A hurriedly arranged court order stopped any further bridge building.
In November 2003, David Miller was elected mayor of Toronto. One of his major election platforms was a halt of construction of a bridge to the TCCA and expansion of the airport and that this would cost the city "no more than $2 postage". This has been done, the bridge project is cancelled. The city was sued for breach of contract and eventually settled with the TPA (who itself in turn settled with Robert Deluce and two other parties) in May 2005 for $35 million dollars.
Scheduled Destinations
Air Canada Jazz: Ottawa International Airport
Public Transportation
The 509 Harbourfront Streetcar route through the intersection of Queens Quay and Bathurst Street passes the Ferry Dock. From there a ferry runs every 15 minutes to the Island Airport Dock.
Airport Data
- ICAO airport code: CYTZ
- IATA airport code: YTZ
- Runway 1 (08/26): 4,000 ft x 150 ft
- Runway 2 (06/24): 2,880 ft x 150 ft
- Runway 3 (15/33): 2,780 ft x 150 ft
- Coordinates: N43 37 39 W79 23 46 11W; UTC -5(4)
- Elevation: 251 ft
- Aeronautical Charts: VTA, A5000, F-21, LO6, T2, CAP
Lighting
Runway 08 - AS(TE HI) P1: Runway Identification Lights, High intensity runway, threshold, & end lights, variable 5 settings, PAPI for aircraft with eye-to-wheel height up to 10 feet. Runway 26 - AS(TE HI) AP
Communications
- ATIS 133.6, Automatic Terminal Information Service
- Ground 121.7, 06:45 to 22:45 hrs. local, daily
- Tower City 118.2, 119.2, 226.5, 06:45 to 22:45 hrs. local
- Emergency Frequency 121.5.
- ATF Aerodrome Traffic Frequency, traffic 118.2, 22:45 to 06:45 hrs local, daily, within Control Zone TO BELOW 2500 ASL
- Arrival Toronto 133.4, 358.1
- Departure Toronto 133.4, 363.8
- VDF 118.2, 119.2, 121.7 limited hours, VHF Direction Finder.
- Emergency Frequency 121.5
Navigation
- VOT 110.4, VOR receiver test facility
- NDB GIBRALTAR POINT TZ 257 (NDB power output less than 50 watts)
- DME ITZ 110.15 Ch38(Y) N43 37 38 W79 23 58 (antenna elevation 296ft ASL) at aerodrome
- ITZ ILS, XTC Localizer
- ITZ DME unmonitored when tower closed
- ILS ITZ 110.15 Ch 38(Y), RVR
- LOC XTC 110.15
