Montréal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport The birth of Dorval Airport was in the 1940s. At the time, it was becoming clear that the Saint-Hubert Airport (Montreal's first official airport, in operation since 1927) could no longer meet the city's growing aviation needs. The Minister of Transport purchased the land at the Dorval Race Track, thus ensuring the best possible location for the new airport. Montréal-Dorval International Airport went into operation on September 1, 1941, as RCAF Station Lachine with three paved runways. By 1946, the airport was already hosting more than a quarter of a million passengers a year, growing to more than a million by the mid-1950s. It was primarily chosen as an airport because of good weather and few foggy days. During World War II thousands of Allied aircraft passed through Dorval on the way to England. At one time Dorval was the major transatlantic hub for commercial aviation and the busiest airport in Canada with airlines such as British Overseas Airways Corporation (B.O.A.C) landing at Dorval en route to New York City. In November 1960, the airport was renamed Aéroport international Dorval de Montréal. On December 15 of that year, the Minister of Transport inaugurated a new $30 million terminal. It was the largest terminal in Canada and one of the biggest in the world. Montréal-Dorval International Airport was the gateway to Canada for all European air traffic, serving more than two million passengers a year. Eight years later, Montréal-Dorval International Airport underwent a major expansion program. The Government of Canada predicted that Dorval would be completely saturated by 1985, and also projected that 20 million passengers would be passing through Montreal's airports annually. They decided to construct a new airport in Sainte-Scholastique (Montréal-Mirabel International Airport). As the first phase in the transition that would eventually see Dorval closed, international flights were to be transferred to the new airport in 1975. With all international scheduled flights going back to Montréal-Dorval in 1997, as well as charter flights in 2004, Montréal-Dorval International Airport was finally able to become a true hub, where passengers would not have to travel to different airports depending on the type of flight. The consolidation of flights to Montréal-Dorval resulted in an increase of passenger traffic, not only because of transfer of flights, but because of new connecting opportunities. In 2000, 9.4 million passengers used the airport at a time when the maximum capacity was 7 million. In 2007, the airport handled 12,817,882 passengers, a new record. Thanks Magik