Toronto Billy Bishop Airport (YTZ) is owned and operated by PortsToronto, who, together with terminal operator Nieuport Aviation, have made the airport a unique travel experience. While continuously upgrading to make the airport quieter and more sustainable, YTZ offers flights to more than 20 destinations in Canada and the United States.
While there was talk of building a bridge to link the airport with the mainland, nothing was built. Connecting the airport to the city finally happened in 2015 when an 185-meter (607-foot) pedestrian tunnel was opened. Named the Canadian Project of the Year by the Tunnel Association of Canada, many passengers can now walk or cycle to the airport via this facility.
Photo: PortsToronto
While most passengers walk or cycle through the pedestrian tunnel to get to the airport, Nieuport Aviation offers a complimentary shuttle bus service. Similarly, PortsToronto connects the city to the airport using a zero-emission electric ferry. In 2021, the Marilyn Bell became Canada’s first electric ferry service powered by a zero-emission, lithium-ion power and propulsion system containing no diesel components. Around 25% of the airport’s passengers arrive by either electric ferry or bus, and overall, almost half of all passengers opt not to take a car to the airport.
Photo: Nieuport Aviation
The buses are going green
In another step geared towards sustainability, earlier this year, Nieuport Aviation’s shuttle bus operator, the TOK Group, announced that it had ordered six Vicinity Lightning electric buses. The new buses will replace the diesel buses connecting the airport with downtown Union Station. Not only do the electric ferries and buses reduce carbon emissions, but they also reduce noise levels, building upon the airport’s award-winning Noise Management Program.
Photo: Vicinity Lightning
Recently, Nieuport announced that the infrastructure installation to power the electric buses had been completed. Working with PowerON Energy Solutions, a subsidiary of Ontario Power Generation (OPG), the project was completed ahead of time and under budget, providing charging points at the main pavilion where the shuttle bus picks up, and on the island where the terminal is located. The Vicinity Lightning electric buses are expected to hit the streets in 2024. Jennifer Quinn, Chief Strategy and Development Officer at Nieuport Aviation, commented,
“With the introduction of our electric shuttle buses, Nieuport Aviation, in collaboration with PortsToronto, is living our promise of operating a cleaner, greener and quieter Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport.”
100% sustainable energy
Located less than two miles from the heart of Canada’s largest city, YTZ is a unique urban airport powered by 100% sustainable electricity. With so many people living so close to the airport, the need to reduce emissions and noise have remained fundamental to its operators. Some of its achievements to date include:
- YTZ’s use of an electrically powered ferry has reduced around 530 tons of direct emissions annually.
- YTZ expects its new electric buses to provide 300,000 passengers per year with clean and quiet transportation, removing approximately 2,100 tonnes of CO2 in the process.
- The airport’s partnership with Bullfrog Power has kept Scope 2 emissions at zero for over a decade.
- YTZ strives to encourage passengers to travel to the airport using public transport. Thanks to this initiative, 41% of all passengers do not use a car to get to or from the airport.
Photo: Neiuport Aviation
Added to this, the airport is only the second in Canada to use a Ground Run-Up Enclosure (GRE), which is an open-air, acoustically engineered structure used to dampen the noise produced by engine maintenance run-up inspections. The three-sided, open-top facility is lined with acoustic panels designed specifically to absorb engine sound and reduce noise impacts on the surrounding community.
Photo: PortsToronto
The Bullfrog Power partnership sees 100% green electricity supplied to the airport, and since joining the program in 2018, Billy Bishop has displaced almost 20,000 tonnes of CO2, the equivalent of taking more than 4,000 cars off the road. The same green power is used to fuel the electric ferry, and will be used for the electric buses next year too, further driving down the airport’s impact on the environment.
Have you been through Toronto’s Billy Bishop Airport recently? Are you impressed with the sustainability efforts there? Let us know in the comments.