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I'll continue to call it Dorval Airport as its easier to say than Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport.
Question for all in the Montreal-Gatineau-eastern Ontario areas: is it referred to by that name all the time? Setting such airport codes as YYZ and YUL aside, I'm thinking of Lester B. Pearson International Airport in Toronto, which is colloquially known simply as "Pearson." Is the Montreal airport similarly known simply as "Trudeau"?
As an aside, you may know that Calgary airport recently built a new transborder/international terminal. Various comedians made much of the speculation that it would be called the Stephen Harper International Terminal.
It wasn't, but think about it for a moment. At any rate, it made a lot of us Albertans laugh.
Question for all in the Montreal-Gatineau-eastern Ontario areas: is it referred to by that name all the time? Setting such airport codes as YYZ and YUL aside, I'm thinking of Lester B. Pearson International Airport in Toronto, which is colloquially known simply as "Pearson." Is the Montreal airport similarly known simply as "Trudeau"?
As an aside, you may know that Calgary airport recently built a new transborder/international terminal. Various comedians made much of the speculation that it would be called the Stephen Harper International Terminal.
It wasn't, but think about it for a moment. At any rate, it made a lot of us Albertans laugh.
Just curious - how did major Canadian airports have their IATA code start with a "Y"?
e.g.
YVR = Vancouver
YUL = Montreal Dorval
YYZ = Toronto Pearson
YOB = Quebec City
Just curious - how did major Canadian airports have their IATA code start with a "Y"?
e.g.
YVR = Vancouver
YUL = Montreal Dorval
YYZ = Toronto Pearson
YOB = Quebec City
It has to do with weather stations, and Canada adopting "Y" for aviation purposes, to go in front of the two-letter abbreviations for the weather stations. See here:
Quote:
These were all two letters in length, and weren’t necessarily an obvious abbreviation of the location name.
Then the international aviation body IATA established that each airport should have a three letter code. Rather than each Canadian airport completely renaming their codes to match the name of the airport or city they served, they simply added a ‘Y’ to the front of each 2 letter code, with the Y indicating that each airport was Canadian. I believe airports were already adding a Y to the front of their 2 letter code, where there was a weather station attached to the airport – the Y indicating ‘Yes’ there is a weather station there.
So we have YYZ (Toronto Pearson), YUL (Montreal Trudeau), YVR (Vancouver), and even YQL (Lethbridge, Alberta, though I have no idea where the Q came from).
It would be nice if we had TOR, MON, VAN, and LET (for those cities, or whatever other abbreviations would not overlap with other codes), but we don't. We just deal with what we have. At any rate, I'm glad that my cat, whose name was Denver, got from YYZ to YYC, without going to DEN first.
Question for all in the Montreal-Gatineau-eastern Ontario areas: is it referred to by that name all the time? Setting such airport codes as YYZ and YUL aside, I'm thinking of Lester B. Pearson International Airport in Toronto, which is colloquially known simply as "Pearson." Is the Montreal airport similarly known simply as "Trudeau"?
.
But in common speech in Montreal it's either "Dorval" or simply "the airport" as others have stated.
If someone in Ottawa is talking about flying out of either one of the two big cities nearby, generally they'd say they're flying out of "Pearson" or "Montreal".
One of the reasons for "Pearson" being common usage is that it's been the name for far longer. Trudeau as the name of Montreal's airport goes back less than 20 years IIRC. PET died around 2002 (IIRC) so I think the airport was given his name around that time. Pearson I believe has been the name in Toronto since when I was a kid in the 70s.
Also, Pearson has never been identified with its location, which I guess might be Mississauga or Malton? I've never heard anyone use those names for the airport in my lifetime.
Dorval has used for ages and is a very precise location. (Dorval is a lot smaller than Mississauga, for example.)
The Dorval municipality has no jurisdiction over the airport.
It does not make a difference because Dorval officially is bilingual and the airport is owned by Transport Canada = which is bilingual, too. Bill 101 does not affect Dorval airport [and with its 1000 exceptions much is not affected]. So unilingual anglophones are all allowed to never ever use French and they proudly exercise their rights.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ChevySpoons
Question for all in the Montreal-Gatineau-eastern Ontario areas: Is the Montreal airport similarly known simply as "Trudeau"?
No
Quote:
Originally Posted by silverkris
Just curious - how did major Canadian airports have their IATA code start with a "Y"? YOB = Quebec City
"Yob" is Aussie or British slang for a hooligan, ruffian or obnoxious chap - not trying to be offensive to the good people of Quebec City. My apologies!
"Yob" is Aussie or British slang for a hooligan, ruffian or obnoxious chap - not trying to be offensive to the good people of Quebec City. My apologies!
I am not from Quebec City, but I am sure no offence was taken.
I don't think francophone North Americans feel offended by British slang*, it might also be interpreted as a compliment because yob = loutishness = assertiveness = strength = you get what you want = woman admire that = winner. In my opinion yob is a compliment.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Acajack
I am not from Quebec City, but I am sure no offence was taken.
yeah, everyone from World Forums knows that
*only New York and Netflix English are known anyway
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