Comments about Lester B. Pearson International Airport

I'm not defending the costs of landing a 747... yes it's outrageous. But, having been into Pearson in a light plane once, I would say that the landing fee is fair - especially outside of peak hours ($75). I'm sure the landing fee is set to keep us little guys from joyriding in the area and becoming a hazard to the more serious traffic which is lined up on approach. Certainly the $75 (or $200) is not a money making proposition.

I do agree, though, that there are a lot of better alternatives nearby. CYTZ in an awesome little airport. Approaching the city over the water, with the skyline just of your shoulder is really amazing.

This is the world's expensive airport -- http://www.cbc.ca/money/story/2005/11/15/gtaa-051115.html

If you're a private pilot, you can get dinged with a landing fee close to CA $200 even in a light plane, and that's before ramp fees, parking, etc. If you're an airline passenger, your share of the obscene landing fee (over $13,000 to land a 747, vs around $3,000 at other Canadian airports) is tacked onto your ticket price.

The high fees have nothing to do with the fact that the airport's busy -- it has about the same traffic as Philadelphia Intl (PHL), which had no landing fee for light aircraft when I visited in 2003 and charges around US $2,000 for a 747 to land. Something's just broken somewhere, and nobody will take responsibility for the problem.

If you're coming to Toronto, use CYTZ (downtown), CYKZ (northeast), CYOO (east), CNC3 (northwest), or CZBA (west). CYTZ has a landing fee of around $10 for a light plane (watch the ramp fees at Porter, though!), and the others have no landing fee at all.