Billy Bishop airport runway one step closer to extension

A city council committee has approved the "fastest, safest option" to extend the runway at Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport in response to a new federal airport safety requirement.

At its meeting on Tuesday, Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow's executive committee approved one of three options to meet the requirement for what are called runway end safety areas.

City staff say the intention of a runway end safety area, which is ground level land past the end of a runway, is to "reduce the severity of damage to an aircraft" if it were to overshoot or overrun a runway. The item goes to council on Oct. 9 for final approval.

City staff said in a report to the committee that the option approved would involve the "minimum landmass" to meet the regulatory requirement at a cost of $61 million to $64 million. The amount would be paid by PortsToronto, which owns and operates the airport.

According to city staff, Ports Toronto must have the runway safety end areas in place by July 12, 2027. "Airports in Canada are now required to have a minimum of 150 metres of safety length beyond runway ends," a city staff report said.

Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow, before the committee cast its vote, said the issue is about the safety of the airport's runway.

Earlier on Tuesday, Chow told reporters city staff recommended the option that is the easiest to implement quickly.

"It's the fastest, safest option. I totally support it," Chow said.

"For 14 years, Billy Bishop Airport knew that the runway was too short. What should be the goal? Build as quickly as possible a runway that is long enough to make it safe. That is the top priority... because, heaven forbid, I don't want a plane having trouble, passengers experiencing trouble, because the runway is not long enough," Chow said.

City staff said in their report that PortsToronto has asked for a extension of the airport's lease to run for 48 years from 2025, which would mean an extension of its term from 2033 to 2073, or an extra 40 years. 

The request prompted a larger discussion about the future of the airport at the meeting and some speakers who addressed the committee voiced their opposition to the island airport.

A tripartite agreement between PortsToronto, the city and Transport Canada, signed in 1983, governs the airport's operations and acts as a both a lease and operating agreement. Chow said a discussion is needed about the agreement but that now is not the time. Any changes to the agreement would require all parties involved to agree and council approval would be required for any changes. The agreement expires in 2033.

"That's a long conversation. We can have that conversation after we fix the runway. Let's fix the runway now. No one is closing the airport," Chow said.

City staff said in their report that each of the three options requires lakefill and that the volume of lakefill and the width of the airport's landmass increases with each option.