Abandoned Airport (Mirabel International Airport)

[@merc340sr]

The irony is that airlines liked landing there, the facilities were excellent and apparently, the airport was profitable. Convenience for passengers was the main issue.

[@freedun4961]

This is really what killed the airport, forcing passengers to switch to a distant airport for connections. A rail link between the two airports was proposed but never materialized. Then airlines started bypassing Montreal altogether and increased flights to Toronto.

[@krugmeister7301]

....This was the Airport my Dad worked in since it Opened in 1975....Many Airliners came into this Airport...And the only reason they shut operations was they didn't build a Train system to the Downtown area.!!

[@dray1205]

Mirabel International Airport is still used for cargo flights.

[@aryanscience]

I worked here from 1975 until 1979..Cold miserable place with nothing to do after your shift..Getting transferred to Toronto airport (Pearson) was fantastic!!

[@jasondecastris3567]

I was inside Mirabel in 2010 doing the movie Warm Bodies. Was very creepy inside with everything still in there. All the carts ,chairs etc were all still in tact. Weird seeing empty Reston also. In the end it's sad when it closed in 2004. Hotel closed in 2002. I went to this airport so many times as a kid.

[@ulisescastro6658]

Boy, oh boy! I flew in at Mirabel back in '89 to then go to Ottawa. I was amazed at how gargantuan this airport was. What a shame it did not prevail as one of the most important North American airports of all time.

[@johnmurray8428]

I flew in and out of this airport many times in the 1980s to 1990s. Stayed once in the hotel 1982, noisy saturday night, never stayed again. It was all operated on the cheap, buses to Ottawa and Montreal, bus loaders between terminal and the planes. It was issolated and a white elephant from the start.

[@DanTheCaptain]

Bombardier uses this airport as well as many Cargo airlines. Mirabel was originally planed to be the hub of Canada and be Canada's biggest airport with six runways. In the 60's and early 70's when the plan was coined, the airport was planned to replace Dorval (the current international airport). But as with a lot of things here in Canada, we thought money grows on trees and went WAY over budget. Thus, the airport plans were dropped. To add to the frustrations people complained that it was to far from Montreal. If this would have been built Toronto Pearson would be smaller and getting to flights would be much harder.

[@nielspemberton59]

The politicians botched Mirabel which was originally a great idea. Not enough access was built and 2 other terminals and other facilities should have been built at the outset and Dorval closed and made into a park.

[@Yardoun]

Rename this shit "watch me drive around the airport and guess random facts about shit that I don't know for 12 minutes"

[@SamSamSamSam1]

+Anthony Lamanna I would love to but truth is I am not from there and I talked to a lot of former employees that worked at this very airport and people who contributed to the 1976 Olympics. There are a lot of conflicting theories with regard to the downfall of this airport that I realized months later. Aside from driving around and walking in the unrestricted areas there isn't much I could do, it would be threat to Canadian national security if i were to try climbing any fences to the terminal or runway. If you could go there any make a more exciting video, please do...I would be more than happy to see it.

[@fotogeanick]

+Anthony Lamanna Or "I am a wuss" or something related...

[@dianefarley37]

+fotogëanick That's called: Not wanting to stir up any unnecessary trouble. Nothing at all to do with personal weakness.😃

[@johnabuick]

+Anthony Lamanna There is plenty of literature out there on the demise of Mirabel. Fact is, it's not abandoned since several air services operate out of there including Bombardier with their assembly plant. The terminal was in the process of being torn down since it has no long been used in years. This is a classic example of the Trudeau family fucking up with taxpayer money.

[@stardustdreamfactory1947]

LOL!!! Too true.

[@wizbangFLL]

Mirabel project was initially set back due to the energy crisis which began in the mid 70's and continued into the early 80's with high fuel costs. Highway and public transit connections that were to have been completed in the 70's for Mirabel were put on hold and chipped away at passenger traffic. Then air travel deregulation allowed other cities to be "international" gateways. Other wide body jets were introduced, providing airlines with varied passenger capacities outside of the very large L10-11 or B747 reducing plane traffic. All of these stacking on each other meant Mirabel's passenger traffic never "got off the ground", so to speak. In the mid 80's the authority over the project decided not to move forward with Mirabel and the project was abandoned. A buyer was sought but because of the specific nature of airport construction, and lack of highway or rail access, it was difficult to find a buyer. A prospective buyer was investigating the site, but then 9/11 occurred the buyer pulled out. Since new requirements for screening could not be accommodated at Mirabel it was decided to demolish it and many people who were forced from their homes for it's construction were redeemed their property. Mirabel isn't the only airport like this either. Pittsburgh, which used to be USAir's main location was expanded over the years and then with their merger with America West (and became USAirways) they pulled out and PIT became a hub, then downsized to a focus city, now it's just a "oh yeah we go there" location for them. (as USAirways merged with AA and kept the American name)

[@grosvenorclub]

They intended that all major international flights would go into Mirabel Airport , the airlines basically said "no way " we will fly into Toronto instead . A tragic case of grandiose schemes and city planners thinking they new better than the airlines .

[@maxtoledano9168]

Mirabel airport was my first step in Canada... in 1987 was new.

[@mrsocotraisland1939]

me too bro i could save it if i could,may god make it great again that word abandoned hurts my stomach

[@Byzantios1]

The terminal building and parking are completely gone now. It was a beautiful place. Really nice, cool and futuristic atmosphere. Its a shame, in a way. Families would make a day of just hanging out in the terminal. There were lounges, restaurants, bars, shopping. As a kid, I used to love going there. The newer building IS in use.

[@craighoward71]

Up through the 1960’s, Montreal was Canada’s largest city and also its financial capital. Mirabel was designed to accommodate expected future air travel. But in the late ‘60’s, with its construction underway, Quebec’s independence movement resulted in violence to the point that the Canadian financial industry moved to Toronto and Montreal stagnated. Mirabel was no longer needed,

[@soulhealer20]

What is really sad is the amount of expropriation and destruction of beautiful historical homes and farms in order to build this failure. St Scholastic was the victim.

[@salomey5]

I went there two days ago (May 2nd to be precise). Took the exact same walk around the hotel as you did. The bits of collapsed roof have been cleaned up. Other than that, everything on that side of the fence looks exactly the same as in your video (minus the snow, thank God!). Different story on the side of the terminal though. There's virtually nothing left of the parking lot, it's all been dismantled. Only piles of dirt and broken concrete remain, surrounded by a ton of bulldozers waiting for Monday morning. Pretty sad scene, but one that brings back a ton of wonderful childhood memories for me. So overall, I'm glad I went even though it was pretty heartbreaking. In retrospect, I almost wish I'd gone on a cloudy day like you did. At least I would have had the full "creepy ghost town" experience. The bright sunshine and blue skies seemed almost incongruous in the middle of all this sad emptiness. What a waste it is all. Shame. Once upon a time, it was a great airport. At least, the good memories remain. There's always that.

[@supadoopa926]

Bombardier actually builds jets there. Ups and fedex still use the airport along with other cargo carriers and a large part has been turned into a car racing circuit.

[@RailwayDan]

Flew into Mirabel in the late 90's. If i remember, they used "people movers" to get pax from the terminal to aircraft.

[@znarcuss]

i work at mirabel for 7 years now im in montreal ! first the airport was is still never sold still the same owners that has it second the airport is still active for cargo planes and prive domestic plane ! this airport was close due to how far it was from montreal but now montreal airport is getting to congested for the planes ! the main terminal is gong down soon but the cluster and the cargo bays and the old ptv hangars are still active .... if you wonder in a restricted zone you risk 10 years in jail and massive fines ! before making a video about something try to get some facts ....

[@michellatour150]

As of 2019-20, the terminal, multi level parking etc. have all been demolished, only the hotel remains but is un-used. The airport is primarily used for cargo flights but there is also the Bombardier/Airbus plane assembly plant and other aviation related industries. L3 aerospace maintains the RCAF CF-18's fighter jets. A large portion of the apron is now an automobile race course (ICAR).

[@ruthbickerstaffe1915]

So sad to hear. Thank you.

[@Byzantios1]

A truly beautiful place. Damn shame.

[@q8demo]

My memories is between 1996-1999 many times i used it 😢 time passing so quickly

[@mccauleyprop]

Flew in there in a small Twin Engine in 1997, parked near the terminal and a car drove us to the terminal entrance, we went in and walked around a vacant massive airport terminal with soft music playing over the pa system, stores were open...but only two of us in the entire terminal...it was so weird!

[@krugmeister7301]

...Many Airshows came by there....I miss that aeroport...

[@kohedunn]

I used to work here in 1979-1983... for CP Air... Groomer...... For KLM, Ward-Air...Royal Air Maroc... etc... Made many friends.... Hard work. But lots of fun.... The Hotel was nice too...Oh I almost forgot.... We had to clean the Bee Gees 707 plane , I guess they were on tour.." Spirits flying Free.". (I'm not sure if that was the exact wording) was written on the plane.... I also got to go on the "Concord" ! And as they were doing some testing of something or other , the doors were shut , and we actually went around the tarmac for an hour or so.... Wow....I'm remembering lots of things.....

[@ruthbickerstaffe1915]

Wonderful to hear your memories.

[@tommycscat]

That is a newer building. Bombardier operates there building jets since there is a bunch of space at an active airport with no passenger flights.

[@tastedlikechicken]

that video really needs to be named drive around abandonned airport and take a few looks through the windows of the airport hotel. that video really sucks!

[@lsachs07]

Actually this airport is not abandoned. Its use has been changed. YOu are right about passenger service being discontinued. THe airport was used for international flights iutil 1997. THe HOtel closed in 2002, The terminal is beign taken down becasue it cost to much for upkeep. The airport is still used but only for cargo and frieght air service.

[@mark1968]

Good video.

[@SteveBrandon]

I loved being driven around the spirals on the Mirabel Airport parking garage when I was a kid. I liked Mirabel a lot better than Dorval Airport (now PET) for that mundane reason. Also, there was this amazing airport model on display inside the terminal (that I was mainly interested in because of hundreds of tiny cars that were probably something like 1/200 scale)... I hope that found a good home and won't be demolished with the rest of it.

[@Okanagan48]

+Steve Brandon Mirabel was Pierre Trudeau's big vision. Then didn't bother with an easy way to get there from Montreal or Ottawa.A monumental waste of tax money.

[@MikeHunt-ml5wf]

Mirabel Airport is still being used for cargo flights

[@nicholaslord8905]

Working at YMX is so much better than at YUL. Way less stressful there

[@annetteslife]

Very interesting video but instead of tearing the airport down couldn't it have used as a facility to train future pilots?

[@stoolie10]

don't waste time with crap. he wasn't able to see or access nothing.

[@regueira5674]

I use this airport so many times to Portugal Mirabel maybe some day will return International flights i hope so...

[@aj_twins]

Jason De Castris, you did the movie Warm Bodies, I love that movie!

[@patrickgrider6391]

Only a Canadian would use a turn signal at an abandoned airport. Have to warn all those drivers?

[@xoxxo236]

Patrick Smith Think of the ghost drivers!

[@patrickgrider6391]

Oh, my its a G G G G G G Ghost.

[@gcorriveau6864]

Mirabel was a poorly conceived and even more poorly-executed plan from beginning to end. It actually helped propel the growth of Toronto Pearson airport because everyone hated the 'split operations' it caused for airlines that were supposed to operated internationally from here, but domestically from Dorval. This is the airport (Mirabel! not Dorval that should be named after Trudeau he seemed to push it very hard from the beginning. Without proper connections to Dorval it was even worse than useless. And the choice to use the PTV "people movers" concept instead of fingers and bridges was another truly stupid one. These added even more travel time, were confusing and inconvenient to airlines and crews, and just uncomfortable as hell to ride in. On top of that, the 'guvamint' used aggressive and extensive expropriation to force long time land-owners and residents move out to 'make room.' Overall - not a proud moment in Canadian history. At least one runway remains open today for cargo and test/training flights. Thanks for posting the video of the abandoned status (9 years ago? I suppose it has changed again since then...)

[@nielspemberton59]

Mirabel was thus a case of bad planning and under-investment and complacency among politicians who should have been more bold and visionary. Now Poland is about to make the same mistake with Modlin International Airport north of Warsaw.

[@MikeHunt-ml5wf]

Imagine going to Québec and not knowing how to speak french 💀💀💀

[@cosmicrock-n-rollcowboy5683]

Great cinema, mate.......#SAVVY!!

[@nisachannel7077]

The amount of crap people upload to YT these days is astounding!

[@nielspemberton59]

Mirabel Airport is now a business-oriented Cargo airport.

[@thatguy6110]

Boi the airport is fully operational. Bombardier makes planes there and FedEx and UPS fly out of there.

[@VRunlimitedlife]

You seem to know not to much about the airport. The new building you refer to was build in the same time, you find there the administration and RCMP at that time. It was build to receive 6 terminal, what you see under demolitiaon is one of them. The noth pat of the hiway was suppose to receive also a new strip, the equivalent of the one already exist. I'm enough old to tell you that I vist the construction site and also take off and land with Cesna before the terminal open. In fact, it's not far from Montreal since a train station is located in the basement of the terminal number one. Moreover, governement of Québbec was suppose to complete highway 13 that tehey never did. Later on Mulroney Government make retrocession of land to farmer and kill the project in favor of Person airport in Toronto. If you consider New York or Dallas Forth Worth, Mirabel was at 20 minutes in train from Downtown. All our politician stay silent and let Mirabel futur be decided by civil servant. As you politician alway think of their futur election, nothing Else. All job who could be created in this region are now in Toronto Pearson Airport and that is the reason why now you have to do connection in Toronto.

[@dodovomitory3496]

Aérodrome Régional well said but Mirabel wasn't the perfect airport either. The way it was designed with PTVs didn't make it very convenient for passengers. They should've built at least 2 big terminals that can accommodate US, international and domestic flights, complete the highway and built the TGV before opening the airport. That airport could've been the pride of Quebec connecting the province to the world. Right now the only thing YUL is connected to is YYZ lmaoo they have allot more major international flights. imagine how the future could've been. Beautiful planes like A380, B747 even concorde if they didn't prematurely kill it all landing at YMX 24/7

[@jerryjay1184]

Hum.. the Trudeau government gave Pearson the rights to get international flights that were exclusive to Montreal. They left the domestics flights in dorval smh and they didn't built the train that would get people in 20 minutes from mirabel to downtown. And they never finish highway 13. (a)

[@ianmarquezgarcia]

* uses car signals on abandoned road *

[@n.storto]

Wtf are you using your turn signals for?? There's not a person in sight.

[@soulhealer20]

+Nicolas Storto Using turn signals should be instinctive and automatic for all drivers . . . so you don't forget when you really really really need to use them . . . and avoid pissing off other drivers who don't like unpredictable drivers. There you go now.

[@webbhastings1451]

Tx for the vid.

[@dodovomitory3496]

Dude 9:00 i think you can see someone else in the reflection scary af

[@dodovomitory3496]

holy shit that was his sister got fucking scared man lmao

[@fenosoaramanoelina7315]

lots of tx waste in the province of QC, Mirabel, Olympic stadium

[@adventuredust4928]

Dude...you just riding around and around...

[@jez6208]

So bloody dull! Fast forwarded practically all of it. Don't bother!

[@raytru3191]

i stayed in tha hotel it was good hotel spent a weekend there i also toke plane in the airport it was closed almost brand new the reason was a big mistake by the federal gov. they expropriated way to mutch farm land at the time then biult it was supose to have a hight speed train betwen pe trudeau and mirabel it never came to be built but in my opinion i preferd to take plane inmirabel then pe trudeau

[@dianamarlow1645]

He says he doesn't speak english ah! B.S I SAY.

[@ThatsMrMoronToYou]

The guard was just doing his job. It's no reason to call him a tard.

[@zachary123456ify]

It is in french he didn't call him a tard lol

[@chrisshea1333]

i was there some time ago

[@neal11000]

why u signalling when the place is abandoned ?

[@MikeHunt-ml5wf]

It’s not abandoned

[@rodolfo27lopez92]

fedex expres opereit today in dis airport

[@PatrickRKay]

When Mirabel was built Montreal was booming and projections said Dorval Airport would be too small very soon. Then the Separatist government was elected in the province of Quebec and half of Montreal business went to Toronto, The provincial government of Quebec hates the city of Montreal because the cosmopolitan voters there keep defeating the referendums. When the separatists are in power Montreal suffers. So in the end the forecast growth never materialized and the expense of running two airports was too much.

[@cyberstate9552]

100% BS

[@mrj574]

it would be nice to know the facts before one makes a video but Im different

[@lmlmlmlmlm745]

sorry but this is boring, at least you dident say you had urbexed it

[@meaghanvachon]

it isn't abandoned dropped my father of there earlier

[@kodyleininger]

he's the type of nigga' to use turn signals on an abandoned Street 😂

[@oliloli7344]

A girl in hotel

[@LittleRhubarb]

Oh dear! Please don't make any more like this, it's just such a waste of time watching when they are so many other abandoned exploration videos to see on YT which are interesting and informative.