Mirabel International Airport, once envisioned as the world's largest aviation hub, now stands as a monument to failed ambition. The Canadian government cleared 324 square kilometres of farmland in 1969, displacing around 10,000 residents to build the airport near Montreal. It opened in October 1975 with plans for six terminals and six runways, expecting 60 million passengers annually by 2010.
However, the airport never reached its potential. A promised high-speed rail link from downtown Montreal was never built, leaving Mirabel isolated. Passenger numbers peaked at just three million per year, far below projections. Airlines preferred the older Dorval Airport (now Trudeau International), and Mirabel's last commercial flight departed on 31 October 2004.
The terminal was demolished in 2016, but the site survives as a cargo hub, aerospace testing ground, and plane-assembly centre. The derelict Château de l'Aéroport-Mirabel hotel, built beside the terminal in the 1970s, closed in 2002 and remains abandoned.
Critics say the project was doomed from the start. Benoit Labonté, president of Montreal's chamber of commerce, called it 'a catastrophe for Montreal,' arguing that the lack of strong air connections contributed to the city losing its status as Canada's commercial capital to Toronto. James Cherry, president of Aéroports de Montréal, noted that access to the site remains a problem, with journeys often taking 90 minutes.
