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Google maps showing the time from downtown Montreal to the airport on a Friday afternoon, July 17, 2026. (Genevieve Sylvestre, CityNews)<\/p>\nTravellers, taxi drivers and airport officials agree that getting to Montr\u00e9al-Trudeau International Airport has become increasingly challenging during the busy summer travel season.<\/p>\n
To see just how long the trip can take, CityNews ordered a taxi from its downtown Montreal office at 3:15 p.m. on a Friday and timed the journey to the airport.<\/p>\n
When the trip began, Google Maps estimated it would take 57 minutes to reach the terminal. The drive ultimately took more than an hour, with the biggest delay coming after exiting Highway 20 at Exit 56, where traffic slowed to a crawl on the final stretch leading to the departures area.<\/p>\n
Google maps showing the time from downtown Montreal to the airport on a Friday afternoon, July 17, 2026. (Genevieve Sylvestre, CityNews)<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s only 17 kilometres from downtown to the airport,\u201d said Taxi Champlain driver Antoine Jkayem. \u201cNormally, it takes 15 or 17 minutes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jkayem said the bottleneck begins once vehicles leave the highway.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven from the exit of the highway to the departures, that\u2019s the longest way. Sometimes the lineup stretches more than one kilometre back onto the highway,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
For taxi drivers, the congestion has become more than just an inconvenience. Fares between downtown Montreal and the airport are fixed, meaning longer trips don\u2019t generate additional income.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe time that it is taking \u2026 from downtown to the airport, it\u2019s a flat rate,\u201d Jkayem said. \u201cWhen you spend an hour and a half, an hour and 45 minutes, sometimes more, it\u2019s not feasible for us anymore.\u201d <\/p>\n
Jkayem ran the meter to compare the fare with the flat daytime rate of $48.40 from downtown to the airport. By the end of the trip, the metered fare had climbed to over $77.<\/p>\n
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Fares between downtown Montreal and the airport are fixed at $48.40 but by the end of the the metered fare had climbed to over $77. July 17, 2026. (Genevieve Sylvestre, CityNews)<\/p>\n
He said passengers are also feeling the impact.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome of them know they should allow at least one hour or one and a half hours because of the traffic. Some of them don\u2019t know that and either they miss their flights or they take their luggage from the highway and they go walking.\u201d<\/p>\n
Airport officials say the congestion is being driven by record passenger volumes.<\/p>\n
Anne-Sophie Hamel, spokesperson for A\u00e9roports de Montr\u00e9al, said more than two million passengers travel through Montr\u00e9al-Trudeau each month during the summer, pushing the airport\u2019s road network beyond its capacity.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a lot of people coming into our infrastructures, and our infrastructures are at capacity,\u201d Hamel said. \u201cDuring certain periods of the day, our main ramp area has about a thousand vehicles more than the capacity of that infrastructure.\u201d<\/p>\n
The airport is in the midst of a $10-billion modernization project that includes new access roads and redesigned pickup and drop-off areas. However, officials say significant improvements are not expected until at least 2028.<\/p>\n
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Gridlocked cars head up the ramp off Highway 20 at exit 56 to Montreal-Trudeau airport. July 17, 2026. (Genevieve Sylvestre, CityNews)<\/p>\n
In the meantime, Hamel recommends travellers continue arriving three hours before departure.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you give yourself the three-hour buffer to get to the airport, even though there\u2019s a 30- or 35-minute wait time to get through that last kilometre to the front of the airport, you\u2019re going to be okay.\u201d<\/p>\n
Many travellers said the delays remain frustrating.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt took me about an hour and a half,\u201d said Adele Boukai, who travelled from Laval. \u201cUsually it\u2019s a 20-minute drive.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another traveller, Fatima Naim, said she left much earlier than usual.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt takes me about an hour because there is a lot, a lot, a lot of traffic. I actually left really early to make sure I got here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Marie Lamenseh said the drive was smooth until the final approach.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was fine from my house until about 30 minutes ago, and then it stopped. It was just really slow.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another traveller said his family spent more than an hour reaching the airport before being redirected to another parking lot, forcing them to walk roughly 30 minutes back to the terminal.<\/p>\n
A\u00e9roports de Montr\u00e9al recommends passengers plan ahead by using express drop-off lots with shuttle service, the STM\u2019s 747 airport bus, Air Canada\u2019s downtown shuttle from the Palais des congr\u00e8s and the new STM Route 815 connecting the airport with the REM\u2019s Des Sources station.<\/p>\n
Officials acknowledge congestion is expected to continue during peak summer travel periods for at least the next two years as construction continues.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you ask any taxi driver what\u2019s the best ride you can get, he\u2019ll tell you immediately it\u2019s the airport,\u201d Jkayem said. \u201cBut now it\u2019s becoming a nightmare.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Antoine Jkayem a driver for Taxi Champlain says that the job everyone used to want was to the airport, but not with the traffic it\u2019s become a nightmare. July 17, 2026. (Genevieve Sylvestre, CityNews)<\/p>\n
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\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\tTaxi driver Antoine Jkayem looks out at the gridlocked ramp at Montreal-Trudeau airport leading to the departure gates on July 17, 2026. (Lola Kalder, CityNews) <\/p>\n
\t\tKeep it Factual<\/p>\n
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