This day in history, Mississauga’s Pearson Airport opened its first modern terminal
Published February 28, 2022 at 4:50 pm
Pearson Airport in Mississauga is the busiest airport in Canada and among the most-used in North America.
And today marks an important day in its history.
More than 25 years after it opened in 1938 as Malton Airport, Pearson Airport got its first major facelift in 1964, when on Feb. 28 it opened its first modern terminal.
The new terminal, known as Aeroquay 1, featured a unique circular shape and could handle as many as 3.5 million passengers per year.
As the years went by, the terminal served nearly nine million travellers annually until closing for good in 2004.
As the demand for air travel dramatically increased in the 1960s and 1970s, and beyond, new terminals and runways were added to the Mississauga site.
Terminal 2 was built in 1972, followed by construction of Terminal 3, which opened to the public in 1993. The additional facilities were badly needed to meet a huge demand for air travel.
Construction of a new Terminal 1 started in 2004 and Terminal 2 was demolished in 2008, some 36 years after opening.
In 1984, the airport was renamed Lester B. Pearson International Airport, in honour of Canada’s 14th Prime Minister. Prior to that, it was known as Toronto International Airport.
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