MONTREAL — ADM Aéroports de Montréal will increase its airport improvement fees (AIF) charged to departing passengers at YUL Montréal-Trudeau Airport from $30 to $35 effective Feb. 1, 2021.

Other Canadian airport authorities, including Toronto Pearson, have announced AIF increases as well.

The AIF will be used exclusively to fund infrastructure projects essential to maintaining safe operations at YUL. The move comes amid significant decreases in passenger traffic and associated revenues amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

“While a major budget rationalization exercise has reduced our capital budget to the strict minimum for the coming years, significant amounts have had to and will continue to be made available annually to ensure that our airport site complies with current safety and security regulations and requirements,” said Philippe Rainville, President and CEO of ADM Aéroports de Montréal.

“ADM has a duty to ensure that its facilities are upgraded and we will never compromise on this. In the current context, we have no choice but to proceed with this $5 increase, which will partially offset the substantial cash shortfall that will be created by this crisis,” he added.

ADM is a not-for-profit, non-subsidized organization, generating its revenues on a user-pay basis. The data currently available suggest a minimum 71% decrease in passenger traffic at YUL for 2020 compared with 2019. For the year 2021, a decrease of at least 50% is anticipated, again based on the same reference year. The increase in AIF is expected to generate additional revenues of $20 million in 2021.

The last AIF increase at YUL was in April 2018 and came after an 8-year freeze on fees.