The authority that runs Montreal’s international airport is suing an up-and-coming airport on the city’s South Shore, saying a recent branding effort will confuse travellers.
Aeroports de Montreal, which operates Montreal-Trudeau International Airport, has requested a permanent injunction in Superior Court to force the new Montreal Metropolitan Airport, or MET, to change its name.
Formerly known as the Montreal Saint-Hubert airport, the MET rebranded itself earlier this year after it announced a partnership with Porter Airlines for a new $200-million terminal for up to four million annual domestic travellers.
Eric Forest, spokesman for Aeroports de Montreal, says MET is too similar to the name of the international airport it operates on the Island of Montreal that carried more than 21 million passengers in 2023.
But Simon-Pierre Diamond, a vice-president with the MET, says the airport authority is trying to protect a “monopoly” on the Montreal name and on passengers travelling through the metropolitan area.
The MET’s new terminal is located about 15 kilometres from downtown Montreal and is scheduled to open in the summer of 2025.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on May 15, 2024.