Québec City Jean Lesage International Airport

Québec City Jean Lesage International Airport, also known as Jean Lesage International Airport, is the primary airport serving Quebec City, Canada. Designated as an international airport by Transport Canada, it is located 17 km west of the city, in the Sainte-Foy–Sillery–Cap-Rouge borough. In 2024, it was the 12th-busiest airport in Canada, with 1,737,803 passengers. More than ten airlines offer 360 weekly flights to destinations across Canada, the United States, Central America, Mexico, the Caribbean and Europe.

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Overview

The airport was established in 1939, a year after the closure of the Aérodrome Saint-Louis. First established as a training facility for air observers, the first flight occurred on September 11, 1941. First known as the Aéroport de l'Ancienne Lorette, then the Aéroport de Sainte-Foy, and later the Aéroport de Québec, it was renamed to Aéroport international Jean-Lesage in 1993, in honour of Jean Lesage, the former Premier of Quebec. The airport is managed and operated by Aéroport de Québec inc., a non-profit and non-share corporation. The current terminal building has a capacity of 1.4 million passengers annually.
Beginning in 2006, with a budget of $65.8 million, Québec/Jean Lesage International Airport underwent a modernization designed to increase the terminal's capacity and substantially enhance the level of passenger service. The modernization included reconfiguring the terminal on two levels, restructuring the baggage handling area and arrivals area, and reconfiguring and enlargement of the waiting rooms. Fifty-four percent of the financing was provided directly by Aéroport de Québec inc. Completed in June 2008, the new configuration of the airport now enables it to handle 1.4 million passengers a year.
Based on the passenger figures for 2009 and 2010, it became clear that the terminal building would reach its design capacity by 2012. Aéroport de Québec inc. is therefore planning further investments of nearly $300 million to expand the terminal building further. Presently the terminal has 17 gates: 12 contact gates and five walk-out aircraft positions. This will increase to 24 gates by 2025.
On July 4, 2011, work began on the second phase of the airport expansion, which lasted until 2017. Partially funded through an Airport Improvement Fee, the terminal building doubled in size, at a cost of $224.8 million. The work included expanding the international facilities, constructing runways, taxiways, and de-icing pads, and enhancing customer service facilities. On September 19, 2013, runway 12/30 was renamed to runway 11/29.
The airport charges an Airport Improvement Fee to each passenger, it is amongst the highest in Canada at $35 per passenger.
On 10 March 2016, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and President Barack Obama announced the addition of the airport to the list of Canadian airports containing U.S. border preclearance facilities. In 2019, Trudeau and President Donald Trump also announced that the airport would obtain border preclearance. However, as of March 2024, preclearance is not yet available.
On December 11, 2017, the first phase of YQB2018, the expansion project, was completed with the opening of the new international terminal. The new facility features more dedicated baggage carousels serving international flights, a new customs area, an expanded food court and restaurant area including Starbucks, Pidz, and Nourc, four new gates, an improved and larger loading area for cars and buses, and a larger capacity baggage area.
The last expansion phase, which involved linking the domestic and international terminals, was completed in the summer of 2019.
Also added as part of the most recent expansion are 10 holes in the security fence placed at positions determined jointly by the airport authority and a local plane spotting group. These holes are sized to allow photographers to insert telephoto lenses and are specifically reserved for their use. In 2019, the American website Digital Photography Review called the airport "the number one spot for aviation photographers".

Facilities

Infrastructure

YQB International Airport receives various long-, mid- and short-haul aircraft. The airport has two runways. Its longest runway northeast-southwesterly direction is 06/24, having a length of. Runway 24 is YQB's main approach pattern equipped with Area navigation, required navigation performance, and non-directional beacon approach. Runway 06 has the same approaches with the addition of an instrument landing system.
There are seven taxiways: Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta, Echo, Golf and Hotel. The airport aprons can accommodate light to large aircraft simultaneously and are designed to accommodate wide-body jet airliners as large as the Boeing 747-400. YQB doesn't have a Visual Docking Guidance System or Parallax Aircraft Parking Aid ; all stands are assisted by ground operations using marshaling wands–handheld illuminated beacons.
Ramp 3 is where all the flight schools and private airlines are located. Chrono Aviation, Air Liaison, Orizon Aviation, Avjet/TSAS and other FBOs are the main users of this apron.

Airlines and destinations

Cargo

Map of North American passenger destinations

Map of European passenger destinations

Statistics

Year	Total passengers	Aircraft movements
2000	672,829	142,612
2001	642,767	151,650
2002	610,568	135,646
2003	628,545	116,523
2004	715,106	109,180
2005	793,735	101,367
2006	802,263	109,031
2007	899,612	119,441
2008	1,022,862	125,512
2009	1,035,026	128,890
2010	1,190,088	126,856
2011	1,313,432	128,748
2012	1,342,840	133,675
2013	1,475,717	118,265
2014	1,574,699	112,468
2015	1,584,713	110,345
2016	1,615,750	116,190
2017	1,670,880	121,680
2018	1,774,871	137,228
2019	1,789,005	144,963
2020	535,111	117,390
2021	353,203	129,649
2022	1,174,321	134,400
2023	1,688,736	117,680
2024	1,737,803	128,526

Statistics prior to 2009 are from Transport Canada. From 2009 on, statistics are from Aéroport de Québec. Transport Canada's statistics are consistently higher than those of ADQ.

Access

Public transportation to the airport is provided by Réseau de transport de la Capitale route 76 to Via Rail's Sainte-Foy station and route 80 to downtown.

Accidents and incidents

On 9 September 1949, Canadian Pacific Air Lines Flight 108 on a flight from Montreal to Baie-Comeau with a stopover in Quebec City crash-landed east of Quebec City when a bomb exploded on board shortly after departing from Quebec City Jean Lesage Airport, killing all 19 passengers and four crew. The incident and trial that followed would be known as the Albert Guay affair.
On 29 March 1979, Quebecair Flight 255, a Fairchild F-27, crashed after take-off, killing 17 and injuring seven.
On 23 June 2010, a Beechcraft A100 King Air of Aeropro crashed north of the airport just after taking off from runway 30, killing all seven people on board.
On 12 October 2017, a drone collided with a passenger plane for the first time in North America. The drone struck the turboprop passenger plane operated by Skyjet Aviation while it was on approach. The drone was operating above the flight height restriction and within the exclusion zone around airports, violating drone operating regulations.
On 1 August 2023, a Cessna 152 operated by Orizon Aviation Québec Inc. crashed in an almost-vertical, nose-down attitude onto a grassy area near Runway 24 at Québec/Jean Lesage International Airport following a bounced landing and unsuccessful go-around during a student pilot’s first solo flight, resulting in serious injuries.