US PRECLEARANCE EXPANDED TO Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport, AND Québec City Jean Lesage International Airport

Posted on 03/11/2016 | About Quebec

The meeting between Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and President Barack Obama yesterday, resulted in US Customs pre-clearance being expanded to Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport and Quebec City’s Jean Lesage International Airport as well as train travel in Montreal and Vancouver.

The decision is an important one because airlines flying out of the two locations can now offer direct service to a greater number of US destinations that don’t have customs officials.It will also reduce the workload on customs agents at US ports of entry.Robert Deluce, president and CEO of Porter Airlines, released a statement after yesterday’s announcement, "Porter has supported US Customs Preclearance at Billy Bishop Airport for some time. As the sixth-busiest airport in Canada for US departures, this service will benefit more than 400,000 Porter passengers travelling to the US each year through Billy Bishop."Porter can better serve our existing US destinations, enhance interline partnerships, and consider new destinations that do not have inbound customs facilities."Billy Bishop is a logical addition to the existing US Customs Preclearance programme. Canadian and American officials worked hard to finalize this agreement. We thank both governments for making it a priority."Preclearance is currently in effect at Calgary International Airport, Edmonton International Airport, Halifax Robert L. Stanfield International Airport, Montreal Trudeau International Airport, Ottawa MacDonald-Cartier International Airport, Toronto Pearson International Airport and Vancouver International Airport, as well as at Pacific Central Station, Vancouver’s primary rail station.Eleven million passengers from Canada are pre-cleared for flights to the US annually.