5 most-read stories of 2022 that happened at Pearson Airport in Mississauga
Published January 2, 2023 at 9:22 am
When it comes to stories that generate a great deal of reader interest, Pearson Airport in Mississauga is in a category by itself.
As we look back at insauga.com’s most-read stories of 2022 in Mississauga, many of the top items are related to the airport.
So, in addition to a general list of the five most highly-viewed Mississauga stories of the year, we decided to also present once again a list of the top five 2022 stories that had to do specifically with Pearson.
Actually, we cheated a little bit and chose six stories in order to capture with a “bonus item” on our list what was the top issue of the entire year at Pearson Airport–the ongoing flight cancellations/delays, huge lineups inside terminals and general chaos.
Here are our five most-read Pearson Airport stories of 2022, plus one “bonus” story:
5) Video: Cloud of black smoke near Pearson Airport could be seen across Mississauga, Brampton today
Videos
Well, anytime you get large and unexpected clouds of black smoke in the sky, especially directly over Canada’s largest and busiest airport, people are going to want to know what happened.
And many people visited insauga.com to get the lowdown on just what had happened that late June day. Turns out a fire had broken out in a shipping container yard near Pearson.
Definitely the oddest story to unfold at Pearson Airport this year is the tale of a Russian cargo plane, one of the largest in the world, that became grounded at the airport in February.
It landed in Mississauga just as Russian forces invaded Ukraine and subsequently was unable to leave as the Canadian government imposed a ban on Russian aircraft in Canadian airspace.
The ban remains in effect, the huge cargo plane is still on the tarmac at Pearson and its parking fee tab continues to grow daily, now sitting at more than $300,000.
3) Canada opens unlimited flights to India from Mississauga’s Pearson Airport
It was announced in November that the Canadian government had struck a new deal with India allowing designated airlines to operate an unlimited number of flights between the two countries.
It represents a huge increase from the previous agreement, which had limited each country to just 35 flights per week.
India is Canada’s fourth-largest international air transport market.
2) Another travel rule lifted at Pearson Airport in Mississauga
Perhaps the second-biggest story/happening of the year at Pearson Airport behind the cancellations, huge lineups and overall chaos of the summer was the gradual easing of COVID-19 travel rules in the early months of 2022.
The relaxing of restrictions gave people a tangible impression that we were coming out of the pandemic–or at least the most dangerous part of it.
As it turned out, the solution to one problem was the cause of another. After travel rules were eased and/or eliminated, people returned to air travel sooner and in much greater numbers than airlines and airports anticipated. This led to scores of cancelled/delayed flights, massive lineups and lost luggage at Pearson and other airports around the world, and staff shortages at airports made matters worse.
Pearson was among the hardest hit and on several occasions was measured as the worst airport in the world for delayed and cancelled flights.
1) Video: Fighter jets take off from Pearson Airport over Mississauga and Brampton
In early September, the Canadian International Air Show took to the skies over the CNE in Toronto and surrounding areas including Mississauga and Brampton.
In fact, Mississauga offered some of the best places from which to see the jets including at a Danville Park lookout point near Kennedy Rd. and Courtneypark Dr.
“Bonus” top story of 2022: Passengers will now pay more to travel at Pearson Airport in Mississauga
Despite a summer and fall characterized by cancelled and delayed flights, huge lineups inside airport terminals, lost luggage and general chaos, Pearson Airport officials announced in October that prices to use the airport would go up in 2023.
They said the airport will raise both the Airport Improvement Fee charged to passengers and the Aeronautic Rates charged to airlines.
The hikes are expected to help pay for increased staffing and airport renovations.
