Billy Bishop limo service

Why executives fly out of the island airport

From a Bay Street desk to the gate at Billy Bishop is frequently under twenty minutes. There is no highway leg, no terminal sprawl, and the security queue is a fraction of Pearson's. For a same-day meeting in Ottawa or Montreal, Billy Bishop plus a car at either end beats Pearson on total door-to-door time by a wide margin - which is why so much of our downtown corporate work routes through it. The airport is small enough that the whole experience is closer to boarding a train than catching a flight.

The forecourt on Eireann Quay

Vehicles use the terminal forecourt at the foot of Bathurst Street. It is compact, controlled and busy, so a car cannot simply sit there waiting. Our chauffeur holds nearby and pulls forward when you are through the pedestrian tunnel - you will get a message telling you exactly where. The tunnel itself takes a few minutes from the terminal to the mainland, so the timing is predictable in a way curbside pickups at a large airport never are.

Getting there from the rest of the city

Bathurst Street and Lake Shore Boulevard are the approach, and both are affected by anything happening at Exhibition Place or along the waterfront. On a normal weekday from the financial district it is five to fifteen minutes. On a day with an event at BMO Field or the Exhibition grounds, add substantially and let us pick the route. From Etobicoke, Mississauga or Vaughan, the Gardiner is the artery and its behaviour decides the journey.

Private and business aviation

Billy Bishop handles business aviation as well as scheduled regional flights, and ramp-side pickup can be arranged through your FBO or handler. Send us the handler's name and the tail number and we coordinate the timing with them directly rather than guessing from a scheduled time - the car is on the ramp when the door opens. The same procedure applies at Oshawa Executive and the other Ontario fields listed in our private aviation section.

When Billy Bishop is the wrong answer

It serves a regional network. For transatlantic, most international and many US destinations you need Pearson, and for cheap US domestic fares Buffalo is frequently better value even after the border. We will tell you when the island airport does not serve your route rather than quoting a trip that does not help you.

Timing a downtown pickup for the island airport

Because the airport is so close, the temptation is to leave late - and that is where island-airport trips go wrong. The tunnel walk, the security queue and the boarding process are short but not zero, and Bathurst Street at the wrong hour is not short at all. From a King Street or Bay Street address we build in the streetcar right-of-way and any waterfront event, and quote a pickup that accounts for the day rather than the map.

What happens when the island airport is fogged in

Lake-effect fog and low cloud affect Billy Bishop more than Pearson, and cancellations there often move passengers onto a Pearson departure at short notice. If that happens we can re-route the trip on the day - one call, same booking - rather than leaving you to arrange a second car from a terminal forecourt. It is worth giving us the flight number for exactly this reason, even on a fifteen-minute journey.

Hotels, conference traffic and the waterfront

The Harbourfront and entertainment-district hotels sit within minutes of the airport, which makes Billy Bishop the natural arrival point for conference and convention traffic. For a delegation, one Sprinter collecting the group together is both cheaper and better-looking than four cars arriving separately, and it removes the problem of a compact forecourt handling multiple vehicles at once.