St-Hubert airport to uphold ban on night flights: federal court ruling

Porter plans to develop a nine-gate terminal at Saint-Hubert airport (CNW Group/Porter Airlines Inc.)

The Federal Court has dismissed Chrono Aviation's request for an injunction against a ban on night flights at the St-Hubert airport, ruling in favour of Canada's transport minister and DASH-L, according to a 20-page judgment handed down on Friday.

The court found that Chrono Aviation had not presented sufficient evidence to support its allegation of harm: "For nearly two years, Chrono Aviation has constantly repeated that the ban on night flights will force it into bankruptcy. But repeating an assertion does not make it true; nor does having it repeated by others," reads the judgment.

According to Chrono Aviation, Transport Canada's decision to ban night flights would paralyze its operations and jeopardize the Mary River mine, the food security of Inuit communities and the jobs created by their activities in Nunavut and Longueuil.

With regard to Chrono Aviation's assertion that the contract with Baffinland was renewed until Oct. 1, 2025, the court found that, "in all likelihood, the parties to the contract were aware of DASH-L's proposal to prohibit night flights at the time the renewal was concluded."

In these circumstances, the renewal of the contract for a limited period tends to indicate that Baffinland does not intend to terminate it immediately, but rather gives itself a period of a year and a half to assess the effects of a ban on night flights", the court ruled.

On the question of public interest, the court found that "Chrono Aviation has not demonstrated that the inconveniences it would suffer outweigh the public interest in reducing the noise associated with Boeing 737-200 take-offs and landings at night at Saint-Hubert airport."

Longueuil satisfied

Reacting to the ruling rejecting Chrono Aviation's request for an injunction, Longueuil Mayor Catherine Fournier was pleased that the Federal Court had put the public interest of citizens first.

"In his decision, the judge determined that the decision of the Minister of Transport, which had been requested and supported by the City of Longueuil since my election in November 2021, favoured the public interest of the citizens of Longueuil, and that this interest had to prevail, at this stage, over those of the company," she says.

"As mayor," she adds, "I am delighted with this court decision, which is yet another victory for the people of Longueuil. We now call on Chrono Aviation to comply with the ruling."

Denis Trudel, the MP for Longueuil—Saint-Hubert, said he is delighted with Judge Sébastien Grammond's decision: "For the respect of citizens, Chrono must adapt or leave. That's what citizens asked for during my public consultation, so that's my position."

At the time of publication, Le Courrier du Sud had not yet received a reaction from Chrono Aviation.

In February 2023, the City of Longueuil and DASH-L, the airport operator, agreed to ban night flights at Saint-Hubert airport.

- This report by Le Courrier du Sud / The Local Journalism Initiative was first published in French on April 19, 2023