Toronto Pearson International Airport

YYZ CYYZ  Toronto, Canada

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… aircraft nearby

YYZ at a glance

  • What it is: Toronto Pearson International Airport is a major international airport serving Toronto, Canada.
  • Codes: YYZ on your ticket, CYYZ on the radar.
  • How busy: the reference profile lists about 46.8 million annual passengers across 5 runways.
  • Main airline: Air Canada bases aircraft here.
  • Right now: 52 aircraft are within 55 km, shown live on the map above.
  • Local time zone: America/Toronto (UTC-4), so every time shown for YYZ is local rather than UTC.

Aircraft observed near YYZ

52 aircraft are within 55 km of YYZ right now. This is live ADS-B traffic, not a published timetable: aircraft are classified by what they are physically doing - Climbing out, on approach, or holding at cruise overhead. For gate numbers and scheduled times, check with YYZ directly or your airline.

Departing now

FlightOperatorRouteStatusAltitudeSpeed
ACA2 Air Canada route not published on stand or taxiing — 8 kts
ACA121 Air Canada route not published on stand or taxiing 675 ft 10 kts
TOW637 — route not published on stand or taxiing — 4 kts
BUS295 — route not published on stand or taxiing — 19 kts
ACA611 Air Canada route not published on stand or taxiing — —
RPA4530 — route not published on stand or taxiing 650 ft 18 kts
ACA417 Air Canada route not published on stand or taxiing — 8 kts
TR540 — route not published on stand or taxiing — 12 kts

Arriving now

FlightOperatorRouteStatusAltitudeSpeed
RPA3531 — route not published on approach 1,050 ft 142 kts
N805FT — route not published on approach 7,275 ft 279 kts
ACA264 Air Canada route not published on approach 4,750 ft 253 kts
CGZGB — route not published on approach 1,275 ft 46 kts
ACA2407 Air Canada route not published on approach 4,350 ft 247 kts
NSH51 — route not published on approach 1,450 ft 117 kts
CGENW — route not published on approach 9,150 ft 266 kts
CFZMB — route not published on approach 2,600 ft 77 kts

Overhead and in the area

FlightOperatorRouteStatusAltitudeSpeed
ROU1626 — route not published in the area 675 ft 146 kts
TSC430 — route not published in the area 9,100 ft 260 kts
LOT8N — route not published in the area 3,075 ft 181 kts
JZA434 — route not published in the area 8,100 ft 271 kts
CGBFA — route not published in the area 2,475 ft 66 kts
LXJ546 — route not published in the area 43,000 ft 452 kts
CGPZT — route not published in the area 3,100 ft 104 kts
46.8M
Annual passengers (reference)
5
Runways
2
Terminals
569 ft
Field elevation

About YYZ

Canada's busiest airport by a wide margin and the global hub of Air Canada. It handles roughly half of all Canadian international air traffic. US preclearance facilities let passengers arrive in American cities as domestic travellers.

Toronto Pearson began in 1938-39 as Malton Airport, carved from farmland northwest of the city. During the Second World War the adjacent Victory Aircraft plant built Lancaster bombers beside its runways. Trans-Canada Air Lines made Malton its key stop, and postwar growth turned it into Canada's principal airport. The space-age circular Aeroquay One terminal, opened in 1964, became a national icon, and in 1984 the airport was renamed for Lester B. Pearson, the Nobel Peace Prize-winning prime minister who had lived nearby.

The Greater Toronto Airports Authority assumed control in 1996 and launched one of North America's largest airport redevelopments, demolishing the beloved but obsolete Aeroquay and opening the sweeping new Terminal 1 in 2004, designed by a team including Moshe Safdie's studio.

Terminal 2 was retired and demolished in 2007, leaving the airport with the quirk of having only Terminals 1 and 3. Pearson grew into Canada's dominant gateway and Air Canada's global hub, handling roughly half the country's international air travelers, gaining the UP Express rail link to downtown in 2015 and pressing ahead with plans to expand both remaining terminals through the 2030s.

How YYZ operates today

Toronto Pearson operates five runways, three parallel east-west strips and two north-south, wrapped around Terminals 1 and 3, which are linked by an automated people mover. Terminal 1 is the fortress of Air Canada and its Star Alliance partners, while Terminal 3 hosts WestJet, international carriers, and much of the leisure market.

US preclearance facilities let flights arrive at domestic gates across the border. Pearson is Canada's busiest airport by a wide margin and a top North American international gateway, with harsh winter storms making its deicing central one of the largest in the world.

Top routes from YYZ

DestinationMain airlinesWhy it matters
Vancouver (YVR) Air Canada, WestJet, Porter Airlines The coast-to-coast trunk route at the heart of Canadian domestic aviation.
Calgary (YYC) Air Canada, WestJet, Flair Airlines Links Canada's financial capital with the energy heartland.
London Heathrow (LHR) Air Canada, British Airways Canada's flagship transatlantic route, flown multiple times daily with widebodies.
New York LaGuardia (LGA) Air Canada, Delta Air Lines A high-frequency business shuttle between Toronto and Manhattan.
Orlando (MCO) Air Canada, WestJet A leisure juggernaut carrying Canadian families to the Florida theme parks.

Facts about YYZ

  • The airport has Terminals 1 and 3 but no Terminal 2, which was demolished in 2007 and never replaced.
  • The rock band Rush titled their instrumental "YYZ" after the airport's code, opening the piece with the letters tapped out in Morse-code rhythm.
  • Avro Lancaster bombers were built beside the airfield at the Victory Aircraft plant during the Second World War.
  • Pearson handles roughly half of all international air passengers traveling to and from Canada.

Plane spotting at YYZ

The well-known viewing area along Airport Road near the runway 05 threshold draws crowds for heavy arrivals, and the Wingtips lookout in a nearby park gives sanctioned views of the parallel runway flows. New to spotting? Start with our aircraft identification guide and the world's best spotting airports.

IATA / ICAO
YYZ / CYYZ
Location
Toronto, Canada 43.678, -79.625
Time zone
America/Toronto
Opened
1939
Hub for
Air Canada, WestJet
Website
www.torontopearson.com

Airlines hubbed at YYZ

AC · ACA Air Canada Canada

Tracked flights using YYZ

Selected scheduled services whose curated route starts, ends or stops at Toronto Pearson International Airport.

FlightRouteTypical aircraft
AC856 YYZ → LHR Boeing 777-300ERTrack AC856 →
AC42 YYZ → DEL Boeing 777-300ERTrack AC42 →
AC3 YYZ → HND Boeing 787-9Track AC3 →

Nearby and related airports

Geographically close airports and useful alternatives in Canada.

DTW Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport Detroit, United States YUL Montreal - Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport Montreal, Canada IAD Washington Dulles International Airport Washington, United States YVR Vancouver International Airport Vancouver, Canada

More airports and guides connected to YYZ

Most of the tails you see here belong to Air Canada. How a field like this runs day to day is covered in how airports work. Nearby, Montreal (YUL) serves the same country. The codes YYZ and CYYZ are explained in airport codes decoded.

Data sources and review

Reviewed 2026-07-29 by Flight-Tracker.net Editorial Team

Passenger, runway, terminal and hub figures are maintained as a reviewed reference snapshot, not a live operational record. Check the airport directly before travelling.

Read our airport data sourcing and review process, or inspect the machine-readable reference dataset.

Frequently asked questions about YYZ

What is the airport code for Toronto Pearson International Airport?

Toronto Pearson International Airport uses the IATA code YYZ on tickets and baggage tags, and the ICAO code CYYZ in flight plans and on radar. The leading “C” in CYYZ is the region marker: ICAO codes are grouped geographically, which is why airports near each other usually share their first letter or two while their IATA codes look unrelated.

How many runways does YYZ have?

Toronto Pearson International Airport operates 5 runways across 2 passenger terminals. The field sits at 569 ft above sea level.

How busy is YYZ?

This reference profile lists roughly 46.8 million annual passengers for Toronto Pearson International Airport. You can see aircraft observed departing, arriving and overhead on this page, taken from live ADS-B broadcasts.

Which airlines are based at YYZ?

Air Canada treat YYZ as a hub or major base. Many other carriers serve the airport without basing aircraft there.

How many terminals does YYZ have?

This reference lists Toronto Pearson International Airport with 2 passenger terminals. Check the airport or operating airline for the terminal assigned to a specific flight.

What time zone is YYZ in?

Toronto Pearson International Airport runs on America/Toronto, currently UTC-4. Flight trackers work in UTC internally, so the seven-day history on our flight pages is stamped UTC while the boards on this page are in YYZ local time - worth remembering when the two disagree by a whole calendar day.

Can I track flights at YYZ live?

Yes. The map on this page shows every aircraft broadcasting its position within about 55 km of Toronto Pearson International Airport, and there are 52 in range as this page loaded. The boards split them into departures, arrivals and traffic passing overhead, all timed in America/Toronto.