Aviation.ca - Your Number One Source for Canadian Aviation News, Jobs and Information!

Toronto Pearson International Airport is taking on a new look as HSBC Bank Canada, the GTAA and Clear Channel Outdoor today announced plans for the most extensive branding campaign ever conducted at Canada's largest and busiest airport.

The agreement between the Greater Toronto Airports Authority, Clear Channel Outdoor and HSBC Bank Canada, will give the bank the branding rights for the exterior and interior surfaces of the 86 aircraft gates and 91 jet bridges (the passageways between the terminals and the aircraft) located at Terminals 1 and 3.

"We are extremely pleased that HSBC has chosen Toronto Pearson to be a part of this innovative program. The GTAA is very proud of the partnership with HSBC and Clear Channel and is excited to showcase this landmark branding initiative to the millions of passengers that travel through Toronto Pearson every year." said Lloyd McCoomb, President and CEO of the GTAA.

The HSBC Group is a world-wide innovator in airport branding, and now adds Toronto Pearson to the select list of airports including Heathrow (London), JFK International (New York) and Narita International (Tokyo) for which it holds bridge-branding rights.

"As Canada's leading international bank, we are very excited to be able to reach out to the millions of travellers who use this important international transportation gateway," said Lindsay Gordon, President and CEO, HSBC Bank Canada. "This new airport branding initiative will help us create awareness of what a truly 'locally relevant', yet 'globally capable' bank can do. At HSBC, we combine our global reach with local knowledge to meet the needs of different customers around the world."

The President of Clear Channel Outdoor Canada, John Jory, says that in his 25 years of involvement with airport advertising, this was by far the most comprehensive campaign to work on. "The HSBC program at Toronto Pearson is a prime example of advertisers making long-term capital intensive commitments to outdoor media in Canada, comparable with leading outdoor campaigns world-wide.

We're delighted to have this branding opportunity become a reality." Planning for the five-year program began in June 2007 and installation will be complete in the summer of 2008.

The GTAA is the non-share company that operates Toronto Pearson. All revenue generated by the GTAA is re-invested back into the airport. In 2007, 31.5 million passengers travelled through Toronto Pearson. From Toronto Pearson, passengers can reach 76 same-plane destinations, 28 non-stop Canadian destinations and 49 non-stop destinations in the United States.

HSBC Bank Canada, a subsidiary of HSBC Holdings plc, has more than 170 offices and is the leading international bank in Canada. With around 10,000 offices in 83 countries and territories and assets of US$2,354 billion at 31 December 2007, the HSBC Group is one of the world's largest banking and financial services organizations.