Aéroports de Montréal (Montreal-Trudeau Airport) and a long list of partners joined together on April 2 for the fifth edition of the Premium Kids program, an airport-process familiarization day for children with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) or functional limitations. Nearly a hundred children accompanied by family members had an opportunity to try out a typical traveller’s journey through an airport, from arrival at the terminal parking lot, right up until the aircraft boarding and passenger-safety announcement. This context-setting exercise helps reduce their anxiety about air travel.

Montreal-Trudeau Airport is Canada’s first airport authority to introduce such a program, which is inspired by a similar initiative, “Wings for Autism,” created in 2011 by the Charles River Center in collaboration with the Massachusetts Port Authority (Logan International Airport, Boston).