Now open: Underwater tunnel to Toronto's Billy Bishop Airport

It's a very short distance between downtown Toronto and the Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport, but until yesterday the only way passengers could get between the two was by ferry, because the airport sits on an island in Lake Ontario.

The ride, often cited as one of the world's shortest ferry routes, is free for passengers (but not for cars) and the ferry makes the trip – about 400 feet – in about 90 seconds every 15 minutes.

But waiting for the ferry and the time it takes to embark and disembark the vessel stretches out the journey. During busy times, when the ferry reaches capacity, passengers must often wait for the next sailing.

Now there's no wait.

On Thursday, officials cut the ribbon on the world's first underwater pedestrian tunnel to an airport and now travelers can walk – or ride a moving sidewalk – between the mainland and YTZ in under 10 minutes.

The ferry is still running, but now from the mainland passengers take one of six elevators down 100 feet and then travel 853 feet in the new passageway to the other side, where one of the longest escalator systems in Canada brings them up to an atrium at the airport.

"This is a highly anticipated day for our passengers and team members," said Robert Deluce, president and CEO of Porter Airlines, in a statement. "The airport is now even more convenient for everyone who uses it. Its already strong contribution to economic development and tourism will continue as it becomes increasingly successful."

Porter Airlines is a regional airline headquartered at Billy Bishop Airport and serves many cities in Canada as well as some U.S. destinations, including Newark, Chicago Midway, Boston, Washington Dulles and Pittsburgh, with seasonal service to Myrtle Beach and Charleston, S.C., and Burlington, Vt.

Air Canada also operates some flights out of the Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport, which serves about 2.4 million passengers a year and is Canada's ninth busiest airport.

Harriet Baskas is a Seattle-based airports and aviation writer and USA TODAY Travel's "At the Airport" columnist. She occasionally contributes to Ben Mutzabaugh's Today in the Sky blog. Follow her at twitter.com/hbaskas.