Porter Airlines holds off adding Northern Ontario routes

It may take another year before Porter Airlines spreads its wings into Northern Ontario.

The Toronto-Island Airport-based carrier, led by Northerner Robert Deluce, is delaying its expansion into the region by a year as it orders more aircraft and seeks to add more U.S. destinations.

Another U.S. route will be added this fall, says spokesman Brad Cicero, but the airline isn't expecting to add any Northern Ontario flights "for at least 12 months or so."

Last year in an interview with Northern Ontario Business, Deluce expressed interest in offering service to Sault Ste. Marie, Thunder Bay, Timmins and Sudbury by fall, 2008. It was contingent upon adding more U.S. routes and ordering more aircraft, "it's just a question of when is the right time."

The carrier currently flies between Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Quebec City and Halifax and most recently added Newark, New Jersey. Porter has traffic rights from the U.S. Department of Transportation to fly into nine cities including Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago and Detroit.

However, Northern Ontario destinations remain in Porter's long-term business plans, says Cicero. "It's too far down the road to start projecting."

Porter announced this month it is exercising options to order two more Bombardier Aerospace Q400 aircraft. The order represents the 15th and 16th aircraft in the fleet, scheduled for delivery in 2009.