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Add Sault Ste. Marie to Porter Airlines’ ever-expanding list of destinations.
Robert Deluce, president and CEO of the Toronto-based regional air carrier is making good on his 2006 commitment to return to his Northern Ontario roots.
His executive class airline now has three Northern cities on his route map following a late February announcement that Porter was introducing two daily flights between the Sault and Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport, starting May 4.
With four new Bombardier Q400 aircraft being added to their 20-plane fleet this spring, Deluce said the time was right to deepen his foothold in the region by adding a city he considers an “important market.”
“The cities that we’ve chosen right now to add service to are the ones that best fit our development at this stage, especially when you take into consideration the aircraft deliveries, our overall network plan, and our growth strategy.”
Porter is also adding a second roundtrip flight to Sudbury-Toronto run April 27, and is launching new service to Windsor on the same day.
Deluce, who grew in White River and Chapleau, is the son of the Canadian flying legend Stan Deluce, who started White River Air Services in 1951, which grew into Air Ontario before it was sold to Air Canada.
Since launching the airline five years ago, Deluce vowed he would eventually provide upscale service to Northern Ontario once his northeast U.S. routes were firmly established and his fleet had expanded.
Deluce was reluctant to put a timeline on rolling out service to Timmins and North Bay. “We’ll get to those other cities, it’s just a question of time.”
He also said it’s premature to talk about whether direct flights between Northern Ontario cities are in the offing but they continue to study the market closely.
Deluces said increased mineral exploration activities in the region has not gone unnoticed by the company.
“I think the resurgence of mining activity throughout the North is a really important development and one that does bring more focus on the area and makes it more important than ever to connect up Sudbury, Sault Ste. Marie and Thunder Bay with Toronto.”
Deluce said adding more flights to existing markets is a distinct possibility with more aircraft on order that will boost their fleet to 30 by late 2012 or early 2013.
“We’ve got a fair bit of room for additional growth and development, and that may well take into account some Northern cities.”
Besides their Northern Ontario service and now Windsor, Porter also serves Ottawa, Montreal, Quebec City, Moncton, Halifax, St. John’s, New York, Chicago and Boston, with seasonal flights to Mont Tremblant, Que., and Myrtle Beach, S. C.
Terry Bos, Sault Ste. Marie Airport CEO, said it’s been a three-year courting process to lure Porter.
“If you look at our numbers, the vast majority of our passengers (about 60 per cent) out of Sault Ste. Marie are going to downtown Toronto,” said Bos. Many executives from Essar Steel, Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation, various government agencies, public utilities and insurance companies often attend meetings downtown.
Currently, the Sault is serviced by Air Jazz, Bearskin and weekly Sunwing charter flights to Cuba during the winter months.
Only Jazz flies into Toronto via Pearson International Airport.
Bos said Porter’s arrival, and its $99 oneway fare, “definitely” fills a local need for a competing carrier.
“A lot of what we hear is, there’s got to be competition and ticket prices are too high.
Throwing another airline into the mix creates the competition that will hopefully make ticket prices affordable so more people will start flying again.”
Flight times haven’t been firmed up, but Bos said there will likely be a morning and mid-day departures.
Passenger terminal renovations are coming up at the departure gates and to expand seating in their holding area.
There are no estimates of new jobs but Bos estimates it could be anywhere between four and a dozen. More flight activity could mean more airport restaurant staff, baggage handlers and refueling personnel.
