A new gold standard of business travel has landed in Thunder Bay.
Porter Airlines selected the Lakehead city as its first foray into Northern Ontario, beginning with direct flights between Thunder Bay International Airport and Toronto Island airport.
Starting June 26, until Labour Day, the upstart regional carrier will launch three flights daily during the work week, with two flights daily on the weekend.
A Porter spokesman hopes it paves the way toward year-round regular service to and from Thunder Bay.
"It's a key market for Northern Ontario," said Brad Cicero, "and it's a pretty important first step to get involved in the region. It made sense to look at Thunder Bay just based on the volume of traffic on the routes."
The airline is adding four new aircrafts to their fleet this spring and Thunder Bay has always been on the company's original business plans, once they added to their fleet and opened more U.S. routes.
Porter flies the highly fuel efficient 70-seat Bombardier Dash Q400 series.
"We're looking at (Thunder Bay) as a summer destination off the start, with every intention of making good of it year-round," said Cicero. "All of the summer destinations we've introduced in the past (like Halifax) have been able to maintain some form of continuing service year-round."
The North has been on Porter's radar for some time since Porter president/CEO Robert Deluce, a former Northern Ontario bush pilot-turned-aviation executive, launched the airline in October 2005.
In an 2006 interview with Northern Ontario Business, Deluce talked openly about establishing direct service from Toronto to Sudbury, Sault Ste. Marie, Thunder Bay, Timmins, once his northeast U.S. routes were firmly established and his fleet expanded.
Cicero said Porter will closely monitor passenger loads out of Thunder Bay this summer, but expects the traveller reaction will be enough to support regular service.
The upscale, regional airline is headquartered at Toronto's City Centre Airport, only minutes from the downtown financial district. Out of the island, Porter connects to other destinations including Ottawa, Montreal, New York and Chicago.
They expect a variety of Thunder Bay ridership from the business community, mining industry, government, and health care sectors, as well as leisure travel.
Cicero would not discuss anticipated load factors (considered highly sensitive information to air carriers), "but with 70-seat aircraft think it's a good number to be able to serve a market like Thunder Bay."
Ed Schmidtke, business development manager at Thunder Bay International Airports Authority, said discussions with Porter have been ongoing for a couple of years.
In an airport survey, the authority determined that of the more than 650,000 travellers through the facility on an annual basis, 200,000 are heading to Toronto.
"We're hoping that was a major swaying factor."
The airport is a major traffic hub in northwestern Ontario.
Schmidtke is certain the reach of Thunder Bay's airport network was an important consideration.
"I'm sure the size of the market influenced their decision."
Besides regular service from Air Canada/Air Jazz, Bearskin Airlines, Wasaya Airlines, larger jet carriers in WestJet provides service to Winnipeg and Northwest Airlines to Minneapolis.
"We don't count on that type of traffic to start up a new route," said Cicero. We're relying on the origin and destination traffic, not connecting traffic on that route.
Introductory air fares are expected to start at $135 one-way with various other fare structures to offer business travellers greater flexibility without penalty.
As for future roll-outs in other Northern Ontario cities, Cicero wouldn't identify any specific time lines.
"We're still looking at U.S. destinations on our list but we're more or less set for the summer. As we get toward fall or winter we might be looking at looking at another destination or two."
Northern Ontario passengers on Porter will get all the in-flight perks including complimentary premium snacks, wine and beer, spacious cabin, and a fully-wired business lounge at their Toronto terminal with shuttle bus service. As to whether Porter will cannibalize travellers from other competing airlines, Schmidtke offered a "wait and see" reply, but added it will offer plenty of choices for local consumers.
"We'll have lots of options and the markets going to sort out which ones it prefers."
The Greater Sudbury Airport Authority has been hot on the recruiting trial to land Porter Airlines in the Nickel City. A travellers' survey is being circulated in Sudbury's business community to provide the Porter with local market facts and figures, and possibly corporate commitments to fill seats.
"A real key with Porter is to have confidence that our market studies and projections for the type of demand for their service are solid," said Airport CEO Bob Johnston.
He is aiming for three daily flights into Sudbury and the authority is firming up their figures with an in-depth questionnaire to area mining and industrial supply companies. Johnston senses there is a local appetite to add another carrier beyond Air Jazz and Bearskin. Local travellers are dissatisfied with the exorbitant air fares to fly out of Sudbury, a matter he has brought up with the carriers.
A handful of Sudbury companies have privately told Johnston they will guarantee an annual set number of seats on Porter flights. Airport studies show of the 184,000 travellers that pass annually through the terminal, more than 70 per cent are on business.
But there's also an untapped market of an estimated 170,000 Sudburians who choose not to fly out of Sudbury and instead drive south to Toronto on business, or start their international travels at Pearson Airport.
www.flyporter.com
www.tbairport.on.ca
www.greatersudbury.ca/airport
