Tag: Billy Bishop Airport

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Cottage Life

Porter Airlines cancels flight service between Toronto and Muskoka

Photo by Shutterstock/The Bold Bureau

It’s back to driving if you want to head up to Muskoka. On January 11, Porter Airlines announced that it’s discontinuing flight service between Toronto’s Billy Bishop Airport and Muskoka Airport, north of Gravenhurst, Ont.

“Porter has appreciated working with local tourism and airport partners to promote Muskoka over the years,” said Brad Cicero, the director of communications and public affairs for Porter Airlines, in a statement. “Our joint efforts have contributed to generating broader interest in the region that we hope will have long-term benefits for the community.”

James Murphy, the CEO of RTO 12, a regional tourism organization that has been advocating for commercial flights to Muskoka since 2016 and was responsible for attracting Porter to the area, said that Porter’s cancellation of the flight service was a business decision.

While Jeff Lehman, the district chair for Muskoka, said: “The service was cancelled due to changes made by the terminal operator at the Island Airport in Toronto.” He added that the cancellation will impact Muskoka tourist operators who used the service as a way to bring people to the region from the city. “It’s disappointing to be sure, given the service was successful.”

Porter would not specify what factors led to the decision. Although, the airline has shifted its focus to its 100 new aircraft, which will be flying out of Toronto’s Pearson Airport to Ottawa, Montreal, Vancouver, Edmonton, and Calgary starting in February.

Despite the cancelled service, Murphy stressed that RTO 12 had no hard feelings towards Porter. “At the time, we partnered with Porter, we were an untested airport and destination for the aviation industry, and our business case was built on projections,” he said. “Now, we have solid data and experience for building scheduled service at the airport, including successfully increasing the number of international visitors in 2022 over the inaugural season.”

Porter partnered with RTO 12 and the Muskoka Airport in 2019, offering flights between the two airports twice a week. The average cost of a roundtrip flight was around $200 with the trip taking approximately 20 minutes one way.

The pandemic, however, forced Porter to cancel the service in 2020 and 2021. The company restarted service in 2022. Despite a successful relaunch and, according to Murphy, an increase in passengers in 2022 compared to 2019, it wasn’t enough for Porter to continue the operation.

Moving forward, Murphy said RTO 12 will use the data collected during Porter’s flight service to create a compelling business case that will ideally attract other commercial airline services to Muskoka Airport.

“Our objective all along has been to increase international visitors to the region because they stay longer and spend more,” he said. “Commercial air service also allows us to be competitive with urban tourism destinations, such as Ottawa, Toronto, and Niagara Falls.”

Muskoka Airport’s CEO, Len O’Connor shared similar thoughts. “Muskoka continues to be a popular destination for both business and leisure passengers. Scheduled service in Muskoka has proven to be successful—the Porter Airline service offered many opportunities to enhance operations and we are looking forward to what the future brings.”

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Categories
Cottage Life

Summer flights between Toronto and Muskoka return

Photo by Shutterstock/dennizn

Looking to skip the Toronto traffic on your way to Muskoka this summer? Porter Airlines can get you there in 20 minutes. On February 22, the airline announced that it will be resuming its summer flight service between Toronto’s Billy Bishop Airport on Toronto Island and Muskoka Airport in Gravenhurst.

The service is seasonal, running from June 24 until September 6. Flights will happen twice a week, on Mondays and Fridays, with service from Toronto to Muskoka leaving at 2:25 p.m., and service from Muskoka to Toronto leaving at 3:45 p.m. On long weekends, the Monday departures will be bumped to Tuesdays.

For anyone who books a flight from Toronto to Muskoka and back by March 8, Porter is offering a discounted roundtrip rate of $164. All bookings made before March 31 are eligible to be changed or cancelled at no extra cost.

“We look forward to bringing our passengers back to Muskoka after two seasons away due to the pandemic,” said Michael Deluce, Porter president and CEO, in a press release. “The picturesque Muskoka region is less than a 30-minute flight from downtown Toronto, making it more accessible for Torontonians, as well as other Porter travellers in Canada and the U.S.”

Porter first started flying between Toronto and Muskoka in 2019, but the service only lasted one summer as the airline suspended all flights for 18 months during the pandemic, stretching from March 21, 2020, until September 8, 2021.

When the airline did resume service, it introduced its Healthy Flights program to help combat the spread of COVID-19. The airline sanitizes all surfaces of the plane between each flight and fogs each plane every 25 days with Zoono, an electrostatic spray that kills 99.99 per cent of bacteria and viruses, including COVID-19. Zoono is approved by Health Canada, Porter’s website states.

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Nouvelles quotidiennes

Air Canada takes off from Toronto Island

 

 

 

A few years ago, when the new Porter Airlines settled in at the Billy Bishop Airport, commonly known as the Toronto Island Airport, near downtown Toronto, Air Canada was unconcerned.

However, the proximity between the airport and the country’s largest business center in has worked extremely well for Porter and propelled its rapid growth. In allowing customers to bypass long, expensive journeys by taxi from Toronto Pearson airport, located much further from the business center, Porter Airlines has a lot of fans.
 
Since then, Air Canada had a change of heart, wanting access of the small island airport, but was prevented by Porter’s controlling interest of the terminal.
 
Air Canada, in collaboration with Continental Airlines who also wanted to land its planes there, filed a complaint with the Toronto Port Authority. The airline was successful in its bid to use the airport and will, as of February 2011, offer 15 non-stop daily flights between Montreal and Toronto.
 
Porter previously held 112 of the 202 places available and the Toronto Port Authority has allocated the remaining 90. Of these, 44 will go to Porter, 30 at Air Canada and Continental has the last 16.