Porter Airlines Takes Off From Island Airport Amid Protest

The first Ottawa-bound Porter Airlines flight took off from Toronto’s City Centre airport Monday amid a flurry of controversy.

Protesters gathered at the foot of Queen’s Quay and Bathurst St. to voice their objection to the new regional passenger carrier flying out of the island airport. They contend the flights will add to air and noise pollution in the city and could pose safety concerns.

“This is on the waterfront, it’s close to nature. It’s close to the largest park in Toronto and they are going to try to turn this into a massive park,” said Bill Freeman of Community Air. “It’s totally inconsistent with that objective. So we really oppose this from many, many different ways.”

Freeman and his fellow protesters plan to continue their rally every Friday from now on, hoping to offer education on the environmental impact of the air carrier.

Porter will initially run 10 round-trip flights each weekday between Toronto and Ottawa as well as two round-trips each on Saturday and Sunday.

“This is a great day for travellers looking for competition, convenience and real value when they fly,” Porter Airlines president Robert Deluce said in a statement. “We’re looking forward to adding destinations in the coming months.”

Deluce said the protest didn’t have an impact on Monday’s service.

“We really don’t expect protests will be any effect at all on our flights,” he said. “We expect that flights will leave on time today and passengers will fully appreciate the service that they will be experiencing here today.”

Porter is using a fleet of Bombardier Q400 turboprop aircraft – starting with only two but eventually planning to expand to 20.

Passengers boarding the first flights out of Toronto said they were happy to have an alternative to travelling to Pearson International Airport.

“I think that consumers are always looking for a decent deal, but it’s no more expensive than Air Canada, frankly, so and you have all the conveniences and when you’re living downtown … when I’m getting home at 8 o’clock tonight just knowing I’ve got a 10 minute drive instead of a 30 minute drive, for me it’s a bonus,” said flyer Mary Rose Daigle.

“(It’s an) excellent idea,” agreed Ronan Gorgan. “There has been a lot of opposition to it and so on, so forth. I think it is a dynamic thing for the city of Toronto. It is a good thing.”

And Craig McCutcheon enthused, “It’s a good option. All good cities have a city centre airport. And it will be positive for a lot of things.”

The Island Airport has become a major issue in the ongoing election campaign, with incumbent David Miller strongly opposed to the service and mayoral hopefuls Jane Pitfield and Stephen LeDrew for it.

“Porter Airlines and the Port Authority, which is allowing them to do this, don’t have a place,” Miller said. “I’m going to keep fighting and the people of Toronto are going to keep speaking up.”

Pitfield argues that Porter is a positive addition to the GTA.

“This is something that I think the city will benefit from in terms of tourism and economic development,” Pitfield said.

Though the airline is currently only flying between Toronto and Ottawa it eventually plans to fly to as many as 17 Canadian and U.S. destinations within 500 kilometres of the GTA, including Montreal, New York and Chicago.