THUNDER BAY — Porter Airlines flew into Thunder Bay from Pearson for the very first time on Tuesday, with Porter’s new Embraer E195-E2 aircraft.
A celebration of Porter’s flights between Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ) and Thunder Bay International Airport (YQT) took place in Thunder Bay on Tuesday.
Robert Deluce, executive chairman of Porter Airlines, said Thunder Bay has been served by Porter since 2009 but this is the first flight to Pearson.
“Passengers are used to flying from Billy Bishop. They love being able to come and go from the downtown airport. And of course, we continue to serve Billy Bishop from Thunder Bay with five daily return flights. That works out very well for a lot of people.
“On the other hand, there are those who live a little closer to Pearson or who are connecting to or from Pearson via Thunder Bay where it works out a little better. This is a really good step for us and it's something we'll add to as we get more aircraft and as people develop the connections that they are looking for,” he said.
Deluce said the new aircraft is a little bigger and faster and can handle longer flights.
“We can cover the Vancouvers and we can cover the LAs and the St John's, Newfoundland and we can do it without having to make any interim stops," he said. “We're now doing destinations that are out to a little over six hours in terms of duration. That's a big advantage, of course."
At first, flights between Thunder Bay and Pearson will run on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, Deluce said. “With more airplanes coming over the next year and beyond and with us developing some good connections through Pearson on our own flights beyond Toronto, we expect to be able to add additional flights in."
With the increase in their number of flights to Billy Bishop over the years and the addition of direct flights to Ottawa, Deluce said, Porter is now the biggest of the carriers with regular service to Thunder Bay.
“We have the most seats and the most connections of any carrier currently,” he said.
Graham Ingham, president and CEO of Thunder Bay International Airport, said Porter has been steadfast since its arrival Thunder Bay.
“They've steadily grown their business over the years and that's really important for not only the airport but also for the community as well," he said.
“Here is just another example of Porter stepping up and providing more service and more variety to those that are travelling in and out of Thunder Bay. It's a pretty exciting day and we've been looking forward to this day for a long time.
“It's all about providing service options to the travelling public. This is a good example of Porter continuing to step up and support the Thunder Bay region.”
Ingham said it's hard to say if there will be much of an increase in travellers with the addition of the flights to Pearson.
“We've been growing steadily over the last couple of years. We're still not up to pre-COVID levels," he said "But what we're seeing is a steady growth and not a lot of huge increases in passenger service levels, but it certainly is going to help.”
