Hank
Active Member
Interesting...thanks for the info!
http://www.flyporter.com/en/press2010.aspx?id=126- December 21 through January 9 - 3 weekly roundtrip flights
- January 10 through January 23 - 9 weekly roundtrip flights
- January 26 through April 3 - 12 weekly roundtrip flights
The Toronto Port Authority ("TPA") advised today that it had received 14 written Expressions of Interest regarding the proposed pedestrian tunnel connecting the mainland to the Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport ("BBTCA") under the Western Gap of the Toronto harbour....As previously announced, 100 per cent of the cost of design, building, financing and maintaining the tunnel will be ultimately borne by departing passengers via the BBTCA's existing $20 Airport Improvement Fee ("AIF"). For comparison purposes, each passenger at Pearson International Airport currently pays an AIF of $25 per departing flight.
The U.S. State Department has sent a diplomatic note to Canada’s Foreign Affairs Department, saying the United States has declined the application to allow U.S. customs preclearance facilities to open at Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport. “The decision was made based on many factors, including the passenger load at the airport in question, which does not meet the current threshold for consideration of new preclearance locations,” a spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said in an interview Tuesday.
There is no stoping this airport now
Air Canada to operate flights to Montreal from island airport
MONTREAL — Air Canada says it will begin flights between the Toronto Island airport and Montreal starting in February next year.
The airline says it expects to offer up to 15 daily flights from Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport to Montreal's Trudeau International Airport.
The new route will compete with upstart regional carrier Porter Airlines, which started flying out of the airport on Toronto's waterfront four years ago.
Air Canada has signed a letter of intent for five Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 turboprop aircraft that will be used on the route, which will be operated by Sky Regional Airlines Inc.
Air Canada was granted initial approval to fly into and out of the downtown Toronto airport in June.
http://www.cp24.com/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20101004/101004_AC/20101004/?hub=CP24Home
It'll be interesting to see how this move for Air Canada will affect the 'regional' flights to and from Pearson. I know a lot of people depend on those flights as connecting flights for longer overseas flights. Having to not only transfer terminals, but transfer airports completely may be a detriment to Air Canada. Porter has done a really good job creating a niche market in the air travel industry, and I don't really think that Air Canada trying to copy the service is going to make a significant dent in Porter's profitability.
It should really come down to the booking agent no? If you know that your passenger needs to connect to another flight than you aren't going to send them to the island. I'm sure there will be some hiccups, but many cities manage just fine with multiple airports serving it, though I'm not aware of one airline serving multiple airports within one city so that may be the issue.
Any way I'm just saying that it should be obvious to all parties, airline, travel agent, and passenger that you don't book a flight to airport "A" when you will be making a connection to another flight leaving out of airport "B". I'm sure there's enough direct Mtl-Tor demand that connections won't be much of an issue.
For this to work, AC will have to mimic the Porter experience...which includes things like the free shuttle from a convenient place in downtown Toronto.
But creating a new service would inherently reduce the frequency of the existing service, right? For anyone who is using the current service to make a connection to another flight, this may be an inconvenience, as half the flights now flying into the GTA will be of no use to you. And yes you're right, in most other cities, an airline will select 1 airport, and fly into that. The only exception I can think of is NYC, where JFK, LaGuardia, and Newark are all served by most of the major airlines, or most of them fly to 2 of the 3.
hip hip ... hip hip ... hip hip hooray!