Porter Airlines expands fleet and service to Florida from Pearson Airport in Mississauga
Published December 6, 2023 at 11:28 am
Toronto-based Porter Airlines, which began flying out of Pearson Airport in Mississauga earlier this year, is expanding its schedule of flights to Florida.
The carrier began service to Fort Lauderdale’s Hollywood International Airport last Thursday from both Pearson and Ottawa International Airport in the nation’s capital.
Officials at Porter, which previously ran its passenger planes exclusively out of Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport before announcing last December its new relationship with Pearson, said both routes that launched on Nov. 30 will begin with daily roundtrip flights operated on the “state-of-the-art” 132-seat Embraer E195-E2 aircraft.
“Florida is a popular destination for Canadians and Fort Lauderdale is the fourth market in the state that Porter has launched this fall,” Porter executive vice-president and chief commercial officer Kevin Jackson said in a news release.
Officials with the Greater Toronto Airports Authority, which runs Pearson, welcome the additional flights to the Sunshine State.
“Last winter, Fort Lauderdale was the most in-demand US route from Pearson,” said Khalil Lamrabet, chief commercial officer with the GTAA. “We are excited to see Porter’s continued commitment to expanding its network at (Pearson). Their growth is undoubtedly helping to satisfy demand while providing more choice for passengers.”
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The Embraer E195-E2 aircraft is a two-by-two configuration, meaning there are no middle seats on any Porter flight, airline executives note.
Porter added significantly to its fleet earlier this year with the introduction of 50 new Embraer aircraft. And word came last week that the carrier has got the ball rolling to purchase 25 additional E195-E2 planes moving forward.
The new aircraft will be used to extend Porter’s service to destinations throughout North America, company officials said, adding the E195-E2 “is exceeding our expectations, especially in terms of fuel use, and delivering an incredible level of customer satisfaction to our passengers with a quiet, comfortable ride.”
Porter was also the world’s first carrier to fly the Embraer E195-E2 passenger jet into the United States, with the launch of its service to Tampa in early November.
In October, Porter announced it will also soon offer daily flights to California’s two largest cities, Los Angeles and San Francisco, from Pearson Airport.
It will launch daily round-trip flights between Pearson and both Los Angeles and San Francisco beginning in January 2024.
Porter officials said earlier that the company’s recent moves position the carrier to compete head-to-head with Canada’s largest airlines, Air Canada and WestJet.
(Cover photo: Porter Airlines)
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