The Toronto Port Authority says two airlines have applied to provide service using the Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport, but it’s not revealing the names of the applicants.
One of them is surely Air Canada, which has already expressed a desire to return to the waterfront airport. Porter Airlines is currently the airport’s only tenant. Previous reports have suggested that several U.S. airlines were interested in flying from the airport.
The TPA says the proposals are under review but did not provide a timeline for the process. The review will be done in conjunction with British-based consulting firm Airport Co-ordination Ltd., which is also working with the TPA on a controversial slot allocation process.
Last year Porter averaged about 110 takeoffs and landings per day and was expecting to increase that number to 120 in 2010. The TPA said between 42 and 92 more flights a day could be added in 2010.
Opponents of the airport say that more than 200 arrivals and departures a day would violate a 1983 agreement between the City of Toronto, the Toronto Port Authority and the government of Canada. Another obstacle for new entrants is the fact that they would have to negotiate terminal space from City Centre Terminal Corp., whose parent company also owns Porter.
As CBC News reports, Air Canada's regional Jazz carrier cut its service from downtown Toronto in March 2006 after it was evicted from the airport. It later sought to restore daily service to Ottawa and Montreal but was rebuffed by the port authority, which refused to approve a lease that would allow Jazz to use the island's facilities.
