Porter Airlines is flying out of North Bay on September 11th. Porter representatives say they never want to leave any market that they enter because they understand the value that competitive air service brings to a community. But they went to say there wasn’t enough consistent passenger demand for them to continue operating the daily flight. Porter began offering flights from Jack Garland Airport back in October 2015.
Mayor Al McDonald says the decision is disappointing, but not surprising. McDonald says they knew Porter’s numbers weren’t were they needed to be, even after they changed from midday flights to early morning and early evening. He says it’s a business decision on Porter’s behalf, and there’s nothing the city can do about it.
McDonald says instead of dwelling on the fact Porter is leaving, the city has to focus on different areas. He says North Bay is the only city in the north with a four lane highway to the GTA and that needs to be promoted. He says people living in Thunder Bay, Sault Ste. Marie, Sudbury or Timmins have a much tougher time getting to the GTA than people living here. McDonald says it’s important that they promote their location even better going forward, because outside of the winter time, it’s an easy drive between here and Toronto.
