Porter Airlines announced roundtrip flights between New York’s LaGuardia Airport and Toronto Pearson International Airport.
These new flights will start up in May 2025 with three daily roundtrip flights per week. The route will use their Embraer 195 E2 fleet which entered service last year for the airline.
These flights into Toronto will arrive in Toronto in coordination with Porter’s domestic flights to Western Canada. This will create a seamless connection experience for New Yorkers looking to travel into Western Canada. Destinations like Edmonton or Calgary.
Tony Vero, General Manager at LaGuardia Airport commented, “We are excited to add Porter Airlines’ service to Toronto Pearson at LaGuardia Airport. This expanded partnership strengthens our growing network and provides travellers with a seamless and convenient way to connect between New York and Canada. Whether for business or leisure, this service opens exciting travel opportunities, linking two dynamic cities with ease. Along with the transformation of LaGuardia Airport, we are committed to offering an exceptional and modern travel experience, with greater flexibility, more choices, and enhanced connectivity for passengers.”
What Does This Mean For Porter Airline Customers?
Porter Customers in New York Will Benefit Tremendously
For a long time Porter Airlines has only been flying to Canada from Newark International Airport in New Jersey. Meanwhile, Air Canada was the only airline providing service to both Toronto and Montreal from LaGuardia.
It is known that getting airline slots at the New York City airports is notoriously difficult. With Porter Airlines able to grab slots at LaGuardia Airport, that means passengers flying frequently to Canada via LaGuardia Airport will benefit. Instead of being forced to fly with one airline, there are now two options at LaGuardia.
Porter also interlines with Delta and JetBlue Airways. Both JetBlue and Delta have a presence at LaGuardia. This facilitates smoother connections for American travelers heading into LaGuardia for continued travel to Canada.
Air Canada will remain the dominant Canadian airline in the tri-state area. But this latest addition by Porter will be very much welcomed by Canada bound travelers.
Porter Airlines is Becoming a Serious Player in the Canadian Air Travel Space
Porter Airlines is making all the right moves to become a thorn in the side of Air Canada’s “monopoly” on Canadian air travel. While it is unlikely we see Porter ever compete with Air Canada in Canada’s overseas international flight market, the airline is truly landing some punches when it comes to the Canadian’s domestic scene. As already mentioned, this has to do with the addition of the Embraer E195 E2.
Previously, Porter had to rely on its turboprop fleet for flights. That severely limited the range of its flight network out of Toronto. They were forced to fly from Toronto’s Bishop Airport to remain competitive in the Toronto Market.
With the E195 E2, Porter operations have now sprouted up at Toronto-Pearson, as the airline has now added Canadian transcontinental flights as well as international flights to the United States to destinations as far as Miami and Los Angeles.
I am a firm believer that competition is always good for the industry. Porter Airlines has codeshares with other Canadian airlines. These smaller Canadian airlines are starting to team up together and give something the Canadian air travel industry desperately needs which is..options.
