CDL.TO
Moderator
When they were evicted they were operating around 4 (?) round trips a day to Ottawa.
Clearly not using the facility to its potential, but not abandoning it either.
Toronto Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport | ?m | ?s | Ports Toronto | Arup
When they were evicted they were operating around 4 (?) round trips a day to Ottawa.
Clearly not using the facility to its potential, but not abandoning it either.
Automation Gallery
Superstar
Toronto's Billy Bishop airport has banner year
Number of passengers has doubled since 2009
The number of travellers using Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport rose sharply in 2011, thanks to more flights operated by Porter Airlines and the introduction of service by Air Canada.
More than 1.5 million travellers used the island airport just south of Toronto's downtown core in the past 12 months, up 37 per cent from 2010 and double the number of passengers in 2009, the Toronto Port Authority estimates.
The authority, which owns and operates the airport, is expecting that number to climb significantly again in 2012, to two million, said spokesperson Suzanna Birchwood.
Air Canada launched operations at Billy Bishop last May and now operates 15 flights a day from the island airport to Montreal, said Birchwood.
Five-year-old Porter, based at Billy Bishop, introduced service to Windsor, Sault Ste. Marie and Burlington, Vt., in 2011, and increased its number of flights to other destinations, including Ottawa, Sudbury, Thunder Bay, Mont Tremblant, Que., and Boston.
It is adding Timmins to its list of destinations on Jan. 16, and either Philadelphia or Washington, D.C., likely in the spring, said Porter spokesperson Brad Cicero.
Port authority CEO Geoff Wilson said the growth in traffic shows that Torontonians and visitors consider the airport a great asset for the city.
"Together with our airlines, Porter and Air Canada, we have made great strides in meeting customer demands for a quality travel experience," Wilson said.
The port authority plans to begin work on a pedestrian tunnel to the airport terminal in spring 2012 to supplement the current ferry service across a narrow channel.
For comparison's sake, Toronto's Pearson International Airport, on the city's outskirts, handled 31.8 million passengers in 2010
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/story/2011/12/29/toronto-billy-bishop-airport-numbers.html
Number of passengers has doubled since 2009
The number of travellers using Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport rose sharply in 2011, thanks to more flights operated by Porter Airlines and the introduction of service by Air Canada.
More than 1.5 million travellers used the island airport just south of Toronto's downtown core in the past 12 months, up 37 per cent from 2010 and double the number of passengers in 2009, the Toronto Port Authority estimates.
The authority, which owns and operates the airport, is expecting that number to climb significantly again in 2012, to two million, said spokesperson Suzanna Birchwood.
Air Canada launched operations at Billy Bishop last May and now operates 15 flights a day from the island airport to Montreal, said Birchwood.
Five-year-old Porter, based at Billy Bishop, introduced service to Windsor, Sault Ste. Marie and Burlington, Vt., in 2011, and increased its number of flights to other destinations, including Ottawa, Sudbury, Thunder Bay, Mont Tremblant, Que., and Boston.
It is adding Timmins to its list of destinations on Jan. 16, and either Philadelphia or Washington, D.C., likely in the spring, said Porter spokesperson Brad Cicero.
Port authority CEO Geoff Wilson said the growth in traffic shows that Torontonians and visitors consider the airport a great asset for the city.
"Together with our airlines, Porter and Air Canada, we have made great strides in meeting customer demands for a quality travel experience," Wilson said.
The port authority plans to begin work on a pedestrian tunnel to the airport terminal in spring 2012 to supplement the current ferry service across a narrow channel.
For comparison's sake, Toronto's Pearson International Airport, on the city's outskirts, handled 31.8 million passengers in 2010
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/story/2011/12/29/toronto-billy-bishop-airport-numbers.html
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sjc
Active Member
https://www.flyporter.com/About/News-Release-Details?id=184&culture=en-CA
Over two million passengers last year.
Most of the flights that I took in 2011 (mostly YTZ to YOW or YHZ) were full or close to it.
I came into YTZ on Wednesday night and the ferry terminal was packed -- not sure that everyone got on the boat. Construction on the new tunnel can't come soon enough.
Over two million passengers last year.
Most of the flights that I took in 2011 (mostly YTZ to YOW or YHZ) were full or close to it.
I came into YTZ on Wednesday night and the ferry terminal was packed -- not sure that everyone got on the boat. Construction on the new tunnel can't come soon enough.
rbt
Senior Member
What amazes me is Pearson still managed to grow domestic travel slightly since 2009 despite losing 1.5 million trips to YTZ.
In 2 or 3 years when the island airport is near full capacity (without an adjustment to the tripartite agreement, it will be); Pearson expansion may start up again.
Automation Gallery
Superstar
Airport tunnel construction to start in Feb
TORONTO — A pedestrian tunnel linking Toronto to the Billy Bishop island airport has reportedly reached its final design stages and construction is expected to start next month.
The president of the Toronto Port Authority Geoff Wilson has told the Toronto Star that a groundbreaking ceremony for the tunnel is set to take place sometime in February.
Wilson says that construction is expected to take two years.
Late last year the TPA announced that Forum Infrastructure Partners, which includes PCL, Arup and Technicore, will design, build, finance and maintain the tunnel.
Wilson says the 240-metre-long structure, which will run both above and below ground, will be a spectacular piece of infrastructure.
Passengers going into the tunnel from the Toronto side will enter the tunnel through a pavilion and head down through elevators.
http://www.cp24.com/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20120110/120110_airport_tunnel/20120110/?hub=CP24Home
More.....http://www.thestar.com/news/article/1113691
TORONTO — A pedestrian tunnel linking Toronto to the Billy Bishop island airport has reportedly reached its final design stages and construction is expected to start next month.
The president of the Toronto Port Authority Geoff Wilson has told the Toronto Star that a groundbreaking ceremony for the tunnel is set to take place sometime in February.
Wilson says that construction is expected to take two years.
Late last year the TPA announced that Forum Infrastructure Partners, which includes PCL, Arup and Technicore, will design, build, finance and maintain the tunnel.
Wilson says the 240-metre-long structure, which will run both above and below ground, will be a spectacular piece of infrastructure.
Passengers going into the tunnel from the Toronto side will enter the tunnel through a pavilion and head down through elevators.
http://www.cp24.com/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20120110/120110_airport_tunnel/20120110/?hub=CP24Home
More.....http://www.thestar.com/news/article/1113691
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sjc
Active Member
http://www.thestar.com/news/article/1113684
Porter is raising the rent on its various tenants (around 25-30 of them, apparently) and the two flying schools are being evicted.
Porter is raising the rent on its various tenants (around 25-30 of them, apparently) and the two flying schools are being evicted.
Automation Gallery
Superstar
Porter has officially announced it's flying to Washington, beginning in April: https://www.flyporter.com/About/News-Release-Details?id=185&culture=en-CA
themarc
Senior Member
No kidding... some tenants are paying little to nothing
I guess you would expect they have to find ways to pay for the new Q400s, Terminal, Tunnel, and Ferry.
some tenants were not paying much to begin with, including some who were paying nothing
The TPA has the intentions of making the Island the number 1 City Centre airport in the world. There are also heavy restrictions about flying schools being imposed within the Pearson airspace. Probably just as well these schools and general aviation move to Oshawa to Hamilton IMO. If you were to raise most of the existing hangars that bank could become one HUGE terminal...
voxpopulicosmicum
Senior Member
No kidding... some tenants are paying little to nothing
I guess you would expect they have to find ways to pay for the new Q400s, Terminal, Tunnel, and Ferry.
some tenants were not paying much to begin with, including some who were paying nothing
Who knows what the actual financial details of the existing leases are. I'm sure the TPA is acting legally, and one can't really expect any more than that. All that said, I thought this statement was absolutely hilarious: Deluce "said the rent increase was not intended to make space for Porter or other airlines before accommodating tenants who are already there."
Fred.S
Active Member
It sucks that the flight schools are getting evicted. I rent a Cessna every month or two from Canadian Flyers. It's pricier then Oshawa and Brampton, but being able to bike or take the streetcar there, take friends flying, and then walk along harbourfront to grab lunch at Shoeless Joe's or Swiss Chalet beats driving an hour to the middle of nowhere to fly, and then driving farther for good food, and then driving back. Plus I'd miss the easy flying over downtown and the landing approach over the harbour...
Dan416
Senior Member
I'm actually surprised there are/were flying lessons at Island Airport. But I guess the TPA and Porter have to do what they have to do.
allabootmatt
Senior Member
That's an odd one. Washington is a fairly big destination, but the demand from Toronto to Dulles (±50 km from downtown) is probably close to zero, except for folks connecting onward with United--who wouldn't be flying Porter since its codeshare partner is AC.
Without preclearance at the Island Washington National is off-limits, which is a shame. It's practically a 'city centre' airport, and benefits from the best transit connection set-up I've ever seen.
Without preclearance at the Island Washington National is off-limits, which is a shame. It's practically a 'city centre' airport, and benefits from the best transit connection set-up I've ever seen.
erikyow
New Member
Not the first to mention it, but Porter has announced flights to Washington. http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Porter-Airlines-goes-prnews-650484789.html?x=0
The service is to Dulles, however, which, at least to me, largely defeats the purpose. Dulles is a much harder airport to access and is more remote to most things in the Washington area other than the tech industry and some of the southwestern suburbs, like Tyson's Corner and Reston. Given that most of the region's tech heavyweights (companies like Apple and IBM) are based in the 905 or outer 416, I'm struggling to find the links that will make flying into Dulles over a flight from Pearson to National successful. Sure, Google is based downtown and have a large facility in Reston, VA, but the Toronto office is largely marketing and sales while Reston, I believe, is more engineering. Same company, different missions.
Anecdotally, I have a friend who worked for an airline at National (DCA) and had flown into Dulles on an international flight. Long story short, he forgot something on the plane that was retrieved and had to set out to get it at Dulles. Given that he lived in Georgetown at the time, he decided that for almost the same amount of time but for less expense he could fly his airline to Charlotte and fly back to Dulles rather than taking the bus and metro both ways. Not the most environmentally sustainable trip ever taken, but it does highlight the lengths that some will go to not have to take public transit to Dulles.
I'm a big supporter of Porter and will fly them when I can, but they'll have to have REALLY low fares over Air Canada/United to get me to fly YTZ-IAD over YYZ-DCA, given the additional time and expense involved for me to get from Dulles to Washington. I'm not saying this route will be a failure since there are a lot of people who go to NoVa, but I don't think Porter will do as well as they have on their other US routes.
The service is to Dulles, however, which, at least to me, largely defeats the purpose. Dulles is a much harder airport to access and is more remote to most things in the Washington area other than the tech industry and some of the southwestern suburbs, like Tyson's Corner and Reston. Given that most of the region's tech heavyweights (companies like Apple and IBM) are based in the 905 or outer 416, I'm struggling to find the links that will make flying into Dulles over a flight from Pearson to National successful. Sure, Google is based downtown and have a large facility in Reston, VA, but the Toronto office is largely marketing and sales while Reston, I believe, is more engineering. Same company, different missions.
Anecdotally, I have a friend who worked for an airline at National (DCA) and had flown into Dulles on an international flight. Long story short, he forgot something on the plane that was retrieved and had to set out to get it at Dulles. Given that he lived in Georgetown at the time, he decided that for almost the same amount of time but for less expense he could fly his airline to Charlotte and fly back to Dulles rather than taking the bus and metro both ways. Not the most environmentally sustainable trip ever taken, but it does highlight the lengths that some will go to not have to take public transit to Dulles.
I'm a big supporter of Porter and will fly them when I can, but they'll have to have REALLY low fares over Air Canada/United to get me to fly YTZ-IAD over YYZ-DCA, given the additional time and expense involved for me to get from Dulles to Washington. I'm not saying this route will be a failure since there are a lot of people who go to NoVa, but I don't think Porter will do as well as they have on their other US routes.
nfitz
Superstar
They are currently working on the new Metro line from downtown to Dulles (essentially a branch of the Orange line that will run from Dulles to Station-Armory near RFK stadium). But the Dulles extension isn't expected to open until 2016 or later ... and travel time from downtown would still be about an hour. More of a Piccadilly line than a Heathrow express.
One would assume that Porter has done some market research, and has considered these issues.