Porter Airlines departing for good from North Bay

NORTH BAY — Porter Airlines, which came in with an exciting buzz in October of 2015, will be concluding its service out of North Bay's Jack Garland Airport effective this September.   

"Porter is concluding its service in North Bay as of September 11, 2017, after the peak summer season," Porter Airlines said in an email statement to Village Media Tuesday afternoon. 

"We never want to leave any market that we enter because we understand the value that competitive air service brings to a community in terms of lower airfares. Unfortunately, there was not enough consistent passenger demand for us to continue operating the daily flight we have there."

The North Bay departure doesn't appear to signal an exit from Northern Ontario. A spokesperson said Porter is continuing to serve Sault Ste. Marie, Sudbury, Timmins and Thunder Bay.

The discount passenger airline which flies out of Toronto's Billy Bishop Airport in downtown Toronto first took flight out of the North Bay airport in October of 2015.

That year, the city of North Bay and Porter Airlines announced that the two had reached a five-year agreement.

North Bay Mayor Al McDonald says it is disappointing that Porter will not be serving North Bay and area after September 11th.

"Despite offering low airfares and great service, the demand and customer volume in North Bay and area was not at the level required to support this service. We thank them for their efforts and interest in North Bay and surrounding area," said McDonald in an email to Village Media. 

The news was obviously disappointing for Jack Garland Airport Manager Jack Santerre. 

"Unfortunately since the introduction of the flights in October of 2015 they were not able build load factor to sustain the continued operation of this flight in our market," said Santerre in an email to Village Media.  

Porter's announcement is a change in direction from an announcement in March when the company announced it was planning to enhance flight service out of North Bay.  

See that story: Porter boosts North Bay flights with new schedule

The news comes on the heels of Porter announcing enhanced flight service into the Maritimes.   

— BayToday.ca