Porter’s new 5-year plan to take off in 2010
As Porter Airlines breezes into its fourth year of operations, president Robert Deluce says the upstart airline will unveil a new, five-year business plan in 2010.
"(The new plan) is likely to see some significant growth attached to it," Deluce told the Star. "I think we’ve got lots of growth potential in the next several years."
Deluce was coy about details for his updated business plan, but conceded the original blueprint for his company has evolved somewhat since the airline set up shop in 2006. Originally, Deluce’s business plan outlined a vision of 17 flight destinations for Porter in Canada and the United States.
"A couple of the destinations that we’re already serving, Halifax and (Mont) Tremblant, weren’t even on our original business plan," Deluce said.
"I think at some point in time we’ll be serving at least 17 destinations, and maybe more."
The airline has already announced a number of changes for the first quarter of 2010. Its fleet will grow from 17 turboprop airplanes to 20 and flights will increase from an average of 110 per day to 120. The airline will also begin operations at its new $45 million terminal, where the first phase of construction should be completed by the spring.
Porter plans to expand domestic and transborder service early next year, Deluce said. He won’t say what Porter destinations are on the horizon, only that Washington and Philadelphia "continue to be of interest," as well as "other places in eastern Canada within roughly an hour and a half of Toronto."
Because Porter is privately held, it does not report financial results. But Deluce said the airline turned a profit this year.
"By any account, (Porter had) at least 300-per-cent growth during a year that arguably was one of the worst aviation years on record," Deluce said.
Porter has also been good business for the Toronto Island airport, which has been humming with activity since the airline moved in.
On Christmas Eve, the Toronto Port Authority announced it received preliminary results from a new capacity assessment study, and now anticipates an increase of between 42 and 92 daily flights at the airport by the second half of next year. The TPA also said it will begin accepting proposals in early 2010 from other commercial carriers that hope to begin using the island airport.
Before Porter came along, the island airport – recently renamed the Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport – handled 25,000 passengers annually. By the end of 2009, that number was forecast to hit 750,000, and Deluce estimates that 2010 will see more than a million passengers passing through the airport.