TORONTO - Air Canada will begin flying out of Toronto's Billy Bishop Airport on May 1 after reaching an agreement with the operator of the island terminal.
Service had been scheduled to begin sometime in February but was delayed after the Montreal-based airline failed to reach an agreement with City Centre Terminal Corp.
Robert Deluce, head of rival Porter Airlines, owns City Centre Terminal Corp., which operates Billy Bishop.
Air Canada's initial schedule will provide up to 15 daily non-stop return flights between the lakeside airport near Toronto's downtown and Montreal's Trudeau International Airport.
The new routes will compete with Deluce's Porter Airlines, which started flying out of the airport four years ago.
Porter Airlines had been the lone commercial airline connecting Canada's two largest cities through the downtown airport.
Air Canada was granted initial approval to fly into and out of the island airport in June.
But the Toronto Port Authority couldn't finalize Air Canada's approval until there was an agreement for use of the terminal.
Tickets for Air Canada's flights from the airport, located on one of the islands off Toronto's lake shore, will go on sale Monday.
The service will use Bombardier Q400 turboprop aircraft, operated by Sky Regional Airlines Inc.
Porter's entire fleet is made of Q400s but Air Canada -- the country's largest airline -- primarily uses jets.
Air Canada had appealed a Federal Court ruling that ordered it to pay nearly $2 million costs stemming from its fight with Porter over the allotment of tarmac slots at the airport.
The airline had asked for a judicial review to increase the 30 slots granted by the airport authority. The federal high court dismissed the claim.
Continental Airlines was also awarded 16 slots and Porter was given 44 slots in addition to the 112 it already had.
"We are very pleased that these negotiations have been successful," said Geoff Wilson, CEO of the federally owned port authority.
"Opening the airport to new carriers is a key element of our long-term business plan, and can only serve the best interests of the passengers who love the easy access of our downtown airport."
