New flights take off for this glamorous American city from Pearson Airport in Mississauga, Ontario

Daily roundtrip flights between Pearson Airport in Mississauga and the bright lights of Hollywood are now being offered by a Canadian airline that began operating out of Pearson just last year.

Toronto-based Porter Airlines, which began flying out of Pearson early in 2023, launched its Pearson-to-Los Angeles service on Tuesday.

Porter officials said the new flights will foster “greater connectivity and cultural exchange between the two vibrant cities.”

The flights will operate using the “state-of-the-art” 132-seat Embraer E195-E2 aircraft, the carrier said in a news release.

“The level of service that Porter provides is something that no other airline offers for economy passengers on this route,” Kevin Jackson, executive vice-president and chief commercial officer at Porter, said. “Our focus on delivering an elevated economy experience allows passengers to receive celebrity treatment before immersing themselves in the rich cultural scenes of Toronto and Los Angeles.”

Porter, which previously ran its passenger planes exclusively out of Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport before announcing in December 2022 its new relationship with Pearson, said daily flights to San Francisco will also be introduced in the near future.

Officials with the Greater Toronto Airports Authority, which runs Pearson, said the introduction of additional flights to Los Angeles is welcomed given that destination’s popularity among Canadians.

“Los Angeles was the fourth-busiest transborder destination out of Toronto Pearson in 2023. We see that demand for travel between the two cities remains high, which makes Porter’s entry on the route exciting for the airport and for passengers,” said Kurush Minocher, the GTAA’s executive director, customer experience and airline relations.

The Embraer E195-E2 aircraft is a two-by-two configuration, meaning there are no middle seats on any Porter flight, airline executives note. They add the plane is also the most environmentally-friendly single-aisle aircraft, being “65 per cent quieter and up to 25 per cent more fuel efficient than previous-generation technology.”

In addition, airline officials say, the aircraft “has the lowest fuel consumption per seat and per trip among 120- to 150-seat aircraft, and is the quietest single-aisle jet flying today.”

Porter added significantly to its fleet last year with the introduction of 50 new Embraer aircraft and there are plans to add 25 more.

Porter officials said earlier that the company’s recent moves position the carrier to compete head-to-head with Canada’s largest airlines, Air Canada and WestJet.

(Cover photo: Porter Airlines)