Porter Airlines will soon fly to western Canadian city from Pearson Airport in Mississauga, Ontario

A Canadian airline that began operating out of Pearson Airport in Mississauga last year will soon offer flights to Saskatchewan for the first time.

Toronto-based Porter Airlines, which began flying out of Pearson early in 2023, will introduce daily flights to Saskatoon International Airport staring May 16, airline officials said in a news release today.

The Pearson-to-Saskatoon service is “a significant step in the airline’s commitment to expanding its transcontinental network,” company officials added.

Flights will leave Pearson each day at 2:30 p.m. with return service later in the day/evening.

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

“We are proud to connect Saskatoon and the province of Saskatchewan to Porter’s network for the first time in our history,” said Porter president Kevin Jackson. “It solidifies our commitment to bringing the level of connectivity, service and generosity that travellers deserve across the country.”

The Greater Toronto Airports Authority, which runs Pearson, said Saskatoon is one of the top Canadian destinations out of Canada’s biggest and busiest airport

“We’re pleased to see Porter add service on the route and increase connectivity both to passengers looking to travel to the Prairies, but also those looking to fly from central Canada through Toronto and to the East Coast,” said Kurush Minocher, GTAA executive director, customer experience and airline relations.

Porter has regularly been adding service out of Pearson, just last month introducing daily flights to both Los Angeles (Jan. 16) and San Francisco (Jan. 25).

The carrier previously ran its passenger planes exclusively out of Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport before announcing in December 2022 its new relationship with Pearson.

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)