Porter Airlines Expands with Seven New Routes to Florida

Canadian carrier Porter Airlines is looking to make a dent in the United States market by adding seven new routes to Florida.

Five destinations in Florida cover the seven routes, all of which are expected to start this fall. Using Embraer E195-E2 equipment, Porter is a regional airline based in Toronto.

The carrier wants to grow its U.S. operations and will fly into Fort Lauderdale, Miami, Orlando, Fort Myers and Tampa. Those routes will begin on November 1 from Toronto to Tampa, and the other service will be rolled out by December 13. Porter will also fly out of Ottawa.

For now, the Toronto to Tampa flights will be daily and depart in late afternoon from Florida and return to Canada the following day. The Toronto to Orlando route is slated to begin on November 10.

Porter already serves several U.S. cities, including Boston, Chicago, New York (Newark), Washington and Myrtle Beach. The foray into Florida is expected to be the launch of a major push into America for Porter, which is soon expecting the delivery of the dozens of Embraer E195-E2 jets it ordered two years ago.

Clearly, expanding for the airline that previously used the Dash 8-400 turboprop plane is a significant move.

Porter’s flights on the new jet will also offer free Wi-Fi and complimentary beer and wine served in glassware instead of paper cups. There is no first-class seating, but there is extra legroom in some economy seats.