Porter Airlines launches new Ottawa-St. John's service

Porter Airlines launched direct service between Ottawa and Charlottetown on Wednesday. (CNW Group/Porter Airlines Inc.)

Porter Airlines will take off from Ottawa to St. John's on Thursday, the newest direct flight out of the Ottawa International Airport.

The airline is launching new direct service between Ottawa and St. John's. The daily round-trip service will feature one flight daily, offered on Porter's Embraer E195-E2 plane.

This is the first time Porter has offered direct service between the two cities in five years.  

Porter now operates 16 routes out of the capital, with destinations in Canada and the United States. Destinations include Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Boston, New York and Orlando.

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Porter Airlines opened a new aircraft hangar and maintenance base at the Ottawa Airport this spring, which can accommodate up to eight planes.

The CEO of Porter Airlines told the Mayor's Breakfast earlier this year that the airline is considering new flights from Ottawa to California, Las Vegas and the Caribbean.

Michael Deluce added he expects Porter to become the number one airline serving Ottawa by this summer.

"Almost half of people travelling out of Ottawa or into Ottawa will be on Porter aircraft. We want to be the hometown airline in Ottawa," Deluce said on April 12. "You'll see more Florida next winter. You're going to see western U.S. markets, which is something the airport has long wanted."

WestJet has also added new service from Ottawa. This spring, the airline launched direct Ottawa-Edmonton service.

Air Canada has also unveiled plans to boost service out of Ottawa, with up to 30 additional weekly flights during the winter.

With files from CTV News Ottawa's Ted Raymond