Activists complain about late landings at island airport

Some Toronto residents say they're concerned about the safety of late-night landings at the Toronto City Centre Airport.

On Thursday, at the annual general meeting of the Toronto Port Authority, the group CommunityAIR said there have been recent late-night landings by Porter Airlines in spite of an 11 p.m. curfew.

Residents of the Toronto waterfront say the TPA, which owns and operates the small island airport, needs to rein in Porter.

CommunityAIR spokesman Bill Freeman said Porter planes landed twice after curfew in the past month.

On one occasion, Freeman said, a Porter Airlines pilot ignored instructions to divert to Pearson International Airport, northwest of the city, and landed at the island airport anyway.

Freeman said it's not just about the noise for local residents. It's also about safety.

No after-hours control tower staff

"We've also just recently learned that after 11 p.m. there's nobody in the [air traffic control] tower ... presumably these pilots are landing blind," he told the meeting.

Freeman said it's something that people who live in the many high-rise condos along the harbour may not be aware of, or be uncomfortable with.

On its website, CommunityAIR says it is "intent on shutting down the Toronto City Centre Airport."

But TPA chair Mark McQueen said many airports across the country have no after-hours control tower staff.

The air traffic control services are done by NavCanada at central locations.

NavCanada is the private company that provides navigation and air traffic control services for the island airport.

Restricted takeoffs

McQueen said it isn't the best solution, but it is perfectly safe.

"It was my preference that they stay in the tower until the last flight had landed in those few occasions each year that a plane lands after 11 p.m.," he said.

Takeoffs and landings are restricted between 11 p.m. and 6:30 a.m. unless it's a medical emergency.

Porter Airlines CEO Robert Deluce said that to his knowledge the curfew has been broken three times since February.

"You know hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of flights come and go on a daily basis, so there are very, very few occasions where it happens.And there are also particular circumstances and the circumstances are rare to operate outside these normal times," he said.

Deluce said the airline is fined $5,000 by the TPA every time it breaks the curfew.