Air Canada Jazz to fly from Toronto Island airport again

Air Canada Jazz says itplans to resume flights out of the Toronto Island airport at the end of August.

The regional carrier said Thursday it will commence daily service from the controversial airport to Ottawa and Montreal on Aug. 28.

"The new ferry service and facilities being constructed by the Toronto Port Authority starting this summer are making it possible for Air Canada to enhance operations from City Centre," said Air Canada vice-president Ben Smith in a release.

"This will further improve what is already the best schedule for customers flying in the eastern triangle of Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa," he said.

Jazz plans 10 round-trip flights between the island airport and Ottawa on weekdays, and seven-round trips flights to Montreal, along with weekend service.

Flights cancelled at one point

Jazz stopped flying from the island in the spring afteran Ontario Superior Court judge ruled that the airline must cancel its downtown flight plans and land elsewhere.

Jazz was turfed after airline entrepeneur Robert Deluce announced plans to launch a new company, Porter Airlines. Deluce once owned the regional carrier Air Ontario, one of many smaller airlines eventually bought by Air Canada.

In announcing its return to the island terminal, Jazz said it will use the Stolport Corp. facility.

The island airport is a point of controversy in Toronto. Some residents have fought to have its operations curtailed, and Mayor David Miller campaigned in 2003 to block a bridge from the mainland to the airport.