Porter Airlines' short-haul service to Montreal takes flight

Porter Airlines on Monday begins service between Toronto's island airport and Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport in Montreal.

The airline, which operates out of Toronto City Centre Airport, already offers 10 weekday flights to Ottawa, and will make four round-trip weekday flights along with weekend service to Montreal.

"The Montreal-Toronto route is Canada's busiest, and we know there is strong demand for service to and from the centre of Toronto," said Robert Deluce, president and CEO of Porter Airlines, in a release.

The privately owned airline has plans to boost its service to Montreal in early January when a fourth 70-seat Bombardier plane is added to its fleet. Other expansion plans include adding as many as 17 short-haul flights to destinations in Canada and the U.S. within a 500-kilometre radius of Toronto.

Porter Airlines opened for business in late October amid protests from island residents, sayingthe airport detracted from efforts to revitalize the city's waterfront. Toronto Mayor David Miller, who in 2003 campaigned to block building a bridge to the island, also vigorously opposed the launch of the new airline.

Last week, Deluce noted that the company is on track to turning a profit in its first year.

"We're very pleased with where we are now, given the very short period of time we've actually been operating," he said.