ROUTES AMERICAS: Canadian Airlines Fight for Slice of Big Apple

Three of Canada’s leading international carriers are to increase capacity between Toronto and New York this year as they intensify their battle for air passengers in this key established market. Air Canada and Porter Airlines will both increase capacity on existing routes, Air Canada will also introduce a new city pair between the two destinations, while WestJet Airlines will enter the marketplace following its successful purchase of slots at New York LaGuardia Airport late last year.

Air Canada has confirmed it will launch a three times daily service between Toronto Lester B Pearson International and New York John F Kennedy International from May 3, 2012 complementing its existing flights from Toronto Pearson to New York LaGuardia and Newark Liberty International. The flight will be operated using a 50-seat Bombardier CRJ200 of regional division Air Canada Express. The airline will also increase its existing offering to LaGuardia from the Canadian city to an hourly schedule with an additional daily rotation from May2, 2012.

The new route will mean that Air Canada will become the only carrier to offer flights from Toronto to all three major New York gateways. The Canadian flag carrier is the leading carrier in this market and this summer will now offer up to 38 flights every day to New York metropolitan area from Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, Calgary and Vancouver, a far cry from when it first started serving the US city over 70 years ago.

“By adding JFK to our existing destinations in the New York City metropolitan area, Air Canada will provide customers with the most frequencies, widest choice of airports and greatest convenience of all airlines flying between New York and Canada,” said Ben Smith, Executive Vice-President and Chief Commercial Officer, Air Canada. “The flights are timed so customers can easily connect at our Toronto hub to other destinations in our extensive domestic and international network, such as Tokyo, Shanghai and Beijing.”

Meanwhile, Porter Airlines, which offers direct flights to Newark Liberty International from Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport has confirmed it will introduce two additional daily rotations on the route to enhance its flight schedule. It will now provide up to 13 flights a day with the additional two services to be introduced from March 26, 2012 and April 16, 2012.

“Demand for our Toronto-New York route continues to increase and we are responding with additional flights,” said Robert Deluce, President and CEO, Porter Airlines. "Porter offers the only service between downtown Toronto and New York, which is one of the reasons we’ve become a top choice for business and leisure travellers between the two markets.”

Further competition in the market will arrive in the form of low-cost carrier WestJet Airlines which will introduce a seven flights every weekday between Toronto Pearson and New York LaGuardia from June 2, 2012, increasing to eight weekday flights from July 12, 2012. The expansion has been made possible through the purchase of slots at the New York airport as part of the FAA slot auction following last year’s Delta Air Lines and US Airways slot swap.

"This is another significant milestone for WestJet," said John MacLeod, Vice-President, Network Management and Alliances, WestJet Airlines. "Toronto to New York is the largest transborder market from Canada, and this new non-stop service, offered on our Boeing 737 Next Generation aircraft, will offer business and leisure travellers alike the convenience, comfort and affordability they've been looking for.”

The launch of new service comes on the heels of the recently signed codeshare agreement between WestJet and Delta which will enable passengers to directly connec on to the US major’s own flights from the US city without the need for additional security screening.

The table below highlights the current leading players between Toronto and New York across all airport markets…