2 days ago
Porter Airlines to offer daily flights between Charlottetown and Toronto starting June 25
Social Sharing
Porter Airlines says it will start offering daily flights between Charlottetown and Toronto by the end of June, a boost from its previous plan to fly the route four days a week.
The change comes as the number of Canadians returning from air travel to the United States continued to drop for the fifth consecutive month.
Andrew Pierce, Porter's vice-president of network planning and reporting, said the airline is increasing its service to Prince Edward Island and the broader Atlantic region as a direct response to the shifting travel trend.
"P.E.I. is gaining a lot with some schedule change and some demand change this summer," Pierce told CBC News.
"We are far larger in Atlantic Canada than we were before COVID. We think that this has always been a market for us, but it's just even bigger as we've expanded into the jet fleet."
Canadian resident return trips to the U.S. by air fell 24.2 per cent in May 2025 compared with the same month in 2024, according to preliminary data released Tuesday by Statistics Canada.
Many Canadians have been opting not to visit the U.S. in recent months for a number of reasons, such as increased scrutiny and risk of detention at the border, or as a way to boycott the U.S. given President Donald Trump's trade war threats and talk of annexing Canada.
When Porter announced the Charlottetown-Toronto route earlier this year, it was initially scheduled for four flights per week.
But Pierce said that after reviewing demand and making schedule adjustments, the airline now plans to offer daily service this summer.
Beginning June 13, Porter will schedule four weekly round trips between Charlottetown and Toronto, using its 132-seat Embraer E195-E2 aircraft. Flights will operate every Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday.
Then, starting June 25, the route will increase to daily service. That will continue until Sept. 14.
The new Toronto connection adds to Porter's existing year-round service between Charlottetown and Ottawa. That route will run twice daily through October, and then drop to once daily for the winter.
At least, that's the plan for now, Pierce said.
"We will evaluate the demand as it emerges through summer and late summer into fall, to see if we can expand further into the winter as well," he said.
