Toronto with Porter Airlines

During our stay in Montréal and Québec we also wanted to throw in at least one domestic side trip. After considerung a few options we settled for a daytrip to Toronto. Quite a few airlines to choose but the most interesting seemed to be Porter Airlines, a small carrier that operates mainly domestic flight in the East of Canada with a fleet of Dash 8 Q400. I have heard many good things about this airline so I definitely wanted to try them out. And they operate out of Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport, the airport on a small island right next to the city center, so certainly something special as well.

Flight 1: YUL-YTZ

A lovely morning it was as we arrived at Montréal airport:

Let's check out the information screen, and yes, there are indeed quite a few flights to Toronto, the 10 o'clock one is ours:

So gate 9 it was for us this morning, and after a quick breakfast we walked over and there it was, the Dash 8 Q400 that would take us to Toronto:

Registered as C-GLQG, built in 2008 and one of 29 planes of this type in Porter's fleet. Boarding on time and we entered the plane, it was an almost full load but everything was still quite relaxed. Now as I travelled with my son I left the window seat to him and settled down on 18C. Cabin view:

Let's check out the contents of the seat pocket first, there was the re:porter magazine, clever title, isn't it 😉 :

And of course also something for your safety:

Engines were then started, and we were on our way. Take-off over the western suburbs of Montréal and the St-Lawrence river:

A little while later the airport of Ottawa came into view:

Then the crew came around, they were a really friendly bunch, and they started to distrubute snacks and drinks. There was even a choice between cookies, crisps or nuts. I took the crisps together with an orange juice. Notice the real glassware, even branded with porter, nice:

After around 50 minutes in the air it was already time to descend towards Toronto. And the approach was quite spectacular, although it was a bit hazy and the windows were a little dirty, so my pictures didn't turn out to be that good. On the downwind leg towards runway 08, the island with the airport in the foreground, downtown Toronto in the background:

And so the flight came to an end with a smooth landing and quite heavy breaking, another view of the city on the way to the parking position:

Our plane seen after deboarding

And the arrivals hall of the airport:

Now to reach the mainland from the island here you have the choice to walk through a tunnel or take the ferry. Just for fun we took the ferry, after all there are not many airports in the world where you can do that:

And it is probably one of the shortest ferry rides in the world, just a few meters to the other shore:

Visiting Toronto

Great service here, there is a regular free bus shuttle going from the airport into the city. And since it is only a short ride in less than half an hour after the landing we were already right in the city center:

Our first destination was the probably most famous iconic landmark in the city, the CN Tower. With a height of over 550m the tallest building in Northern America and quite an impressive sight:

We got our tickets and rode the glass elevators to the top. Needless to say that the views were absolutely stunning:

And a view towards the City Airport where we just landed not long ago:

Another porter Dash 8 was just departing:

Details about the tower, we went all the way up to that little bowl that is marked with the red arrow:

Back down on ground level we then wandered more or less aimlessly around in the city. Here are just a few impressions:

Before it was time to head back to the airport we had a seriously delicious pizza:

We then walked back to Union Station where the bus towards the airport would depart:

Since we didn't know exactly when the busses would depart and how heavy the traffic would be we went there quite early for our departure. But everything went well and we were back at the airport in almost no time:

Flight 2: YTZ-YUL

As we checked out the FIDS we saw that our flight showed a 20 minutes delay. But we were still in time enough for the earlier flight so I decided to ask at the desk if we could change to this flight. Not that I thought it possible, being on a rather cheap ticket, but the lady at the desk checked our papers, had a quick look in the computer and just said "yeah, why not, we can do that". Very nice, we got our new boarding passes and went straight through security. We then had to wait only a few minutes before boarding started, and then we saw our plane, of course another Dash 8:

This time it was C-GKQE, first flight in 2012 and since then in porter's fleet.

A quick look into the cockpit from our seat before departure:

And the look outside, the big propeller with the skyline in the background:

Let's get these blades turning:

On-time departure, only a short way to the runway and up we went over the lake, too bad we were sitting on the wrong side for the views over Toronto:

Same service as on the morning flight, this time I tried the almonds:

Again about a one-hour flight, these pictures already on the approach towards Montréal:

And back on the ground, taxiing past the Qatari 777 before coming to a stop at the stand next to a nice Westjet 737-600:

And so this awesome daytrip to Toronto came to an end, it was a great day. Quite impressed by Porter Airlines, nice and friendly service on board, and the easy rebooking to the earlier flight was just great. And YTZ, lovely and efficient airport, so glad to have it in my log now.

Hope you enjoyed reading this short report, and as always, stay tuned for more 😃