As part of a plan to develop Toronto City Center Airport into a viable commercial hub, the Toronto Port Authority (TPA) has entered negotiations with a local holding company to base a new regional airline at the island airport. Known as Regional Airlines Holding Co. (Regco), the new airline plans to start operations within a year, by which time it plans to inaugurate service to Ottawa, Chicago and New York. Plans call for more service to 17 cities within a 90-min flight time or 500 nm, including Montreal, Quebec City, Detroit, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Washington and Boston.
“We will not use jets and will not require any changes to the existing runways,” said Regco president and CEO Robert Deluce, who proposed placing an order with Bombardier for 15 Dash 8Q-400 turboprops to fill the plan’s capacity needs. Toronto City Center offers three runways (4,000 ft, 3,000 ft and 2,780 ft long). A tripartite agreement signed by the Canadian government, the city of Toronto and the Toronto Harbor Commission bars any runway extensions or jet traffic aside from activity associated with medevac operations or the CNE Air Show. The 1983 agreement also prohibits construction of a bridge to the island.
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