Canadian airline coming to Melbourne

Porter Airlines, an award-winning air carrier based out of Toronto, Canada announced Monday that it has selected Melbourne International Airport for a destination as it enters the Florida market for the first time.

The weekly service begins Dec. 19 and initially will run through April 30, 2016 between Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport and Melbourne International. Introductory round trip prices are starting at $330.

It's believed to the first commercial international flights out of Melbourne International in decades. The flights are aimed at bringing tourists to the Space Coast as the weather turns cold in Canada to enjoy the beaches and attractions in Central Florida.

"Many Canadians want to escape during the winter season so including Central Florida as a seasonal service makes sense for our passengers," said Robert Deluce, president and chief executive officer Porter Airlines. "We see this as a great opportunity to meet current requests that we have for Florida flights and demonstrate the demand that exists for Porter to serve the state in a more meaningful way long term."

The deal with Porter could be the first of similar agreements with other international carriers looking for a more inexpensive, and less hectic, way to make inroads into the popular Central Florida market where millions of tourists come to visit the beaches, take a cruise from Port Canaveral and, of course, go to the the Orlando-area theme parks.

It's a significant opportunity for places like Brevard and Indian River counties to boost their tourism profiles.

“Canada is our top visitor market,” said Greg Donovan, executive director of Melbourne International Airport. "We can promise Porter passengers a warm and enthusiastic welcome at the same high level of customer service they have come to expect."

We are a concierge airport , connecting another concierge airport,– with the famous Porter experience.”

Billy Bishop Airport also is a connector for larger Canadian cities, including Montreal, Ottawa, Sault Ste. Marie, Sudbury, Thunder Bay, Timmins and Windsor. Potential, that means thousands of more visitors, not just those in the Toronoto metro area, being enticed to the Space Coast.

“This new service opens up a total of 8 Canadian markets for our region,” said Eric Garvey, executive director of the Space Coast Office of Tourism. “Our partnership with (Melbourne International Airport) and Porter is a strong indicator of what tourism and air travel can accomplish together. This is the first international scheduled commercial service to Melbourne in decades. To have that flight originate from our top tourism market just makes this announcement sweeter still.”

Contact Wayne T. Price at 321-242-3658 or wprice@floridatoday.com