OTTAWA — Last night’s Ottawa-edition of ‘Mr. Porter’s House Party’ was less about introducing the airline to the market – as was the case with last summer’s party in Vancouver – and more about Porter’s significant investment developing Ottawa International Airport (YOW) as a hub over the past 12 to 18 months.

Ottawa has a special place in Porter’s heart. It was the first destination on the airline’s route map back in 2006, when the airline first launched out of YTZ.

Almost 20 years later, Ottawa is now Porter’s fastest growing hub outside of Toronto.

Ahead of yesterday’s party, Travelweek had the chance to connect with Kevin Jackson, President of Porter Airlines.

“We’ve built out Ottawa to be a strong east-west connecting hub for Canada and now down into Florida as well,” explained Jackson. “You’ll continue to see us expand our destinations out of Ottawa through the next several years. We’re currently up to 16 nonstops out of Canada’s capital, in 2023 we served about 750,000 passengers. This year that will grow to two million passengers and will be even higher next year. By this summer, we will be the largest carrier out of Ottawa based on flights and seats in the market.”

Jackson continued: “I believe people in Ottawa are happy that Porter is choosing to expand its product in that market and to offer nonstops that were historically not offered. Typically, from Ottawa, travellers would have to go through Montreal or Toronto to get to their destination. Ottawa is an underserved and, at times, overlooked market, which gives us a great opportunity to build it into a strong local market that’s a connecting hub for travel across Canada and down into the U.S. The investment and commitment are immense, and competition has definitely taken notice of Porter’s large presence in this market and are maneuvering in response.”

Ottawa is now Porter’s fastest-growing hub outside of Toronto (photo credit Nick Menzies Photography)

PORTER’S EXPANSION: “INCREDIBLE SPEED”

On Porter’s rapid expansion, Jackson had this to say: “I think it’s critical to build scale quickly and we are taking delivery of aircraft very fast. We are now 14 months into the launch of our jet service, and we just took delivery of jet aircraft number 34 in a 100-aircraft order, which is incredible speed. Porter needs to boldly go quickly in order to challenge the marketplace as it’s critical for us garnering the market share we require to succeed. So far, we’re seeing great success.”

That success is seen through Porter’s growth to 10% of domestic capacity by the end of this year, up from 3% when it embarked on its expansion.

On what he believes sets Porter apart from its competitors, Jackson says: “Passengers know that the product and experience is different, and customer satisfaction scores tell us that, with 85% customer satisfaction and a 70 net promoter score (NPS), plus written comments in surveys. The satisfaction is pervasive in everything I see. We’re gaining market share in this country with a far superior economy product.”

PARTY TIME

The Ottawa edition of Mr. Porter’s House Party, held at Zibi House across the river in Gatineau, featured a live two-hour set by DJ Marsh. Jackson notes that the House Party concept has proven successful for Porter. The Toronto event, in November 2023, resulted in 1.7 million social media impressions.

“The experience and brand are different; it’s fresh, youthful and modern, which is demonstrated at these events,” says Jackson. “We know that it spreads the word, we know people see what we’re doing, and it differentiates Porter in the marketplace.”

To learn more, visit FlyPorter.com.

DJ Marsh at Mr. Porter’s House Party in Ottawa (photo credit Nick Menzies Photography)