TORONTO — Porter Airlines has pushed back its planned restart date to Feb. 11, as Canada’s travel restrictions and the COVID-19 pandemic continue to negatively impact passenger demand.

“Deferring service until 2021 is not a decision we anticipated having to make as COVID-19 emerged early this year,” said Michael Deluce, President and CEO of Porter Airlines.

“Every delay to restarting flights has the greatest effect on our team members, who are eager to do their part to help serve customers under safe conditions,” he said.

“Unfortunately, the continued and cumulative effects of restrictive travel advisories, border closures and quarantines have suffocated travel demand to the point that a return to sustainable levels of passenger traffic is highly unlikely in 2020,” said Deluce.

He adds that planning a restart after the traditionally slow post-holiday January period provides a reasonable opportunity to begin flying if conditions improve. The February 2021 timeline also gives more time for the development of rapid COVID-19 testing solutions as a means to lift government-imposed restrictions on travel.