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Porter Airlines, the regional airline in Toronto, has made an announcement on Tuesday (August 4) that it is extending the suspension of its all passenger flight operations till October 7, 2020.
The decision of extending flight suspension came up due to ongoing government travel restrictions that include a mandatory quarantine upon arrival in the country, ongoing closure of the Canada-U.S. border for non-essential travel and Atlantic Canada travel bubble which requires non-residents entering into the area to self-isolate for at least 14 days.
The airline said it will waive all changes and cancellation fees on all fares booked through October 7.
Mr. Michael Deluce, President and CEO of Porter Airlines, has said in his statement, “We never intended to suspend operations for such an extended period of time.”
“Unfortunately, the layers of travel restrictions are serving to keep most people at home and show no signs of easing. We will continue making decisions based on how the situation evolves,” he further added.
Porter Airlines serves Eastern Canada and the United States. It is one of many Canadian airlines that have grounded some or all of its fleets due to border closures and declining travel demand caused by the coronavirus. The carrier will be grounded its fleet for almost 7 months this year.
The carrier had previously planned to resume flights at the end of August, after initially setting a date in late July.
It is the third time passenger flight operations have been suspended since the airline initially suspended flight operations on March 21, in an effort to follow the implemented COVID-19 restrictions in Canada.
In regard to COVID-19 transmission in Canada, the country has reported a total number of 1,18,187 confirmed cases and 8,962 patients have died due to virus. However, 1,02,788 patients who tested positive to COVID-19 have completely recovered from the virus, as of Thursday (August 6).
