Porter Airlines adds flights to New York's LaGuardia Airport

Porter Airlines is bringing its jets to the other side of the Hudson River.

The Toronto-based airline announced on Monday that it will add service to New York's LaGuardia Airport (LGA) after years of exclusively serving nearby Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) as its sole New York City metro area operation.

Porter's LaGuardia flights will take off on May 1, with up to three daily round-trip flights between Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ) and LGA.

The airline will base itself at LaGuardia's award-winning Terminal B, meaning that eligible flyers will have access to a slew of top-notch departure lounges, such as the American Express Centurion Lounge and Chase's Sapphire Lounge by The Club.

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Porter says that the new LaGuardia flights will be timed conveniently for connections through YYZ to the airline's domestic Canadian network, including Edmonton, Saskatoon, Vancouver and more.

Furthermore, Porter can tap into JetBlue's domestic connectivity from LaGuardia, as the two carriers have an existing interline partnership.

For those frequent flyer earnings, Porter passengers can choose to earn miles on Alaska Airlines or points on Porter itself.

Porter will deploy its new 132-seat Embraer E195-E2 aircraft on the route, which offers a 2-2 configuration and free Wi-Fi.

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In terms of the onboard experience, Porter offers an assortment of premium snacks, as well as free beer and wine served in glassware.

Porter has been serving the New York City area via Newark since 2008, with nonstop flights to the far more convenient Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport (YTZ) in Toronto. This service operates with De Havilland Dash 8-400 turboprop aircraft.

Interestingly, in order to add flights at the capacity-constrained LGA, Porter needs slots, or takeoff and landing permissions, for each flight. Airlines can't just pick up these slots on an ad-hoc free-market basis, so the airline likely inked a lease deal with another airline to pick up some extra slots. (It's possible that JetBlue, Porter's interline partner, leased the airline some unused slots.)

"We have built a strong passenger base over more than 15 years for those traveling between Canada and the New York metropolitan area. The addition of LaGuardia introduces a new dimension to our network, opening more options for existing customers and the ability to attract new ones within the busiest air service corridor connecting Canada and the U.S," said Andrew Pierce, Porter's vice president of network planning and reporting, in a statement.

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