New air service plans regular flights from Hamilton Harbour to Toronto Island
Hamilton Spectator By Carmela Fragomeni, WED, OCT 29, 2014
A new venture calling itself Hamilton Harbour Airways hopes to provide regular flights from a local yacht club to the Toronto Islands airport next year, pending Transport Canada approvals.
Co-owner Dimitri Aidonis of Dundas said the company submitted a commercial air service statement of intent to operate the business and outlined its plans to Transport Canada about four or five months ago.
Aidonis tweeted under the handle @flyhha on Oct. 6 that the airline would fly from the harbour to Toronto Island airport in 15 minutes in a "Cessna 208 Airvan" starting in 2015.
The aircraft is a single-engine turboprop, which would be equipped with floats for landing and taking off from the Royal Hamilton Yacht Club.
But in a phone interview, Aidonis said "we are still debating the type of aircraft."
Aidonis said it could take up to a year for Transport Canada to give the go-ahead. However, he is confident the one-craft service will take flight and hopes it can start in late summer 2015.
"All of this takes time."
He said the plan is to offer regularly scheduled flights from the harbour to Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport, along with providing personal and business charters to Muskoka.
However, there is a cap on the number of flights into Toronto Island, so he hopes to run chartered flights until he can get his planned air service off the ground.
Transport Canada, asked last week if it had any record of Hamilton Harbour Airways, said it had "no certificate holders operating this type of service in the Hamilton area."
On Wednesday, a spokesperson said Transport Canada could not confirm it had a statement of intent because it needs a company's permission to release such information.
Michael Temperley, general manager of the Royal Hamilton Yacht Club, confirmed that the club and Aidonis have met a number of times to discuss running Hamilton Harbour Airways out of the yacht club.
"They needed a full service restaurant-bar and an indoor facility for baggage and ticket handling," he said.
"We'd like to see this thing take off," he added. "We definitely have the space. We definitely have the parking and we have dock space."
Temperley said such a service would provide more business for the yacht club and a niche service for Hamilton.
"To get to the island airport in 11 minutes will be attractive. From what they say, it sounds like a viable option — and there are benefits to us as well. The club will figure prominently."
cfragomeni@thespec.com
http://www.thespec.com/news-story/49...oronto-island/