Porter Airlines will begin service to Washington Dulles International Airport beginning in April.The regional airline, which operates out of the Toronto Island airport, said it will offer three daily round-trip flights on weekdays starting April 16. It will also have one round-trip on Saturdays and two round-trips on Sundays.Greater Washington is a region that our passengers have told us is their number one priority for new Porter service, said Robert Deluce, president and CEO of Porter Airlines.We expect great interest for both business and leisure trips and look forward to bringing competition to the route.

Begun in 2006, Porter Airlines has gradually expanded to other Canadian cities on the East Coast as well as Northern Ontario, and U.S. destinations including Newark, Boston and Chicago. It also offers seasonal service to Mount Tremblant and Burlington, Vermont.Last year, the Toronto Port Authority, which allocates the 202 available takeoff and landing slots at the airport, gave 16 slots that Continental Airlines had originally been awarded to Porter, leaving Air Canada with only 30 slots.Air Canada had been evicted from the airport in 2006 by the terminal company controlled by Deluce, and only returned last April, offering 15 daily round-trips to Montreal, its sole destination.Late last year, Air Canada lost a court appeal over how the slots were awarded.Air Canada flies from Toronto’s Pearson airport to both Washington Dulles airport, which is in suburban Virginia, and Reagan National airport in Washington, D.C.