Porter Airlines’ first foray into fall flights between Toronto, Canada and Myrtle Beach wrapped up a week ago, and officials said they were pleased with the traffic.
Porter followed the success of its winter-spring fights to the area with the non-stop fall flights, which started Sept. 8 and ended Nov. 20. A Porter official said the airline is pleased with the fall traffic -- it was similar to the traffic on its first winter flights to Myrtle Beach two years ago -- but couldn’t say last week that it would definitely be back next fall. That decision will be made later, spokesman Brad Cicero said.
“It was a good initial start for us to explore the fall,” he said. “We can’t say how that will play for 2012.”
Porter brought 276 passengers to Myrtle Beach in September and 386 passengers to the area in October, according to airport statistics. Passenger numbers for November haven’t yet been released.
The fall flights, which flew from Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport to Myrtle Beach International Airport, catered to families, Canadian golfers coming to the Grand Strand links and Canadians with second homes here -- all aiming to avoid the usual 16- to 20-hour drive, Cicero said.
Porter will return to Myrtle Beach for its third winter-early spring run starting Feb. 16 and ending May 21, with four weekly roundtrip flights planned between March 1 and April 30, when the airline sees its greatest demand for Myrtle Beach.
During its last winter-spring stint from February through May this year, Porter brought 2,492 travelers to Myrtle Beach, according to statistics from Myrtle Beach International Airport. Myrtle Beach is one of only three seasonal destinations for the Toronto-based carrier.
“It definitely meets a need of our passengers, and the demand has been quite good,” Cicero said.
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