General aviation flights, like those of flight schools and commuter aircraft of individual owners, have always been a feature of the island airport.  Although a nuisance and minor irritant, they have co-existed with waterfront residents and island park users.  How much longer they will be around is anybody’s guess.

As far back as 1986, Brian Holmes, general manager of Central Airways, was quoted in the Star. “General aviation is being squeezed out," he said.   That was when City Express expected to serve 300,000 passengers.

Flash forward 15 years.  The document that kick-started the current island airport expansion, Toronto City Centre Airport, General Aviation & Airport Feasibility Study, December 2001, predicted local general and itinerant aviation  would be phased out in order for the scheduled airline traffic to comply with the noise parameters of the Tripartite Agreement, the legal document that regulates operations at the airport.

With passenger totals approaching 600,000 a year according to Lisa Raitt, CEO of the Toronto Port Authority, and Porter Airlines expecting to have 20 Q400s in operation by the end of next year, the writing is on the wall for the island airport’s general aviation operations.  Their days are numbered.

Bob Kotyk