Jazz Wins Round in Port Authority Suit, Porter to Double Fleet
A Canadian federal court judge decided to allow Air Canada Jazz’s appeal in its action against the Toronto Port Authority for fair and equal access to the Toronto City Center Airport. The case, said Jazz, will now be heard based on the merits. Its suit alleges that the TPA and City Centre Aviation (CCA) conspired to eliminate any competition for then-proposed Porter Airlines which launched service last year at TCCA. Related Story
In the meantime, Porter plans on doubling its fleet and hopes to have financing in place by September. The financing will cover six aircraft for a fleet total of 10 aircraft, according to CEO Robert Deluce, whose airline now serves Montreal and Ottawa from the downtown airport. Porter, which turned its first profit last month, plans to add Halifax on June 29 and expects to start Newark service later this year once it gains U.S. Department of Transportation approval. Porter also has its sights set on Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia and Washington, DC. While USAirways (LCC) has gained approval to serve the downtown airport, it has announced no plans to start service there.

Continental, US Helicopter in Code-Sharing Pact
Continental (CAL) extended its current agreement with US Helicopter (USHP) connecting New York City passengers to its BusinessFirst flights at Newark (EWR) into a code-sharing agreement. Recently, Delta (DAL) did a similar deal with the company to get passengers to its flights at Kennedy. The Continental agreement calls for single itineraries and seamless check-in, including the issuance of boarding passes and baggage checked to final destinations at either the Downtown Manhattan or the Atlantic Metroport at East 34th Street. US Helicopter and have partnered to provide eight-minute shuttle service between Manhattan and EWR since December 2006. US Helicopter customers traveling on Continental flights complete security screening at the heliport allowing customers to proceed directly to their departure gate at Newark/New York Liberty. A one-way ticket aboard US Helicopter starts at $159, plus applicable security fees.

United Rolls out UA Ex Additions
United Express carriers will begin new non-stop service between 12 cities now through September 5. From Denver the new service will include Kalispell, Mont., Bakersfield, Calif and Little Rock, Ark. From Washington Dulles it includes Oklahoma City, Little Rock and Ottawa. Its O’Hare service adds Kalispell and Halifax while the new San Francisco service will connect to Palmdale. Finally, it is adding a daily roundtrip between Los Angeles and Wichita. Bakersfield, Halifax, Wichita and OKC will be ExPlus service using CRJ-700s and Embraer 170s. The new service will use a combination of Bombardier (BBD) and Embraer (ERJ) regional jets. Customers flying on explus will enjoy the first regional jet service with three seating options, including United (UAUA) First and extra legroom of Economy Plus.

Huntington Gets New Service
After years of decline and a failed attempt to build a new airport between Huntington and Charleston, W. Va., Huntington just gained new Delta Connection service to Atlanta via Atlantic Southeast Airlines. It already has US Airways Express service to Charlotte and Delta Connection to Cincinnati, the most destinations it has had since 1994. The airport has also been granted $7 million for two runway extension projects which will extend the main runway an additional 500 feet to 7,018 feet and provide for safety overruns on the main and secondary runways.

Midwest Adds New SkyWest, Skyways Service
In the wake of AirTran (AAI) saying Midwest’s (MEH) Milwaukee’s hub is an underserved market, Midwest added a midday flight to its four flights it already has between Milwaukee and Minneapolis and an early-morning departure from Appleton to Milwaukee to the new flights it is taking effective August 1. The new service to MSP will use SkyWest’s (SKYW) Midwest Connect 50-seat jets while the change in flight times at Appleton from evening to early morning will use the Skyways Midwest Connect 32-seat Dornier 328 jets which will add additional early morning connection opportunities over MKE.