Porter Airlines

On an island off the Toronto skyline, only a few hundred meters from the financial district, there is an airport where jets are not allowed to land. That is exactly where Porter Airlines started in 2006 – with fast turboprops and the promise of getting business travelers to Ottawa or Montréal without a long trip to the airport. Twenty years later, Porter is Canada’s third-largest airline and operates one of the largest fleets of the Embraer E195-E2. This page shows you which codes Porter uses, how the two-part fleet works and where you can get the airline in front of your lens.

Porter Airlines at a glance

Porter Airlines is a Canadian scheduled airline based at Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport. The idea came from Robert Deluce, who still supports the airline today as Executive Chairman; the CEO is Michael Deluce. In February 2006, Porter announced the Toronto–Ottawa route, and on October 23, 2006, the first scheduled flight went to the capital. The start was bumpy: Expanding the island airport was politically controversial in Toronto, and on the first day protesters even blocked the ferry dock.

From the start, Porter relied on a clear recipe: short trips to the city center, a calm terminal instead of the hustle of a big airport, and service that stands clearly apart from low-cost carriers. For a long time, Porter was thus a pure turboprop airline for eastern Canada and the northeastern US.

The big shake-up came after the pandemic. In March 2020, Porter suspended all flight operations and didn’t fly again until September 8, 2021 – almost 18 months later. As early as July 2021, however, the airline had announced its biggest decision yet: jets from Embraer, based at the large Toronto Pearson airport. Since then, Porter has been growing at a pace rarely seen in North America, and it is now considered the country’s third-largest airline behind Air Canada and WestJet.

Codes and callsign

• IATA code PD: appears in the flight number, so on the ticket, departure board and in most schedules.
• ICAO code POE: appears in the air traffic control flight plan and on flight trackers.
• Callsign PORTER AIR: this is how the crew identifies itself on the radio.

In addition, a second IATA code, P3, and a second callsign, “DASH PORT”, are registered for Porter. For most spotters this hardly matters in everyday use, but it can explain why a tracker occasionally shows an unfamiliar identifier. How IATA and ICAO codes relate in general is explained in the guide to IATA and ICAO codes.

Billy Bishop: the airport that shaped Porter

Without the island airport, Porter wouldn’t exist in this form. Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport (IATA YTZ) sits on the Toronto Islands in Lake Ontario, right in front of downtown. Passengers arrive by ferry or, since July 30, 2015, through a pedestrian tunnel about 240 meters long under the channel.

Strict rules apply to operations. A 1983 agreement between the City of Toronto, the port authority and the federal government bans jets – ambulance flights excepted – and sets noise limits. Flights operate only between 6:45 a.m. and 11:00 p.m. The longer of the two runways measures just over 1,200 meters. The Dash 8-400 is made for these conditions: fast enough for routes like Toronto–Halifax, but capable of short takeoffs and quieter than a jet.

In 2013, Porter wanted to change that. The airline announced a conditional order for Bombardier CS100 jets to fly considerably longer routes from the island airport. That would have required lengthening the runway and loosening the jet ban. In November 2015, the federal government declared that it would not support this. The jet plans were put on ice – until Porter found another way: simply basing the jets somewhere else.

Interesting for spotters: Billy Bishop is shared by Porter and Air Canada Express, whose regional flights are also operated there with turboprops. Telling the two Dash 8 fleets apart is one of the typical tasks at the island airport – more on that below under mix-ups.

The fleet: Dash 8-400 and Embraer E195-E2

Porter flies only two types – but two very different ones. According to fleet overviews, the fleet in 2026 looks roughly like this:

Type	Number (as of 2026)	Seats	Use	Spotter note
De Havilland Canada Dash 8-400	just under 30	78	Billy Bishop, regional routes in eastern Canada and the northeastern US	T-tail, six-blade propellers, type code DH8D
Embraer E195-E2	over 50	132	Pearson, Ottawa and other bases, routes across Canada, the US, Mexico, the Caribbean	Long wings without winglets, type code E295
Embraer E195-E2	more on order	132	Deliveries ongoing	Firm orders totaling 75 jets plus purchase rights

Dash 8-400: the workhorse of the early years

Porter originally ordered ten Q400s with 70 seats and then expanded the fleet several times; in November 2011, the first Q400s in the NextGen version joined. Because the runway at Billy Bishop is short, the aircraft were deliberately configured with 70 seats at first. In 2021, Porter refitted the fleet to 78 seats. The manufacturer of the series is now De Havilland Canada, which took over the program from Bombardier – which is why the type is called Q400 or Dash 8-400 depending on the source.

E195-E2: the growth engine

In July 2021, Porter ordered 30 Embraer E195-E2s and secured rights to many more. In July 2022, 20 firm orders were added, and in November 2023 another 25 – so 75 jets are firmly on the order book. On December 21, 2022, Porter took delivery of the first two aircraft and became the North American launch customer of the E2 family. Over 50 are now flying, which makes Porter one of the largest E2 operators in the world.

Porter seats the E195-E2 with 132 seats in rows of two with no middle seat: the premium cabin PorterReserve up front, behind it rows with extra legroom and regular economy. On board there is free Wi-Fi but no screens in the seatbacks. The jets are maintained in Ottawa, where Porter built a large maintenance base for the E2. The manufacturer is Embraer of Brazil.

Dash 8-400 or E195-E2? How to tell them apart

The question sounds trivial – prop or not –, but at long distance, in backlight or at dusk over Lake Ontario, it isn’t always. These features help:

It gets harder when you want to tell a Porter E2 from other E-Jets. The first generation, such as the Embraer E195, has smaller engines and shorter wings, and the slightly shorter E190-E2 looks very similar to the E195-E2 but has a shorter fuselage and a slightly smaller wingspan. Porter, however, flies only the large E195-E2 – if you see an E-Jet with Porter titles, the type is settled. How to sort out the whole family is shown in the guide Telling Embraer E-Jets apart. For the prop side, the article Telling ATR and Dash 8 apart is worthwhile.

How to recognize Porter

Porter cultivates a deliberately distinctive brand image. The name appears consistently in lowercase as “porter” on the fuselage. The mascot is a stylized raccoon called “Mr. Porter”, who appears in the airline’s advertising, and the staff uniforms take their cue from 1960s airline fashion. From the start, the goal was to stand out from the usual image of North American regional airlines.

Even easier than the paint is the fleet logic: Porter has only two types. A turboprop with Porter titles is a Dash 8-400, a jet is an E195-E2. And because Porter may not operate jets at the island airport, the location often tells you the type.

For special liveries, a look back is worthwhile: For Canada’s 150th birthday in 2017, Porter flew an anniversary livery. Such designs are rare at Porter – all the more valuable when one turns up.

How Canadian and other registrations are structured is explained in the guide Understanding aircraft registrations.

From the island airport to the Caribbean: the network

For a long time, Porter was an airline for the “corridor” between Toronto, Ottawa and Montréal, supplemented by destinations in the Maritimes and the northeastern US, such as Boston and Newark. With the jets, that has changed fundamentally. From Toronto Pearson and Ottawa, Porter now flies across Canada, including to Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg and Victoria. Added to that are US destinations such as Los Angeles, San Francisco, Las Vegas and several airports in Florida, plus New York LaGuardia.

It goes to the sun, too: Mexico, Costa Rica and the Caribbean are in the winter schedule. For the 2026/27 season, new destinations such as Aruba, Los Cabos, Montego Bay and San José in Costa Rica are in the schedule – the network is constantly in motion.

A new base since June 15, 2026, is Montréal Metropolitan Airport in Saint-Hubert, where Porter has opened its own terminal for domestic flights. Porter deploys both the Dash 8-400 and the E195-E2 there.

Porter does have some partners despite lacking an alliance: There has been a joint venture with Air Transat since 2023 that links Porter domestic flights with Transat’s leisure and transatlantic network. There are also partnerships with British Airways and Alaska Airlines, among others.

Putting Porter in context in Canada

In the Canadian market, Porter holds a position of its own. The big network airlines Air Canada and WestJet work with regional partners: Air Canada with Jazz Aviation and PAL Airlines under the Air Canada Express brand, WestJet with its regional subsidiary WestJet Encore. Porter, by contrast, flies everything itself and under its own name – from the 78-seat turboprop to the 132-seat jet.

Porter sets itself apart from ultra-low-cost carriers like Flair Airlines through service: Snacks and drinks, including beer and wine, are free on board, and on longer E2 flights there is fresh food. The frequent flyer program is called VIPorter.

Spotting Porter

Porter doesn’t fly to Europe. If you want to photograph the airline, it belongs on the list for a trip to North America – and there it is hard to miss in several places.

Billy Bishop is Porter’s most unusual territory. The airport lies in the middle of the city, and arrivals and departures run over the water of Lake Ontario and the harbor. From publicly accessible areas on the shore and on the islands, you can photograph the Dash 8s against the backdrop of the city – a shot you get at hardly any other airport. Keep the operating hours in mind: Before 6:45 a.m. and after 11 p.m., no scheduled flights take off or land there.

At Toronto Pearson, you see the E195-E2 among the widebodies of Air Canada and international airlines. Because there is a lot of traffic there, an alert on the tracker helps you not miss Porter movements – how to do that is explained in the guide to flight tracking alerts.

If you are on the US East Coast, classic spots are worthwhile: In Boston, Castle Island is a good choice, and in New York the Planeview Park at LaGuardia Airport. With a bit of luck, a Porter E2 is in the approach chain there among the US airlines.

Common mix-ups

• Confusing the Porter Dash 8 with Air Canada Express – both turboprops fly at Billy Bishop. Titles and ICAO code (POE versus the code of the Express partner) settle it.
• Thinking every Dash 8 is a Q400 – smaller versions such as the Dash 8-300 have four-blade propellers and a shorter fuselage. Porter flies only the -400.
• Logging the Q400 and the Dash 8-400 as two types – it is the same aircraft, just under the name of Bombardier or De Havilland Canada, respectively.
• Logging the E195-E2 as an E190-E2 or a first-generation E195 – Porter flies exclusively the E195-E2.
• Expecting a Porter E2 at Billy Bishop – a jet ban applies there, and the E2s operate from Pearson, Ottawa and other airports.
• Taking Porter for a low-cost carrier – Porter forgoes the ultra-low-cost model and relies on included service on board.

Conclusion

Porter Airlines is one of the most exciting growth stories in North American aviation. The airline began as a turboprop specialist at an island airport with a jet ban and has grown with the Embraer E195-E2 into a nationwide carrier with destinations as far as the Caribbean. For spotters, the picture is still easy to grasp: two types, a clear brand image and a location that often tells you what is coming. If you visit both airports in Toronto, you will have the whole Porter fleet in the bag in a single day.