Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport (YTZ) sits on the Toronto Islands a few hundred metres off the foot of Bathurst Street, 200 km and about two and a quarter hours from London, Ontario. It is Porter Airlines' home and Air Canada also flies it, with turboprop services to Ottawa, Montreal, Halifax, Quebec City, Newark, Boston, Washington, Chicago and other short-haul cities from a terminal reached by a pedestrian tunnel or a ninety-second ferry from the mainland at Eireann Quay. Vehicles do not cross: LondonLimo.net drops at the mainland terminal on Eireann Quay and, on arrival, meets you at the top of the tunnel or the ferry dock with a name board, flight-tracked, with the included wait. The fixed rate from any London address is a planning figure of $330-380 plus HST for a business sedan, $380-430 for an SUV.
Why a Londoner flies from the island
Porter's Billy Bishop flights land in the middle of the city they serve - Ottawa's airport is fifteen minutes from Parliament Hill, Montreal's from downtown, and Billy Bishop itself is ten minutes from Bay Street - and for the business day in Ottawa, Montreal, Halifax or New York the island airport beats Pearson on time and temper. The lounge is free, the queues are short, and the aircraft are the Dash 8 turboprops that Porter built its reputation on, with the Embraer jets flying the longer routes from Pearson. From London the drive is twenty minutes longer than to Pearson, into the Gardiner and down Bathurst, and the fixed rate is thirty to forty dollars more; for the right trip it is worth every one of them.
| Detail | Billy Bishop (YTZ) |
|---|---|
| From downtown London | 200 km, 2 h 15 off-peak |
| Route | 401 east, 427 south, the Gardiner to Lake Shore, Bathurst south to Eireann Quay |
| Airlines | Porter (most flights), Air Canada (Montreal, Ottawa) |
| Routes | Ottawa, Montreal, Quebec City, Halifax, Moncton, Thunder Bay, Sault Ste. Marie, Sudbury, Timmins, Newark, Boston, Washington, Chicago, Myrtle Beach and seasonal others |
| Drop and meeting point | The mainland terminal at Eireann Quay - top of the pedestrian tunnel, ferry dock beside it |
| Sedan / SUV, planning figure | $330-380 / $380-430 + HST |
The mainland side: Eireann Quay
Everything for the car happens on the mainland at the foot of Bathurst Street. The chauffeur drops at the mainland terminal building, where the tunnel entrance, the ferry dock, the check-in kiosks and the shuttle-bus stop are; you walk down the escalators into the tunnel, along the moving walkways for a few minutes, and up into the island terminal, or take the ferry, which runs every fifteen minutes and takes ninety seconds. On arrival you come up the same way and the chauffeur is at the top of the tunnel exit with a name board, or at the curb on Eireann Quay when you text. There is a short-term pickup area and the chauffeur knows it; the airport's site describes the tunnel and the ferry.
Departures from London
For an 8 a.m. Porter departure to Ottawa, the pickup from London is at 5 a.m., which gives two and a quarter hours of driving, a buffer for the Gardiner, and the forty-five minutes Porter asks for at the island; the chauffeur drops at Eireann Quay at 7:10. Porter's own check-in cut-offs are shorter than Pearson's, and its US flights clear US customs on arrival in the States rather than by preclearance, which keeps the island quick. The chauffeur confirms the pickup time the evening before; Porter's app tells you your gate.
Arrivals, and the included wait
The flight is tracked; the chauffeur waits on the mainland side, and thirty minutes of wait is included on a domestic arrival and sixty on an international one, though at Billy Bishop the walk from the aircraft through the tunnel to Eireann Quay takes ten minutes and there are no bags to wait for on most flights beyond the carousel in the island terminal. The car is a two-minute walk from the terminal; the drive home to London is two and a quarter hours at 10 p.m. on the empty 401.
Toronto on the way
The island airport is on the waterfront, ten minutes from the Financial District, the hotels on Front Street and the Rogers Centre and Scotiabank Arena: a London traveller with a Toronto meeting on the way to or from a Porter flight books the Toronto page's fixed rate with a stop, or a Toronto hourly booking. Pearson is forty minutes from the island across the city; a Porter connection between the two is a chauffeured transfer rather than a train.
Winter and the Gardiner
The Gardiner Expressway is the variable: closures for events, construction that has run for years, and the Friday afternoon crawl from the 427 to Bathurst that can take forty minutes on its own. The chauffeur reads the traffic and takes Lake Shore or the 401 and the Allen if the Gardiner is closed, and the pickup time from London allows for it. Winter tires from November to April; the island airport itself is rarely weather-closed but Porter's turboprops do delay in freezing fog, which is tracked and never charged.
Business travellers, corporate accounts and the Ottawa day
The Ottawa day - a 7 a.m. Porter flight, meetings on the Hill or in Kanata, the 6 p.m. flight home - is the booking London's corporate accounts use Billy Bishop for: a 4 a.m. pickup, the island by 6:15, and a chauffeur at Eireann Quay at 7:20 p.m. for the run home, or a night in a Toronto hotel and the chauffeur in the morning. In Ottawa a network chauffeur meets the flight on the same account.
Families, students and the Maritimes
Porter's Halifax, Moncton and St. John's flights are the family route to the Maritimes for Londoners with relatives there; students at Dalhousie and Memorial fly it in September and December. An SUV for the luggage, a stop at the mainland terminal, and the Halifax page's network chauffeur at the other end.
Groups at Billy Bishop
The mainland terminal's drop area takes a Sprinter, and a group of fourteen flying Porter to a conference in Ottawa or Montreal is a Sprinter from London at a planning figure of $590-690 one way; larger groups are quoted from the schedule on the group transportation page.
The honest alternatives
VIA Rail from London to Union Station and a taxi or the streetcar to Bathurst and Queens Quay is a fair alternative for a solo traveller with a carry-on and a daytime flight; the UP Express does not serve the island. For the 5 a.m. departure, the family, the corporate traveller and the return at 10 p.m., the chauffeured fixed rate is the answer, and the comparison guide explains why.
Three Billy Bishop bookings, as they actually run
An Ottawa day, Tuesday. A business sedan from Dufferin Avenue at 4:05 a.m. for a 7:00 Porter flight; Eireann Quay by 6:15; the return met at the tunnel exit at 7:35 p.m.; home at 9:50. On the corporate account.
A family to Halifax, August. An executive SUV from Westmount at 8:30 for a 12:10 flight, six bags and a stroller; the tunnel's elevators used for the stroller; the return three weeks later tracked and met.
A student to Newark, September. A sedan from a Western residence at 5:15 a.m. for a 9:20 Porter flight to Newark; a carry-on and one case; at the mainland terminal by 7:35.
Planning figures. Rates are LondonLimo.net planning ranges before HST; the engine quotes the exact address, date and vehicle. Routes change by season and the airline is the authority. Airport and airline names describe where we drive and imply no affiliation.
Porter from the island versus Porter from Pearson
Porter now flies from both Toronto airports: the turboprop network to Ottawa, Montreal, the Maritimes and the US northeast from the island, and the Embraer jet network to Vancouver, Calgary, Florida and the west from Pearson. A London traveller booking Porter should check which airport the flight uses before choosing the run; the desk checks it too. For the island routes there is no better airport in Canada for a business day; for the jet routes the Pearson page applies.
The tunnel, the ferry and passengers who need more time
The pedestrian tunnel has escalators and elevators at both ends and moving walkways between; the ferry is level-boarding from the dock with a short ramp. A passenger with a mobility aid, a stroller or heavy luggage uses the elevators and the ferry, and the chauffeur allows the extra ten minutes on the pickup. The airport's assistance service meets passengers who request it through the airline at the mainland terminal; an accessible vehicle is arranged with notice through our partners.
Corporate accounts and the Ottawa-Montreal-Halifax triangle
London companies with offices or clients in Ottawa, Montreal and Halifax use the island as a matter of policy: an account holds the standing 4 a.m. pickup, the preferred chauffeur, and the network chauffeur at the other end booked on the same file through the Ottawa, Montreal and Halifax pages. The corporate chauffeur service page describes the account.
Toronto hotels and the night before
An 8 a.m. island departure can also be a night in a Toronto hotel on the waterfront or on Front Street with the chauffeur at 7:15 for the five-minute run to Eireann Quay, which turns a 5 a.m. London pickup into a civilised evening; the travel desk books the room and the Toronto page describes the districts. The reverse - a late island arrival, a hotel, and the run to London in the morning - suits the traveller who lands at 11 p.m.
What the mainland terminal has
Check-in kiosks and a bag drop for Porter, a small waiting area, the tunnel entrance and the ferry dock, and the stop for the free shuttle bus to Union Station. There is no lounge on the mainland side; the free Porter lounge with coffee and snacks is in the island terminal past security. The airport's site publishes the tunnel hours and the ferry schedule, both of which run from before the first flight to after the last.
Winter tires, the lakefront and the 4 a.m. run
The 401 at 4 a.m. in January is empty and, on a clear night, the fastest drive of the year; in a squall west of Woodstock it is closed, and the chauffeur leaves earlier or routes north via Highway 7/8 when Ontario 511 says so. The lakefront at Bathurst can be icy where the wind comes off the water; the vehicle has winter tires from November to April and the walk from the car to the tunnel is under cover. A Porter turboprop delayed by freezing fog is tracked and never charged.
