The Toronto Port Authority said it was shocked to learn in a news release that Air Canada Jazz plans to resume flights from the Toronto Island airport in August.

The regional carrier said Thursday it will begin daily service from the Toronto City Centre Airport (TCCA) to Ottawa and Montreal on Aug. 28. Tickets are already available online.
 
The port authority first learned of the carrier's intentions through a news release, according to a letter to Jazz from Toronto Port Authority president Lisa Raitt.

But the federal agency responsible for overseeing operations at the airport says it has no intention of allowing Jazz to resume flights without entering into an operating agreement with the port authority.

"The Toronto Port Authority has the right and obligation to control and manage the operation of the TCCA, which includes authority to determine the rights of use of the TCCA and its facilities to be granted to commercial carriers and others," said Raitt in a letter sent to Jazz CEO Joseph Randell.

Jazz flew between the island airport and Ottawa until this spring when it was evicted from the airport after entrepreneur Robert Deluce announced plans to launch a new company, Porter Airlines.

Jazz officials argue the company's previous operating agreement with the port authority is still in effect since it was never terminated.

But the port authority maintains that Jazz refused the agency's offers in spring to use the airport, and the two were still in negotiations.
 
Mayor not happy with announcements

The move comes just months before the municipal election, re-igniting a debate that led in part to Mayor David Miller's election three years ago.

At that time, Miller vowed to stop the building of a bridge from the mainland to the island in an attempt to thwart the creation of a busy commercial airport.

Air Canada Jazz's announcement follows on the heels of Porter Airlines' announcement last week it would start 10 round-trip flights a day to Ottawa, with future plans to expand flights to 17 cities.

Jazz, meanwhile, has also promised 10 round-trip flights a day to Ottawa, plus seven daily round-trip flights to Montreal.

With two airlines operating off the island, there will be several planes landing and taking off every hour, making the airport busier than it has been in years.

"The two corporations want to make the island airport into a major, major airport," said Bill Freeman, of the residents group Community AIR. "We feel [it] is going to really retard the redevelopment of the waterfront."

A spokesperson for Miller said he is not happy with the announcement from Jazz.

But as Miller has admitted in the past, while he could stop the building of a bridge, he has little power to stop an airline.