Porter Airlines 2024-2025: new opportunities for Quebec SMEs

Between 2024 and 2025, Porter Airlines is rapidly transforming the Canadian air transport landscape. With fleet expansion, new routes and a passenger experience focused on business comfort, the company is creating a new playground for Quebec SMEs. For executives looking to optimize their travel and develop new markets in Ontario, Western Canada or the United States, the changes underway at Porter Airlines represent much more than just a flight option: they are levers for growth, cost reduction and productivity.

In this article, we explore the major trends 2024-2025 around Porter Airlines, the key market figures and, above all, what this means in concrete terms for an SME in Quebec. You’ll see how to adapt your business travel, market development and even digital marketing strategy to take advantage of these evolutions. We’ll also see how tools like AI, a well-configured CRM and a professional web presence can amplify the impact of these new transportation opportunities.

1. Porter Airlines’ rapid expansion: what the figures say 2024-2025

Since 2023, Porter Airlines has evolved from a regional carrier to a fast-growing national player. In 2024, the company is continuing to deploy its Embraer E195-E2 aircraft to new destinations, including several of direct interest to Quebec SMEs.

According to Porter Airlines’ corporate press releases and data published in 2024, the company :

• has ordered up to 50 Embraer E195-E2 aircraft, several of which are already in service, significantly increasing its capacity on medium-haul routes;
• has extended its network to over 30 destinations in North America, including Toronto Pearson (YYZ), Ottawa, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton and several U.S. cities;
• is increasingly focusing on business customers with an “all-economy premium” product: free Wi-Fi on board, extra legroom and quality snacks.

Trends from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) show that passenger traffic in North America has exceeded 2019 levels. IATA reported that global passenger traffic in 2023 had already reached 94.1% of pre-pandemic levels, with growth projected in 2024-2025(source IATA). For SMEs, this means that business travel is once again a key lever for meeting customers, attending trade shows and negotiating in person.

For Quebec companies, this expansion is strategic for several reasons:

• Easier access to Toronto and Ontario: with frequent connections to Toronto (Billy Bishop and Pearson), meeting customers, suppliers and partners becomes simpler and often more affordable.
• Connections to Western Canada: Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton and other cities are now more accessible with optimized connections.
• More competition, better fares: Porter’s arrival on certain routes dominated by other carriers puts downward pressure on prices, which can reduce SMEs’ overall business travel bill.

In a context where every dollar counts, these developments are enabling Quebec SMEs to reconsider their travel strategy: multiplying regional customer visits, venturing into new markets and negotiating volumes with a fast-growing carrier.

2. Opportunities for Quebec SMEs: market development and productivity

Porter Airlines’ expansion creates a new dynamic for Quebec SMEs, particularly in the manufacturing, B2B services, technology and business tourism sectors. Savings on tickets and simplified itineraries can have a tangible impact on growth.

A few areas of opportunity:

• Developing the Ontario market: Toronto remains the country’s largest economic market. Thanks to more frequent and often more comfortable flights, it’s becoming more realistic for SMEs to plan regular customer tours (monthly or quarterly) to build customer loyalty.
• Access to Western Canada: Ontario and the West represent pools of potential customers that are under-exploited by many Quebec SMEs. Porter’s new routes make it possible to explore these markets without multiple stopovers.
• Increased participation in trade shows: the famous “trade shows” in Toronto, Calgary, Vancouver or even the USA (via connections) are becoming more accessible. A number of business development studies show that trade show attendance can generate significant ROI for SMEs, particularly in the manufacturing and technology industries.

A McKinsey study revealed that B2B companies that maintain a high level of direct contact with their customers (meetings, events, trade shows) tend to generate higher revenue growth than their peers(source McKinsey). In this context, the ease of travel offered by Porter becomes a business relationship gas pedal.

In terms of productivity, Porter’s model – with free Wi-Fi, more comfortable seats and service geared towards business customers – turns flying hours into useful working hours. Executives and sales teams can :

• finalize proposals or presentations before they reach a prospect;
• update customer files in a centralized CRM directly from the plane;
• hold rapid videoconference meetings before takeoff or after landing, thanks to better-controlled connectivity.

Another often underestimated aspect: employer brand. Offering your sales and technical teams less arduous, more comfortable travel contributes to the retention of talent and the attractiveness of your SME, especially to profiles who travel frequently.

In short, Porter Airlines’ 2024-2025 trends are not just for the airline industry: they offer Quebec SMEs levers for growth, customer proximity and productivity, provided they integrate these opportunities into a structured business strategy.

3. Maximizing business travel ROI: AI, CRM and automation

Taking advantage of Porter Airlines’ new routes is one thing; getting a real return on investment is quite another. For a Quebec-based SME, the number of trips must translate into new sales, strengthened loyalty and useful data for marketing. That’s where AI, chatbots, CRM and automation come in.

Here’s how to structure your business trips around modern digital tools:

• Before the trip
  • Segment your prospects in Toronto, Ottawa, Calgary, etc., in your CRM (HubSpot, Zoho, Odoo, etc.) to identify high-value accounts.
  • Use AI and intelligent chatbots to qualify the leads that arrive via your website, in order to prioritize the most promising physical appointments.
  • Create an intelligent itinerary: several appointments per day, grouped by district, with automatic reminders and customer files available on the move.
• During the trip
  • Take advantage of on-board Wi-Fi to prepare your meetings, update your presentations and tailor your offers to each customer.
  • After each appointment, quickly enter your notes in the CRM via mobile: level of interest, next steps, budget, customer challenges, etc.
  • Schedule follow-up tasks to avoid oversights: send a proposal, a thank-you email, a demo, etc.
• After the trip
  • Analyze the results: number of customers met, opportunities created, potential value, sales closed.
  • Launch automated follow-up campaigns (e-mail or SMS) tailored to the profile of each contact you meet.
  • Reuse what you’ve learned to optimize your next trips: which cities are the most profitable? Which types of customers are most receptive?

A well-structured CRM also makes it easier to negotiate with a carrier like Porter. By knowing precisely your volume of trips per year (destinations, seasons, teams), you can :

• negotiate corporate agreements or volume discounts;
• plan your travel budgets more accurately;
• justify moves with sales and conversion data.

Finally, for SMEs selling online outside Quebec, alignment between your travels, your digital strategy and your e-commerce store is crucial. Each trip can be used to :

• test new markets before investing heavily in advertising;
• collect customer feedback to integrate into your product strategy and web content;
• shoot video content or capture customer testimonials on the spot, which you can then promote on your website and networks.

The Porter Airlines 2024-2025 trends then become a catalyst for a much broader ecosystem: business travel, CRM, e-commerce, content marketing and AI, all aligned on a common goal of profitable growth.

4. Practical strategies for SMEs: how to benefit from Porter now

To turn these aviation trends into concrete results, Quebec SMEs need to move from an opportunistic approach (“we take the cheapest flight”) to a strategic one (“we structure our travel as an investment”). Here’s a multi-step action plan tailored to the realities of small and medium-sized businesses.

1. Map your current and potential markets

• Make a list of your current customers outside Quebec: which cities do your teams already travel to?
• Identify 3 to 5 target markets aligned with the Porter network (e.g. Toronto, Ottawa, Halifax, Vancouver, Calgary).
• Link each market to a clear objective: prospecting, building loyalty, opening a new distribution channel, validating a new product, etc.

2. Update your digital ecosystem

• Make sure your website is professional, multilingual if necessary, and geared to a pan-Canadian clientele. If not, a website redesign may be a good place to start.
• Integrate an AI-powered intelligent chatbot to capture leads from Ontario and the rest of Canada while your teams are on the move.
• Connect your site to a structured CRM so that every web contact is automatically centralized and tracked.

3. Standardize the business travel process

• Define an internal “playbook”: how to plan a trip, how many appointments to aim for, what to do before/during/after each trip.
• Plan blocks of time on board for specific tasks (preparation, follow-up, CRM updates), taking advantage of Porter’s service and Wi-Fi.
• Systematically collect receipts and trip data to analyze your costs and ROI by destination.

4. Measure results and adjust

• Track clear indicators: average cost per trip, revenue generated 3, 6 and 12 months after each trip, rate of conversion of meetings into sales.
• Identify the most profitable routes and concentrate your efforts there. For example, if your Montreal-Toronto trips via Porter generate a high conversion rate, plan more tours in this city.
• Adjust your marketing and sales budget according to what the data reveals, rather than following intuition alone.

5. Leverage content and video on the move

• Take advantage of your travels to create content: photos, video capsules, customer testimonials, “behind the scenes” of your operations.
• Publish this content on your website, social networks and e-commerce product pages to reinforce your credibility outside Quebec.
• If you’re short of time or expertise, an agency like Nuaweb can help you with video production and content strategy, to turn your trips into lasting marketing assets.

By combining these strategies with Porter Airlines’ new capabilities, your travel will no longer be just an expense line, but a structured pillar of your growth strategy in Canada.

Conclusion: turn Porter flights into a growth lever for your SME

Between 2024 and 2025, Porter Airlines is redesigning part of the Canadian air network with more modern aircraft, more destinations and a strong focus on business customers. For Quebec SMEs, these trends open up concrete opportunities: easier access to Toronto and Ontario, gateways to Western Canada, increased participation in trade shows, and more productive business travel thanks to on-board comfort and connectivity.

However, for these moves to become a real growth driver, they need to be integrated into an overall strategy: a well thought-out CRM, a website designed to convert, AI and chatbot solutions to capture leads while you’re in the air, and an e-commerce and content strategy capable of supporting your development outside Quebec.

If you want to structure your business travel around the new possibilities offered by Porter Airlines, optimize your digital presence and put AI to work for your market development, the Nuaweb team can support you: strategy, tools, automation, web and video creation.

Schedule a free consultation today to discuss your situation and build a customized plan for your Quebec SME: https: //nuaweb.com/#contact.