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An Air Canada Express Q400 turboprop Friday on the tarmac at Billy Bishop Toronto City AirportFred Lum/The Globe and Mail

Ben Smith is casting Air Canada in the unusual role of underdog as the carrier returns on Sunday to a crucial battleground.

Mr. Smith, Air Canada's chief commercial officer, believes his company will measure up well against Porter Airlines Inc. on flights between Toronto's island air terminal and Montreal's Trudeau Airport.

Porter is the dominant carrier at Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport, placing Air Canada in the rare position of challenging a rival for supremacy on a busy domestic route.

Air Canada has replicated Porter's formula, enlisting Bombardier Q400 turboprops installed with 70 leather seats. The new service will mirror Porter in everything from complimentary lounge access to free in-flight booze.

The matchup has been a long time coming. In early 2006, a terminal company controlled by Porter chief executive officer Robert Deluce ousted Air Canada's regional affiliate, Jazz Air LP, from the island airport.

This time around, the country's largest carrier has hired Sky Regional Airlines Inc. to operate between Billy Bishop and Montreal - a contract that arose after Air Canada and Porter spent years jousting in court about access to the island airport. The terminal has undergone a $50-million expansion since Air Canada last operated there.

"People who weren't attracted to the airport before might be attracted to it now," Mr. Smith in an interview Friday inside one of five Q400s painted with the name of the company's new regional brand, Air Canada Express.

"With the Q400, you're flying on an airplane that doesn't feel like a turboprop. Most of the vibration has been removed and it's a lot quicker," he said.

Flights from Billy Bishop to Montreal take 70 minutes on the Q400s, the same amount of time as jet service from Toronto's Pearson International Airport to Montreal, said Al Read, Sky Regional's director of operations. On older Jazz-run turboprops in 2006, it often took 90 minutes.

While Air Canada has 30 new takeoff and landing slots, Porter controls 156 of the 202 slots awarded by the Toronto Port Authority, which oversees the island airport.

The skirmish between Air Canada and Porter at the island airport is part of a broader competition for corporate travellers in the Eastern Triangle of Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa.

On Monday, WestJet Airlines Ltd. will expand its flight schedule at Pearson airport. WestJet will also offer free wine and beer in the Eastern Triangle; and for any delays longer than 30 minutes, passengers will receive 50 per cent off their next Toronto-Ottawa or Toronto-Montreal flight.

Mr. Deluce and family members were formerly partners with Air Canada in Air Ontario, a predecessor of Jazz that undercut Victor Pappalardo's City Express commuter carrier and helped drive that company out of business in 1991 at the island airport.

Mr. Pappalardo is now president of Stolport Corp., whose diverse holdings include operating Billy Bishop's car parking lots. He says that much has changed in the past 20 years, and that Porter is much better equipped to protect itself from competitors than City Express was.

"Porter has a fantastic service. Air Canada knows that if it's going to compete here, it has to do it the right way," Mr. Pappalardo said in an interview. "City Express was a pioneer at this airport, but we expanded too much in different areas. It's unfortunate how City Express ended, but that's life, and life goes on."

Mr. Pappalardo reckons that Billy Bishop will expand to 300 takeoff and landing slots within three years, creating more room for both Air Canada and Porter. The port authority plans a pedestrian tunnel to Billy Bishop to complement ferry service, but he prefers a bridge to give faster access to emergency response teams.

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