Airport developments take flight. (Special Report: Elliot Lake/North Shore).

After a late kick-off last summer re-introducing regularly scheduled flights between Elliot Lake, Manitoulin Island and Toronto, and a tepid reaction to flying after Sept. 11, people along the north shore are gradually. warming up to the added conveniences to the new service.

Bert Rapp, Elliot Lake's airport supervisor, says initial passenger loads last year were disappointing due to a delayed start after negotiations last spring with Georgia Airways, fell through, over scheduling demands.

SontAir, a Chatham-based air carrier, then stepped in and signed a one-year agreement to connect Elliot Lake, Gore Bay and Little Current with Pearson International Airport. Flights began June 15.

"We started late and missed some of the tourist traffic who frequent the islands, especially Europeans who book early," says Rapp.

Among the three communities, a total of 751 inbound and outbound passengers used the service in 2001.

Considered essential for the City of Elliot Lake's economic and social, development, Rapp says the flights have been well-received. This has been evidenced by passenger loads gradually picking up within the last few months as people become acquainted with service, he adds.

Their best loads were in December with more than eight people per flight aboard SontAir's fleet of Cessna Grand Caravans, reconfigured for eighteen passengers, with the added comfort of extra leg room.

Rapp, who also serves as secretary of the local airport's advisory committee, anticipates even better numbers this summer with a 2002 marketing strategy about to be unveiled shortly. The campaign will concentrate on flying southern Ontario tourists to the north.

"There are several things on the go that if everything pans out, we'll be laughing," Rapp says.

Elliot Lake and Manitoulin Island had been without passenger air service to Toronto since Pem Air pulled out in 1999, claiming it was losing money.

Now with subsidies from the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission, FedNor, the communities themselves and from ticket sales, SontAir offers four flights a week - Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday.

Though they have yet to conduct any passenger surveys, seniors comprise about 31 per cent of passenger traffic, and much of it has been repeat business.

In connecting with Toronto's Pearson airport, service has been simplified for passengers arriving at the Piedmont Hawthorne Aerocentre.

"Because we're a charter operating out of the north, end of Pearson, we're not bound by the formality of that main terminal," including the extensive security checks and the federal government's Air Traveller's Security Charge expected to kick in April 1, says Rapp.

"There's free parking and it's very handy for people," he says. "(Passengers) can get off the airplane and into a cab in a few steps...instead of walking a half-mile through a terminal."

Making reservations is as easy as calling a toll-free number, passing out credit card information and picking up a receipt prior to boarding the aircraft.

Around the Elliot Lake Airport there have been a number of new developments within the last year, including the addition of Air Bravo, a fledgling company that is a combination charter business and medevac service flying Cessna 206s.

Also two flight-training schools are in varying stages of setting up a northern presence. Sports Light, a Barrie-based company, considered one of the largest ultra-light flight training schools in Canada, began offering ground classes last fall, while an undisclosed small-aircraft school is conducting some preliminary work prior to setting up a base.

"It's not so much that we have the clientele positioned in Elliot Lake, but there's potential for European clients to learn to fly," says Rapp. Many Europeans already learn at schools in Florida.

"In Europe it's not only restrictive, but extremely expensive, and if a school were to be set up to cater to the rules and regulations of European flight schools it would be more cost effective for them to come across and learn how."