Airport officials await funding approval for air service.

Officials at the Elliot Lake Airport say the city's plan to reinstate scheduled air passenger service to Toronto may become a reality in the very near future.

Reintroduction of flight service, which was initially delayed due to scheduling conflicts with the air carrier originally selected to provide the service, may begin by early May, says Bert Rapp, airport supervisor.

"(The airport) is working with a carrier, and it's a totally new carrier," Rapp says. 'We're coming up to speed with them, and there are a few things that we still have to iron out, but things look pretty good."

The Elliot Lake Airport Advisory Committee had originally planned to have passenger service running from Elliot Lake, Gore Bay and Manitoulin Island to Toronto by March 31. The committee learned just two weeks before the first plane was slated for takeoff, however, that an agreement with Georgian Airways - which had agreed to fly the route - had fallen through because the airline could not supply a plane for the agreed-upon schedule.

"We were at the point with Georgian where the contract was signed by Elliot Lake and was starting to make the rounds to nail this thing down when we found out that they couldn't accommodate us for that time period; they could not give us the schedule we wanted," Rapp says.

"That's when we pulled the plug and we were looking for options. We talked to other (carriers) that were interested, but they didn't fit into our scheme."

Adding to the problem was a deadline on the recovery of an air service subsidy from the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission (ONTC).

"We had to get our ONTC funding from the air service subsidy," Rapp says. "When NorOntair was closed down, they gave each of the (affected) communities that wasn't taken over by another carrier $75,000 under a two-year program, which got extended (for another year). We still have money, $56,250, in that, and so does Gore Bay. But there was a time limit on it. We had to be flying by March 31.

"Now we've found a carrier, and that carrier is ready to go anytime. We're just nailing down the details, and we need the ONTC confirmation on the funding because without it (the deal is) dead. Once we have that, the contract will be ready to be circulated."

The identity of the new carrier has not yet being released, but now that the airport has found an airline to provide air passenger service, it is just a matter of weeks before the final details of a contract are worked out, says Rapp.

The initial schedule will see evening flights going out Friday, Sunday, Tuesday and Wednesday.

Passengers can also look forward to possibly a more convenient final destination under the terms of the new agreement. Planes leaving Elliot Lake will be destined for Toronto's Pearson International Airport, as opposed to previous arrangements to land in either Buttonville or Toronto Island.

More than $125,000 in FedNor funding will be invested in marketing the transportation link between Toronto and the airports in Elliot Lake, Gore Bay and East Manitoulin.

The funding announcement was made in early March. Rapp says the money will be used to advertise the new flight service and to market accessibility to the area.

A portion of the FedNor money will also be used to hire a marketing representative who will be stationed at the Elliot Lake Airport. Print media and the Internet will be used in the promotion of the new flight service. Target markets include business, tourism, government, private individuals and the retirement living program in Elliot Lake.

An e-commerce Web reservation system will also be developed.