Air Canada to expand luxury bus service between Muskoka and Pearson airports

Air Canada is expanding its landline service connecting Muskoka to Toronto Pearson Airport by way of bus.

For those living in the northern part of Central Ontario, it’ll soon be easier to get to Toronto Pearson International Airport.

Air Canada has announced a new way for travellers from the north to get to the Toronto airport. The airline is expanding its Landline luxury motorcoach service connecting small, outlying airports to Pearson by way of bus.

And one of those spots happens to be Muskoka.

How it works

Show up at the Muskoka airport, check into the flight, get bag tags and hop on the bus. The luxury motorcoach will take a busload of people to Pearson where they can then drop off their bags, go through security and head onto the designated gate number as usual.

The bus will make two round trips from Muskoka every day starting just in time for the summer travel season on June 15.

The connection won’t cost people anything more to leave from the local airport. Not only that, but parking is free at the Muskoka airport, which will save people from having to find alternative modes of transportation or having to pay for parking at Pearson.

Air Canada says people will have similar air passenger protections on the bus to what they would get on the plane.

Impacts on Muskoka

Officials in Muskoka say this new feature will have a big impact on the region.

“One of the really big impacts is, we’ll now show up on all those travel planning apps that everybody uses including the airline websites and all the other travel apps that show us as a destination when you go to select a flight,” says District Chair for Muskoka Jeff Lehman. “Because this last leg that’s handled by Air Canada – by Landline – is considered a leg of a flight. So, you fly from Muskoka to Toronto, Toronto to the world or inbound to Toronto and up here to Muskoka.”

In addition to Muskoka, the other communities getting the bus service are Niagara and Sarnia.

There are currently similar services in place for Hamilton, Kingston and Kitchener.

“The addition of Niagara, Sarnia and Muskoka to our network will not only make it easier for their residents to travel with us but should also benefit these communities by facilitating inbound personal, tourist and business travel from around the world, which can provide a significant economic boost,” said Ranbir Singh, director of Regional Airlines and Markets at Air Canada.