Consultants to apportion landing rights in Toronto

An aviation consulting firm, Airport Coordination Ltd. (ACL), has been retained to sort out proposals to increase flights at Toronto's island airport near the downtown business core. ACL will determine which airlines will be obtaining slots - takeoff and landing rights - as Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport expands. Porter Airlines Inc. currently has a monopoly at the airport, holding 112 commercial slots. ACL will be distributing another 90 slots, but it's unclear how many will be awarded each to Porter, Air Canada and a U.S. carrier. Houston-based Continental Airlines Inc. had been interested in the past in Billy Bishop. Air Canada fears that Porter will secure half of the remaining slots. The Toronto Port Authority, which oversees the airport, said yesterday that the new slots will cover flights that operate between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m.