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Ontario Express
IATA ICAO Callsign
9X OEL PARTNER
Commenced operationsJuly 15, 1987 (1987-07-15)
Ceased operationsApril 1993 (1993-04)
(merged with Time Air to form Canadian Regional Airlines)
HubsToronto Pearson International Airport
Parent companyCanadian Airlines International
HeadquartersToronto, Ontario, Canada

Ontario Express was a regional airline in Canada.

History

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Ontario Express first started operations on July 15, 1987 as a regional feeder airline for Canadian Airlines based at the Toronto Pearson International Airport. This was a way to apply the newly designed commercial aviation strategy at the time: use smaller aircraft to gather passengers from various locations and "feed" the main airline which would then carry those passengers worldwide. The term "feeder airline" became a standard in all commercial aviation. The other term employed was a "spoke and wheel" type of organization, the spoke being the centre where all the feeder airlines would fly in the passengers from around the area. Operations started with 4 Jetstream 31 aircraft, manufactured by British Aerospace. ATR 42 aircraft, built by a Franco-Italian consortium Avions de transport régional, were added to the fleet in 1988. Ontario Express was the first airline to import and operate those 2 aircraft in Canada. The first cities that were connected to Toronto were: Windsor, Sault Ste. Marie, Sarnia, London, Kingston, Thunder Bay, Ottawa, and Sudbury.

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