Fresh off rejecting a sweetened Aeroplan takeover offer from Air Canada and its three partners, Aimia Inc. announced on Friday it has landed Porter Airlines as a new partner for its loyalty program.

Under the terms of the arrangement, Porter will begin issuing Aeroplan miles in July 2020 and will also make up to 60 per cent of its seats available for redemption by Aeroplan members.

"Today's announcement with Porter is consistent with our strategy to further differentiate and strengthen our air offering come July 2020," said Aimia CEO Jeremy Rabe in a release.

“Aeroplan is a data-driven organization – and they have the ability, with precision, to help airlines shift market share away from incumbent airlines to the preferred carriers, because they have extensive databases of Aeroplan members that purchase billions upon billions a year in air travel,” Porter Chief Commercial Officer Michael Deluce told BNN Bloomberg in an interview Friday.  

Deluce said Porter had been in talks with Aimia “for quite some time” even before Air Canada and its partners announced their offer for Aeroplan.

“We really entered this program with Aeroplan because we think it’s an exciting relaunch and it’s going to create incredible value for the loyalty members,” Deluce said, adding it’s a substantial revenue opportunity for Porter.   

When the deal takes effect, members of Porter's in-house VIPorter loyalty program will see their points converted to Aeroplan miles.

“I think for Porter and any airline and preferred partner, it would be a significant opportunity to grow revenue, enhance your loyalty program,” Deluce said.  “In our case, it enhances it because we’re an issuing partner, but even from a redemption partner standpoint, it is a significant revenue opportunity — both from the sheer volume of redemptions that Aeroplan can deliver to an airline partner, but as well that targeted precision marketing of existing customers to shift to a preferred partner.”

“I think that’s a pretty powerful offering that Aeroplan has.”