Porter Airlines’ dream of flying CSeries jets from the Toronto island airport might be a long shot, but its chief executive officer believes the upstart carrier has the best balance sheet of any airline on the continent.

“As a result of selling the terminal building within the past year; we sit with probably the strongest balance sheet of any airline in North America,” Robert Deluce told BNN in an interview.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed when the sale was announced in January. InstarAGF Asset Management, the leader of the purchasing consortium, said it contributed $105-million to the acquisition.

Deluce also said the federal decision to take Billy Bishop runway expansion off the table would not curtail his firm’s growth, though it does stand in the way of jets flying from the airport.

“The airport itself, Billy Bishop, will continue to grow in the future, even if it’s through turboprops,” he said. “Obviously we continue to assess the growth opportunities that are available to us.”

Deluce said that growth could include an initial public offering, but only if market conditions are conducive to taking the company public.

“We did look at a public offering back five or six years ago, and the market wasn’t quite suitable at that particular time,” he said. “I think it’s just one of the things that might give us more options in the future, but right at this particular moment in time, we’re not preoccupied with it.”

However, Deluce dismissed the idea the airline would sell itself outright.

“That’s a long standing rumour that’s as old as Porter itself,” he said. “It’s false, and there have been absolutely no discussion with any parties. The airline is not for sale.”