The CEO of Porter is expecting a busy holiday travel season in spite of economic challenges that are making air travel more difficult.

Michael Deluce, president and CEO of Porter Airlines, said he doesn’t expect a passenger drop-off this year as inflation cuts into discretionary spending.

“The holiday season is shaping up to be an extremely robust environment, so at this point, we’re not seeing any signs of weakening of what has been a very strong demand environment for the last year,” he told BNN Bloomberg in a television interview on Friday.

While some airlines have started offering steep discounts to get passengers flying, Deluce said his airline has not had to follow suit.

“We have a lot of moving parts in our business, but the fare environment is holding up very well,” he said.

Air Canada is currently offering an additional 15 per cent off fares to its Canadian and sun destinations, while WestJet is offering 20 per cent off base fares to its Canadian destinations until Dec. 10.

Porter is in the midst of a major expansion from a regional airline to a North American one as it expands its fleet with 50 new Embraer E195-E2 jets capable of serving the entire continent.

In total, Porter has added 29 new routes in the past 12 months, Deluce said.

 “(We’re) very focused on continuing that growth into next year,” he said.

Deluce added the private company doesn’t have plans to go public.

“It’s something possible in the future, but we are well-capitalized and have no requirements for public market capital at this point,” he said.