dailynewsnblog
Air Canada is Canada’s largest airline, and 
Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ) is its primary hub. The carrier accounts for nearly half of the airport’s total passenger volume and seat capacity. According to scheduled data from aviation analytics firm Cirium, the Star Alliance founding member is due to operate more than 11,600 flights from Toronto Pearson in the fourth quarter of 2026, offering roughly 2.4 million seats, excluding its regional operations.
The airline has added several routes from the airport this year, including the return of services to Shanghai Pudong in June, which it last served in 2020, and Budapest, which had not been served since 2019. We are now just weeks away from the start of the Northern Winter schedule, when airlines like Air Canada will switch to their winter schedules. This season, the carrier is launching five new routes from Toronto Pearson.
New Routes Adding To Air Canada’s Network This Winter
From October 25, the 
Star Alliance member will launch a twice-weekly service to Tenerife in Spain’s Canary Islands. It will operate the route using its 182-seat Airbus A321XLR aircraft, which features 14 Signature Class seats, arranged 1-1, with fully flat beds and direct aisle access, plus 168 Economy seats. The launch will coincide with the introduction of a weekly service from Montreal to the same island.
The routes will open up a new market for Air Canada, and the airline will become the only North American operator serving the Canary Islands when the flights begin. However, that won’t be the case for long. In December, Canadian leisure carrier Air Transat will launch a new route from Toronto to another destination in the archipelago, Las Palmas.
Destination | Start Date | Frequency |
|---|---|---|
Tenerife, Spain | October 25 | 2x weekly; Airbus A321XLR |
Merida, Mexico | November 21 | 2x weekly; Airbus A220-300 |
Guatemala City, Guatemala | December 1 | 1x weekly; Airbus A330-300 |
Quito, Ecuador | December 5 | 1x weekly; Boeing 787-9 |
Roatan, Honduras | December 13 | 1x weekly (operated by Air Canada Rouge); Boeing 737 MAX 8 |
Oslo, Norway | June 2, 2027 | 4x weekly; Airbus A321XLR |
Shannon, Ireland | June 10, 2027 | 3x weekly; Airbus A321XLR |
Nice, Italy | June 16, 2027 | 2x weekly; Airbus A330-300 |
Air Canada Will Expand Its European Network With The A321XLR Next Summer
Air Canada has been putting its trust in the A321XLR. When Airbus launched this extra-long-range variant, the planemaker positioned it as an aircraft for “long-thin” routes that lack enough passenger demand to justify a large twin-aisle aircraft but are too long for conventional short-to-medium-haul jets. The Canadian carrier saw this potential and ordered the type in 2022.
It received its first aircraft in April 2026 and has since been deploying it on several secondary European routes. Between June and September this year, the Star Alliance member operated around 477 flights using the type. Several European destinations saw A321XLR operations during this period, including Toulouse, the airline’s first transatlantic destination served by the aircraft, as well as Lyon, Nantes, Porto, and Berlin. Next summer, Air Canada will launch two more European routes from Toronto Pearson.
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From June 2, 2027, the airline will introduce a four-times-weekly seasonal service to 
Oslo, the Norwegian capital, operating on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays. In the same month, it will add a three-times-weekly service to Shannon, Ireland, operating every Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday. Elsewhere in Europe, the carrier will launch twice-weekly flights to Nice on the French Riviera from June 16, 2027, using its Airbus A330-300 aircraft.
More Than 36,000 Flights Planned From Toronto This Winter
For the upcoming winter season, which will begin on October 25 and run until March 27, 2027, Air Canada is increasing capacity across its entire network by 10%. At Toronto Pearson, the airline and its regional operators are scheduled to operate more than 36,000 flights during the season.
Major US hubs, including Los Angeles, New York LaGuardia, Newark Liberty, Washington Reagan, and San Francisco, will see multiple daily departures from Toronto. New York will be the busiest destination, with up to 14 daily departures split between LaGuardia, which will see up to eight flights, and Newark Liberty, which will have up to six.
Beyond the US, Cancun will see up to four daily departures. Air Canada will operate one daily flight using its mainline fleet, while its leisure subsidiary, Air Canada Rouge, will operate up to three daily flights. 
London Heathrow Airport will also see up to three daily departures from Toronto.
