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Air Canada is the largest airline in Canada by fleet size and passengers carried, and it plays a major role in connecting the country with the rest of the world. The airline has been expanding its international network and is set to start 31 new international routes from October onward, 11 of which are long-haul, as Simple Flying recently reported.
However, its international network has also seen some cuts. Simple Flying analyzed scheduled flight data from aviation analytics company Cirium for 2025 through 2027 and found that the Star Alliance founding member has stopped flying to five major cities. Here is the full list of the five long-haul routes being removed from the airline’s schedule.
Air Canada Has Dropped Two Fifth-Freedom India Routes
Two of the routes on the list are fifth-freedom services to India via London Heathrow: Calgary (YYC)–Heathrow (LHR)–Delhi (DEL) and Toronto (YYZ)–Heathrow (LHR)–Mumbai (BOM). Air Canada last flew the Mumbai service in March 2026. It was a winter-only route, operating four times a week using the 247-seat Boeing 787-9, and was due to return at the end of October, but all flights have now been removed.
Notably, Air Canada flew Toronto-Mumbai nonstop until March 2025 and had previously operated the route nonstop between 2017 and 2020. The route became harder to operate after Russia invaded Ukraine and Air Canada could no longer use Russian airspace. It brought back the Heathrow routing for the winter 2025/2026 season. Regarding Delhi service, Air Canada began Calgary-Heathrow-Delhi on October 26, 2024.
The route replaced the airline’s winter-seasonal Toronto-Heathrow-Mumbai fifth-freedom service for the 2024/2025 winter season. The service operated daily until March 27, 2025, using the 787-9 and 777-300ER. Indeed, there was a sizable market for the Calgary-Delhi service. According to some reports, more than 50,000 Indian citizens and people of Indian descent live in the Greater Calgary area. In 2025, approximately 128,000 passengers traveled between Calgary and Delhi.
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Air Canada Consolidates Dubai Flying Through Toronto
Another route that Air Canada is not bringing back is Vancouver (YVR)—Dubai (DXB). The carrier launched the route in October 2023 as a four-times-weekly winter seasonal service. However, after the second season ended in March 2025, Air Canada decided not to resume the route. The service was launched as part of Air Canada’s strategic partnership with 
Emirates, which began in 2022.
The partnership included a codeshare agreement that allowed passengers to book connecting flights across both airlines’ networks on a single ticket. Booking data for the final season showed that India, Iran, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Sri Lanka were the five most popular countries for Vancouver passengers traveling via Dubai.
Route | Last operated |
|---|---|
Calgary–Delhi (via Heathrow) | Winter seasonal 1x daily; March 2025 |
Toronto–Mumbai (via Heathrow) | Winter seasonal 4x weekly; March 2026 |
Vancouver–Dubai | Winter seasonal 3x weekly; March 2025 |
Montréal–Algiers | Summer seasonal 4x weekly; September 2025 |
Vancouver–Singapore | Year-round up to 5x weekly January 2027 |
However, only around one in 50 passengers traveling between the Canadian city and the South Asia and Middle East markets connected in Dubai on Air Canada or Emirates. More passengers connected through other hubs, including Hong Kong, London Heathrow, Delhi, Istanbul, Frankfurt, Montreal, Paris, Toronto, and Seattle.
The Vancouver to Dubai service simply did not make sense commercially. Air Canada instead chose to consolidate its UAE traffic through YYZ, where it operates a daily service to Dubai. That said, the Canadian airline has also suspended its Dubai flights since March 2026 amid the geopolitical tensions in the Middle East. In its latest update on September 24, it said flights to and from Dubai would remain canceled until the end of March 2027.
Air Canada’s Longest Route Will End In January 2027
Furthermore, Air Canada is axing its longest route from Vancouver to Singapore in January 2027. The airline launched the route in April 2024, six months after Singapore Airlines stopped flying between Singapore and Vancouver. It has operated between three and five times weekly, most commonly using a 787-9. The final flight from Vancouver is scheduled to depart on January 24, 2027, while the final Singapore-Vancouver flight will operate on January 26.
Once the route ends, there will be no nonstop flights between Canada and Singapore. The 
Star Alliance member cited commercial reasons for the decision, as reported by The Straits Times. A spokesperson said that “despite significant efforts and resources invested in the Vancouver-Singapore route for close to three years by Air Canada and other partners, the route regrettably did not meet the business targets that would enable this service to remain sustainable.”
Indeed, the cut makes sense given the number of competitive, heavily discounted one-stop options available to passengers traveling between Western Canada and Southeast Asia. These include connections through major Asian hubs such as Hong Kong, Taipei, and Tokyo. The airline will continue to serve Southeast Asia nonstop from Vancouver with its Vancouver-Bangkok route.
