With Canadians showing less interest in flying to the US, two major Canadian airlines are adding capacity to the Caribbean, Mexico, South America and Europe.
Air Canada today announced its winter sun schedule, reflecting its largest network expansion to Latin America to date with 16% more seat capacity over last winter. Highlights of the carrier’s new services for the winter 2025-26 season include new destinations to Rio de Janeiro, Cartagena, Guatemala City, and Guadalajara. As well, 13 new routes including Santiago (Chile), Pointe-a-Pitre (Guadeloupe), Fort-de-France (Martinique), Nassau, Montego Bay, and Huatulco (Mexico) are being introduced, along with additional frequencies to popular vacation destinations. In total, with more than 55 daily flights and more than 80,000 seats weekly, Air Canada will offer the most comprehensive offering of any Canadian carrier flying to Latin America. All flights are now available for sale at aircanada.com, through Air Canada Contact Centres and via travel agents.
“Air Canada is delivering on its New Frontiers strategy with the expansion of its Latin America presence this winter. We are excited to be adding Rio de Janeiro, Cartagena, Guatemala City and Guadalajara to our global network, and increasing service to Santiago with new flights from Montreal. Our Latin America winter schedule has been built to serve both Canadian and global Sixth Freedom connecting travellers, as well as capitalize on growing cargo opportunities,” said Mark Galardo, Executive Vice President & Chief Commercial Officer, and President, Cargo at Air Canada.
Les Iles de Saintes are a gorgeous set of islands that are part of Guadeloupe. JIM BYERS PHOTO
“We are also very pleased to add new winter routes from Halifax, Quebec City, Ottawa and Vancouver, to the Bahamas, Jamaica, Martinique, Guadeloupe, and Mexico, and increase capacity to popular sun vacation destinations.”
Flight Centre Travel Group has said Canadians who are skipping trips to the U.S. are turning to Mexico, Europe and the Caribbean as alternative destinations.
“With the breadth and depth of Air Canada’s network, our upcoming winter schedule offers a multitude of travel options for customers wherever they are. Whether people are connecting from Europe to Santiago, Guatemala and Guadalajara, Canadians looking to visit sunny climates, or travellers interested in exploring new adventures anywhere on the six continents we fly to, customers can plan and book their winter travels now. We look forward to welcoming you onboard our flights,” said Galardo.
New Air Canada routes (with start and end dates) include the following:
Toronto-Rio de Janeiro (Dec. 4 to March 28)
Toronto-Cartagena (Dec. 20 to April 11)
Montreal-Santiago (Dec. 16 to Feb. 27)
Vancouver-Huatulco (Dec. 7 to April 12)
Ottawa-Montego Bay ((Dec. 7 to April 12)
Halifax-Nassau (Dec. 5 to April 10)
Toronto-Guadalajara (Nov. 4 to April 28)
Quebec City-Martinique (Dec. 7 to April 26)
Halifax-Montego Bay (Dec. 4 to April 9)
Ottawa-Nassau (Dec. 5 to April 10)
Toronto-Guadeloupe (Dec. 20 to April 11)
AIR TRANSAT’S WINTER SCHEDULE
Madrid in the evening. FLORIAN WEHDE PHOTO/UNSPLASH
Air Transat continues expanding its network with the addition of two new international routes to its winter 2025-2026 program. The airline is introducing an exclusive route between Montreal and Guadalajara in Mexico and extending its service between Montreal and Madrid in Spain to cover part of the winter season. Flights will be available for booking this week.
“The launch of these new routes reflects our commitment to offering a diversified network and effectively meeting currently underserved demand,” said Sebastian Ponce, Chief Revenue Officer at Transat. “By targeting high-potential markets like Guadalajara and gradually making our European service available year-round, we are strengthening our position from Eastern Canada to the South and Europe, while maximizing our fleet’s operational efficiency.”
AIR CANADA CAFE AT MONTREAL/YUL + AN AIR CANADA WI-FI REVIEW
The new Air Canada Café at tontréal-Trudeau International Airport. (CNW Group/Air Canada)
Big airports aren’t always fun places to hang around, but Air Canada is making things a lot more pleasant (and more tasty) with its new Air Canada Cafes.
Their latest cafe opened in late March at Montreal Trudeau Airport, and it’s lovely. Located immediately adjacent to the Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge, the cafe is a bright spot with great views of the runway operations and terrific food options; including wraps, Montreal bagels (hands down the best in the world) and delicious Montreal smoked meat sandwiches (on rye with mustard; the only proper way to do it). I also sampled a couple local craft beers and grabbed a couple snacks to go; a fruit and cheese tray and a Quebec maple potato donut; something I hadn’t tried before but would work nicely with a cup of nitro cold-brew coffee, which is also available in the cafe.
Expanding the airline’s existing footprint at its Montreal hub, this stylish 58-seat premium lounge offers a seamless space for busy travellers to work, relax, and recharge before domestic flights. Created in collaboration with Montreal-based firm Provencher_Roy, the café is influenced by Montreal’s “third wave” coffee culture and features iconic nods to the Montreal Metro, a bilingual penny-tile mosaic entrance, and custom artwork by Montreal-born artist Mélanie Authier.
Just for fun, I also stopped in the Maple Leaf Lounge and had a nice salad and a relaxing shot of excellent Scotch on the rocks.
The Montreal cafe opening is part of Air Canada’s ongoing investment in modernizing and expanding its airport infrastructure, focused on enhancing customer care, convenience, and comfort. As part of this initiative, Air Canada has added more than 500 additional lounge seats worldwide since 2024, following major renovation and expansion projects completed at its key hub lounges.
The Maple Leaf Lounge at San Francisco International Airport (see my story here) is particularly striking and features a fabulous patio with red, wooden chairs, gas fire pits and excellent views of the airport operations.
More on Air Canada’s Free Wi-Fi
Air Canada’s free Wi-Fi is a great way to stream TV shows and movies, including Apple + shows like “Bad Monkey” and “Long Way Up.”
I wrote recently about Air Canada introducing fast, free Wi-Fi for Aeroplan members on most of its flights. It’s an excellent service. But don’t just take my word for it.
Writing at RunwayGirlNetwork.com., Becca Alkema said she tried the Wi-Fi out on a Challenger jet flight between Toronto and Montreal and that the experience was a “blazing fast” test that “left my jaw on the floor.”
Alkema said she streamed several videos with ease, downloaded and uploaded photos and posted a large video to Instagram, all without lags or buffering issues.
“The … service was even better than my usual at-home experience,” she said. “I kid you not.”
