Air Canada adds eight Toronto routes, five flying this winter
The Star Alliance carrier lifts winter capacity across its network by 10%.
Air Canada is adding eight new international routes from Toronto Pearson, its primary hub, and five of them begin flying this winter. The Star Alliance founding member launches its first service to Tenerife, in Spain's Canary Islands, on October 25, and the rest of the winter routes follow through mid-December.
Tenerife will be served twice weekly on the airline's 182-seat Airbus A321XLR. The cabin holds 14 Signature Class seats in a one-one layout, each with a fully flat bed and direct aisle access, ahead of 168 Economy seats. A weekly Montreal service to the island starts at the same time.
When those flights begin, Air Canada becomes the only North American operator serving the Canary Islands. That distinction is brief. In December, Canadian leisure carrier Air Transat starts flying from Toronto to Las Palmas, so the island group gains a second Canadian link within weeks.
Three more winter routes follow. Merida, Mexico, starts November 21 with two weekly Airbus A220-300 flights. Guatemala City launches December 1 with one weekly A330-300 service, and Quito, Ecuador, begins December 5 on a once-weekly Boeing 787-9. Roatan, Honduras, joins December 13.
Roatan is the exception on equipment: Air Canada Rouge operates that weekly flight with a Boeing 737 MAX 8. Every other winter route is flown by mainline aircraft, from the narrowbody A220-300 on Merida to the widebody 787-9 on the longer run to Quito.
What the A321XLR makes possible
Air Canada has moved quickly with the A321XLR since ordering the extra-long-range model in 2022. Airbus positioned it for long, thin routes that cannot justify a large twin-aisle aircraft. The airline received its first example in April 2026 and between June and September flew around 477 flights on the type.
Those flights have gone to secondary European routes. Toulouse was the first transatlantic destination served by the aircraft, and Lyon, Nantes, Porto and Berlin all saw A321XLR operations through the summer. Tenerife and Oslo become the next airports on that list.
Three European routes arrive next summer. A four-times-weekly seasonal service to Oslo, the Norwegian capital, starts June 2, 2027, operating on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. It will be flown on the A321XLR.
Shannon, Ireland, follows on June 10, 2027, with three weekly A321XLR flights on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Nice, on the French Riviera, launches June 16, 2027, twice weekly on the larger Airbus A330-300 rather than the A321XLR.
The new routes arrive alongside a broader winter build-up. Air Canada is increasing capacity across its whole network by 10% for the season running October 25 to March 27, 2027. From Toronto Pearson alone, the airline and its regional operators are scheduled to operate more than 36,000 flights.
The United States dominates the existing map. New York is the busiest destination, with up to 14 daily departures split between LaGuardia's eight and Newark Liberty's six. Los Angeles, Washington Reagan and San Francisco all carry multiple daily departures from Toronto this winter.
Beyond the US, Cancun sees up to four flights a day. One is a mainline Air Canada service and up to three come from the leisure subsidiary Air Canada Rouge. London Heathrow also sees up to three daily departures from Toronto through the winter schedule.
Toronto Pearson in numbers
Air Canada returned to Shanghai Pudong in June this year after a gap dating to 2020, and it restored Budapest, unserved since 2019. The winter slate extends that reach into the Canaries and Latin America.
By Cirium's scheduled data, Air Canada accounts for nearly half the passenger volume and seat capacity at Toronto Pearson. In the fourth quarter of 2026 it is due to operate more than 11,600 flights from the airport, offering roughly 2.4 million seats, regional operations excluded.
What comes next is already dated. The Northern Winter schedule begins October 25 and runs to March 27, 2027, and Oslo, Shannon and Nice are scheduled for June 2027, so the five winter launches start within weeks.
Support the content you love — it’s free 🎉
Add Luxa Terra as a preferred source on Google. Our stories will be more likely to appear in Google’s Top Stories. It’s free and supports our team. Thank you!
Add as preferred sourceYou can remove us any time in Google’s source preferences.
Thank you — see you in Top Stories 🎉
Luxa Terra is now one of your preferred sources on Google, so our stories are more likely to appear when you search.
Sources
This briefing is published daily using an AI-powered system crafted by Luxa Terra’s team and finely tuned to meet our editorial standards. While we continuously test and review the output, mistakes can sometimes happen. Tell us if you spot one.
Images: Credit: Airbus; Credit: Air Canada; Simple Flying
