Air Canada is making significant strides as it revamps its winter sun schedule, expanding its service to Latin America with four new destinations, 13 new routes, and up to 16-per cent more seat capacity, the airline says.
The new destinations include Cartagena, Guadalajara, Guatemala, and long-awaited flights to Rio de Janeiro. As part of the expansion, travellers from Toronto will see new flights from these destinations, plus to Pointe-à–Pitre. Flights to these destinations are set to start in December.
Air Canada’s latest routes are Santiago, Pointe-à-Pitre, Fort-de-France, Nassau, Montego Bay, and Huatulco, the airline says, while adding more frequent travel options to popular sun vacation destinations, making its total flight availability “the most comprehensive offering of any Canadian carrier flying to Latin America,” the airline said in a news release on May 5.
Canada’s largest airline says it’s also adding winter routes from Halifax, Quebec City, Ottawa and Vancouver to sunny destinations including the Bahamas, Jamaica, Martinique, Guadalupe, and Mexico, widening its global network.
Air Canada is also set to increase its flights during peak periods to destinations like Los Cabos, St. Maarten, Punta Cana, and Puerto Vallarta.
“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,” Mark Galardo, Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer, and President, Cargo at Air Canada, said in a May statement.
As Air Canada prepares to expand, WestJet–Canada’s second largest airline–recently announced it’s removing more of its flights to some of its U.S. destinations, including Chicago, Los Angeles and Orlando, while halting flights to Austin from Vancouver until October.
“As demand for summer travel continues to evolve, we are focused on flying people where they want to go, whether it’s reuniting with loved ones in the prairies, exploring new sights in the Maritimes or seamlessly connecting to Europe,” John Weatherill, WestJet Executive vice- president and chief commercial officer, said in an April statement.