Air Canada Launches Four New Sun Routes, Increases Capacity

Air Canada has announced the upcoming launch of four new routes to Sun destinations for Winter 2023/2024. Additionally, Canada’s largest airline will add capacity from airports across the country to popular warm destinations in the United States, Mexico, and the Caribbean. 

Air Canada has also made a noteworthy expansion to the number of flights from its West Coast hub of Vancouver International Airport (YVR) to various warm-weather destinations.

Air Canada’s New Sun Destination Routes from Toronto

Air Canada has announced details of four new routes to Sun destinations for the Winter 2023/2024 season and beyond.

To begin, it will launch a new year-round flight from from Toronto Pearson (YYZ) to Monterrey, Mexico (MTY), beginning on October 29, 2023.

Monterrey is Mexico’s third-largest city, and is located in the northeastern part of the country. The start of this route is subject to final government approval.

The flight times on the Toronto (YYZ) – Monterrey (MTY) route are as follows:

• AC1358 Monterrey (MTY) to Toronto (YYZ), departing 10:05am and arriving 2:55pm on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday
• AC1359 Toronto (YYZ) to Monterrey (MTY), departing 6pm and arriving 9:35pm on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday

Air Canada will fly its two-cabin Airbus A220-300 aircraft on the route, and flights are available to be booked with cash and Aeroplan points throughout the schedule.

The next new route to a Sun destination that will depart from Toronto (YYZ) this winter is to Fort-de-France, Martinique (FDF). This is a seasonal, once-weekly route that is scheduled to begin on December 16, 2023, and end on March 30, 2024.

The flight times on the Toronto (YYZ) – Fort-de-France (FDF) route are as follows:

• AC950 Toronto (YYZ) to Fort-de-France (FDF), departing 8:15am and arriving 2:20pm on Saturday
• AC951 Fort-de-France (FDF) to Toronto (YYZ), departing 3:25pm and arriving 8:05pm on Saturday

Air Canada will operate the route with a Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft with economy and business class cabins. The flights are loaded onto the Air Canada website, and may be booked with cash or points.

Air Canada’s New Sun Destination Routes from Montreal

In addition to the two new routes from Toronto (YYZ), Air Canada will launch two new routes from Montreal (YUL) to Sun destinations.

First off, Air Canada will launch a new, once-weekly seasonal service from Montreal (YUL) to Los Cabos, Mexico (SJD), beginning on December 1, 2023 and ending on April 12, 2024. The beginning of this route is subject to final government approval.

This service complements the existing flights from Toronto (YYZ) and Vancouver (YVR) to Los Cabos (SJD).

The flight times on the Montreal (YUL) – Los Cabos (SJD) route are as follows:

• AC975 Montreal (YUL) to Los Cabos (SJD), departing 8am and arriving 12:40pm on Friday
• AC974 Los Cabos (SJD) to Montreal (YUL), departing 1:40pm and arriving 9:05pm on Friday

Air Canada will fly the Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft on this route, featuring economy and business class cabins. 

Air Canada is also launching a new once-weekly, seasonal route from Montreal (YUL) to La Romana, Dominican Republic (LRM), set to begin on December 17, 2023 and ending on March 31, 2024.

The flight times on the Montreal (YUL) – La Romana (LRM) route are as follows:

• AC1756 Montreal (YUL) to La Romana (LRM), departing 9:10am and arriving 3:10pm on Sunday
• AC1757 La Romana (LRM) to Montreal (YUL), departing 4:10pm and arriving 8:05pm on Sunday

The route from Montreal (YUL) to La Romana (LRM) will be operated by the two-cabin Airbus A319 aircraft with economy and business class.

Both new routes from Montreal have been added to Air Canada’s schedule, and can be booked with cash or points.

Air Canada Increases Capacity from Vancouver

Air Canada has made a notable increase in frequency from its West Coast hub in Vancouver (YVR) to many popular destinations in the United States and Mexico.

The following routes departing from Vancouver International Airport (YVR) will see an increase in service over the Winter 2023/2024 schedule:

• Cancun (CUN): Seven weekly flights (up from four)
• Las Vegas (LAS): 14 weekly flights (up from seven)
• Los Cabos (SJD): Five weekly flights (up from three)
• Miami (MIA): Six weekly flights (up from six)
• Phoenix (PHX): 14 weekly flights (up from seven)
• Puerto Vallarta (PVR): Seven weekly flights (up from three)

Additionally, Air Canada will begin to operate flights to San Diego (SAN) with an additional 110% capacity, as it will use a larger aircraft on the route.

Air Canada Increases Frequency on Sun Routes

Air Canada will increase the frequency of flights on many existing routes between Canada and Sun destinations over the upcoming winter months.

The route increases affect departures from Halifax (YHZ), Quebec City (YQB), Montreal (YUL), Ottawa (YOW), Toronto Pearson (YYZ), and Edmonton (YEG), in addition to the aforementioned increases from Vancouver (YVR).

From Halifax, the following route will increase in frequency in Winter 2023/2024:

• Cancun (CUN): Three weekly flights (up from two)

From Quebec City, the following route will increase in frequency in Winter 2023/2024:

• Cancun (CUN): Four weekly flights (up from three)

From Montreal, the following routes will increase in frequency or capacity in Winter 2023/2024:

• Cancun (CUN): 14 weekly flights (up from 11)
• Barbados (BGI): Four weekly flights (up from three)
• Fort-de-France (FDF): Six weekly flights (up from four)
• Miami (MIA): 14 weekly flights (up from 11)
• Orlando (MCO): 45% increase in capacity with larger aircraft
• Palm Beach (PBI): Four weekly flights (up from two)
• Pointe-à-Pitre (PTP): Six weekly flights (up from five)
• Puerto Plata (POP): Resumption of one weekly flight
• Turks and Caicos (PLS): 30% increase in capacity with larger aircraft

From Ottawa, the following routes will increase in frequency in Winter 2023/2024:

• Cancun (CUN): three weekly flights (up from two)
• Punta Cana (PUJ): four weekly flights (up from two)

From Toronto, the following routes will increase in frequency or capacity in Winter 2023/2024:

• Antigua (ANU): 60% increase in capacity with larger aircraft
• Bermuda (BDA): Three weekly flights (up from two)
• Cancun (CUN): 21 weekly flights (up from 11)
• Cayo Coco (CCC): 56% increase in capacity with larger aircraft
• Curaçao (CUR): 52% increase in capacity with larger aircraft
• Fort Myers (RDW): 21 weekly flights (up from 14)
• Grenada (GND): Four weekly flights (up from two)
• Huatulco (HUX): 62% capacity increase with larger aircraft
• Port of Spain (POS): Resumption of four weekly flights
• Punta Cana (PUJ): 14 weekly flights (up from 10)
• Saint Vincent (SVD): Four weekly flights (up from two)
• Saint Lucia (UVF): Seven weekly flights (up from six)
• Saint Kitts and Nevis (SKB): 35% capacity increase with larger aircraft
• Sint Maarten (SXM): Two weekly flights (up from one)
• Turks and Caicos (PLS): 22% capacity increase with larger aircraft

And from Edmonton, the following route will increase in frequency in Winter 2023/2024:

• Cancun (CUN): three weekly flights (up from two)

Is Competition Heating Up?

Air Canada’s announcement of increased capacity from airports across Canada and the launch of four new routes to Sun destinations is an 8% increase to its 2019 pre-pandemic schedule, and an 11% increase to its 2022 capacity. 

It’s worth noting that the increase in frequency from airports across Canada is on routes that are also serviced by Sunwing, WestJet, and to a lesser extent, some Canadian ultra-low-cost carriers. 

Recall that WestJet has been eschewing the development of routes departing from Eastern Canadian hubs in favour of focusing on its hub in Calgary in the recent past, and also that it recently completed its acquisition of Sunwing Airlines and Sunwing Vacations. Sunwing has a strong presence in Eastern Canada, and it will be interesting to see if competition for these routes heats up over the winter months.

Noticeably absent from the schedule announcement are any new routes from Air Canada’s Calgary hub, which also happens to be WestJet’s homebase. While there is a marked increase in Air Canada flights departing from Vancouver to Sun destinations for Winter 2023/2024, it’s interesting that Calgary was left out of the picture this time around.

What’s quite clear from Air Canada’s expansion of routes and increase in capacity is that demand for leisure travel is as strong as it has ever been, and that we can expect Canadians to be flocking southward when the warm summer months are long gone and winter has set in across the country.

Conclusion

Air Canada has announced four new routes to Sun destinations, as well as an increase in frequency and capacity from many airports across the country for its Winter 2023/2024 schedule.

From east to west, the airline has bumped the number of weekly flights up to warm destinations in the United States, Mexico, and the Caribbean. The majority of capacity has increased from its Toronto Pearson (YYZ) and Montreal (YUL) hubs, while other airports have also seen increases in service.

Air Canada is also resuming service on a handful of previously suspended routes, and using larger aircraft to a number of popular destinations.