Canada is Europe's fourth-largest country market this summer, behind the US, UAE, and Israel, according to the latest Cirium data. There are 12.2 million roundtrip Europe-Canada seats for sale, which is about a third of Canada's population.
Some 22 airlines have flights planned, including Iceland's PLAY, which will launch Keflavik-Hamilton in June. It means Europe flights will return to the Ontario airport for the first time in four years. While nine Canadian airports have European services, Ottawa, Winnipeg, and St John's – which had them pre-pandemic – remain without them.
Canadian to Europe
Summer 2023 is quite far off, and things may change between now and then. However, as of January 10th, Toronto is expected to have 44% of all Canada-Europe seats for sale. But as shown in the following table, its capacity remains down by 12% over summer 2019, the last normal peak season before everything changed.
Click here for Toronto-London flights.
As you'd expect, Toronto's below-recovery position is mainly because of the slow recovery of heavily dominant Air Canada (-13%). However, it's also because multiple carriers – including Austrian, Brussels Airlines, Alitalia (now ITA), and Air Italy – no longer serve Toronto, while WestJet has ended long-haul from the city. (Fellow Star Alliance carrier Air Canada serves Vienna, Brussels, and Rome.)
In contrast, Montreal (+12%) and Calgary (+37%) stand out for above-pandemic growth. Various existing airlines have grown Montreal seats, but it is primarily because of Air Canada (+38%). It introduced Milan (May 2022), while Copenhagen and Toulouse are coming (both this June). Athens, Brussels, Copenhagen, Frankfurt, London Heathrow, and Lisbon have also had significant capacity increases versus summer 2019. However, it lost Bordeaux and Bucharest, both served briefly by Rouge.
Click here for Montreal-Milan flights.
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The table
|
Airport |
Summer 2023 Europe seats |
Vs. summer 2019 |
Top 3 airlines (by seats) |
Top 3routes (by seats) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Toronto |
5,392,000 |
-12% |
Air Canada, Air Transat, Lufthansa |
Heathrow, Frankfurt, Paris CDG |
|
Montreal |
4,161,000 |
+12% |
Air Canada, Air Transat, Air France |
Paris CDG, Heathrow, Frankfurt |
|
Vancouver |
1,276,000 |
-14% |
Air Canada, Lufthansa, British Airways |
Heathrow, Frankfurt, Amsterdam |
|
Calgary |
1,033,000 |
+37% |
WestJet, Air Canada, KLM |
Heathrow, Frankfurt, Amsterdam |
|
Halifax |
134,800 |
-15% |
Air Canada, Condor, EW Discover |
Two routes: Heathrow, Frankfurt |
|
Edmonton |
75,500 |
-30% |
Two airlines: KLM, Condor (May 2023) |
Two routes: Amsterdam, Frankfurt |
|
Quebec City |
71,200 |
+85% |
Two airlines: Air Transat, Air France |
Two routes: Paris CDG, Gatwick |
|
Hamilton |
46,000 (estimated) |
+45% |
One airline: PLAY (June 22nd) |
One route: Keflavik |
|
Whitehorse |
7,800 |
-7% |
One airline: Condor |
One route: Frankfurt |
Discover more aviation news.
Calgary-Europe capacity: +37%
The fourth-biggest Canadian airport to Europe, Calgary seats for sale have risen from 755,000 to over a million. That is despite no longer having British Airways, Condor, or Air Transat flights.
The growth is because WestJet is now focusing entirely on Calgary, the carrier's main hub, for long-haul service. WestJet's Calgary-Europe seats have risen from 215,000 in summer 2019 to 600,000, supplanting Air Canada as the airport's top Europe operator. Across the North Atlantic, WestJet is starting routes to Edinburgh and Barcelona (both in May), bringing its Europe network to seven.
Click here for Calgary-Barcelona flights.
What do you make of it all? Let us know in the comments.