An Air Canada plane is moved to the runway at the Ottawa International Airport in Ottawa on Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

Bookings on U.S.-bound routes down about 10%: Air Canada

MONTREAL — Bookings on cross-border routes are down significantly across the industry amid Canadians’ new-found aversion to U.S. destinations, Air Canada says.

At its annual shareholder meeting Monday, the company said its decreased cross-border flight bookings for the next six months were “comparable” to an industry-wide drop of about 10%.

Most Canadian carriers have reduced capacity to the United States while bolstering their domestic or transatlantic offerings, as customers turn their back on travel to a country whose president has set off a continental trade war and threatened annexation.

A weak loonie has also discouraged stateside excursions because the conversion rate has been particularly unfavourable for Canadians over the past four months.

Flair Airlines commercial vice-president Eric Tanner says cross-border trips will comprise just 12% of the budget carrier’s network in winter 2025-26 versus 20% over the past few months.

“Overall, we’ve seen more customer and consumer uncertainty. Obviously the U.S. tariff issue is getting a lot of attention, and we’ve certainly seen an impact from that and made network moves to adapt accordingly,” said Tanner.

Porter Airlines remains the exception, boosting its flight volume south of the border by 25% year-over-year for the summer amid a rapid expansion, though its U.S. network will be smaller than previously planned.






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