TORONTO — American Express Global Business Travel’s analysis of thousands of client transactions on flights to and from Canadian destinations revealed that five of the top 10 most travelled domestic routes by Amex GBT’s corporate clients experienced a fare decrease in May when compared to historical data.

That’s counter to the current perception that airfares to all destinations are sky high in this recovery year.

“We expect air fares to continue to rise this summer, however there are opportunities out there,” says Jeremy Quek, principal global air practice line lead for Amex GBT. “Half of the domestic routes in the top 10 most travelled are experiencing moderate fare decreases ranging from 14% for flights from Edmonton to Toronto to 2% for flights from Toronto to Winnipeg.”

Other routes experiencing decreases are Calgary to Toronto (-10%), Toronto to Vancouver (-9%) and Edmonton to Vancouver (-11%).

Quek notes that this is in stark contrast to international travel where all routes in the top 10 are trending higher, with the exception of Montreal to New York which experienced a price decrease of 4%.

Meanwhile a typical Toronto-to-Montreal flight in economy class cost 20% more this year than in 2019, and an economy flight from Toronto to London is 27% more expensive.

Not surprisingly, as the peak travel season gets underway, in most cases travellers will be paying more. Economy and business-class passengers on the most in-demand corporate routes are seeing higher prices this year, Amex GBT’s analysis showed.

“The fact that the cost of travel to Western Canada is showing moderate decreases can probably be attributed to changes in the airline competitive landscape,” says Quek. “Westjet [is] changing its business model post-COVID, scaling back operations in the Eastern part of Canada and re-focusing on the Western part where they are headquartered. This move has led to 35% fewer flights between Montreal and Toronto in 2023 compared to 2019 with prices in coach rising 20% this year. On the other hand, there are 30% more flights between Calgary and Toronto. It’s a similar picture in Vancouver where there are 25% more flights than in 2019.”

The top 10 routes, based on an analysis of Amex GBT sales in May and showing the average ticket price (ATP) trend for economy class fares, are …