Air Canada cancels 30 domestic routes, closes 8 stations at regional airports

Air Canada is indefinitely suspending service on 30 domestic regional routes and closing eight stations at regional airports across the country.

The airline says the cuts are being made as a result of continuing weak demand for both business and leisure travel due to COVID-19 travel restrictions and border closures.

The routes being cancelled are:

• In Atlantic Canada: Deer Lake-Goose Bay, Deer Lake-St. John’s, Fredericton-Halifax, Fredericton-Ottawa, Moncton-Halifax, Saint John-Halifax, Charlottetown-Halifax, Moncton-Ottawa, Gander-Goose Bay, Gander-St. John’s, Bathurst-Montreal, Wabush-Goose Bay, Wabush-Sept-Iles, Goose Bay-St. John’s.
• In Quebec: Baie Comeau-Montreal, Baie Comeau-Mont Joli, Gaspé-Iles de la Madeleine, Gaspé-Quebec City, Sept-Iles-Quebec City, Val d’Or-Montreal, Mont Joli-Montreal, Rouyn-Noranda-Val d’Or.
• In Ontario: Kingston-Toronto, London-Ottawa, North Bay-Toronto, Windsor-Montreal.
• In Western Canada: Regina-Winnipeg, Regina-Saskatoon, Regina-Ottawa, Saskatoon-Ottawa.

The regional airports where Air Canada is closing its stations include:

• Bathurst, N.B.
• Wabush N.L.
• Gaspé, Que.
• Baie Comeau, Que.
• Mont Joli, Que.
• Val d’Or, Que.
• Kingston, Ont.
• North Bay, Ont.

Air Canada also says other changes to its network and schedule, as well as further service suspensions, will be considered over the coming weeks.

The airline announced earlier this year that it would layoff about 20,000 workers, or more than half of its staff, as part of its plan to cut costs.

Air Canada says system-wide capacity was down about 85 per cent in the second quarter compared with the same quarter last year, and the airline expects capacity in the third quarter to be down 75 per cent compared with the third quarter of 2019.

CBC