This is shaping up as a great year for Canadians who want to take off and see not only more of their own country, but see the world. Here’s a look at new flight options for Canadians travelling this summer.
AIR CANADA
— One of the new options starts June 17, when Air Canada begins direct flights from Vancouver to Brisbane and Australia’s popular Gold Coast area. It’s a ways to go, true, but the Australian dollar is pretty much on par with the loonie, which makes a visit more enticing than exchanging our dollar for Euros or British Pounds.
— Air Canada also is launching Vancouver-Dublin service three times a week, which will make it way easier for west coast folks to get to lovely Ireland. As well, they’re adding Toronto-Prague, Toronto-Glasgow, Toronto-London Gatwick, Toronto-Seoul, Montreal-Lyon and Montreal-Casablanca, as well as Air Canada rouge flights between Athens and both Toronto and Montreal in May.
— For folks in the Greater Toronto Area who don’t want to use Pearson, or for Quebecers heading to Niagara or the western GTA, new flights will link Hamilton and Montreal starting May 24. It’ll be a big boost for Hamilton’s airport, too.
— Montreal residents also will benefit from flights being added to Denver (June 4), Philadelphia (May 24) and Houston (June 6). Vancouver folks looking for great U.S. getaways will get flights to San Jose, California on May 9, sunny San Diego June 2 and Chicago June 4.
— Calgary folks will have better access to the delights of northern California starting June 18, when Air Canada adds direct flights to San Francisco. Calgary-Phoenix flights already exist with Air Canada, but are being extended to year-round.
— Air Canada is adding flights from Toronto to Jacksonville May 7 and to Portland, Oregon on May 27.
— Air Canada rouge announced this week that it will add several new flights in November and December: Toronto-Palm Springs, Toronto-Port of Spain/Trinidad and Tobago, Montreal-Puerto Vallarta and Montreal-San Jose, Costa Rica.
WESTJET
— WestJet’s international expansion continues May 6 when it begins flights to London-Gatwick, giving WestJet fliers better access to one of the world’s most popular cities. Year-round non-stop flights will fly from Calgary and Toronto to London, and seasonally from Edmonton, Vancouver, Winnipeg and St. John’s.
— WestJet recently added WestJet Encore service between Halifax and Boston, their first U.S. destination. They added flights between Toronto and Boston in March. WestJet Encore has been adding a number of routes across the country already, including Toronto-Fredericton, Edmonton-Nanaimo and more.
— They’ll start flights between Toronto and Nashville June 15 and also will add Toronto-Los Angeles this summer. And they’ll begin a Vancouver-Halifax route June 29, making for a much faster trip to Atlantic Canada.
TRANSAT
— Transat on June 15 will begin flights from Toronto to Zagreb, Croatia (with connections from Montreal to Toronto). They also are launching Toronto-Nice, Montreal-Glasgow and Vancouver-Rome (great for Italy lovers in B.C), all in late May.
PORTER
— Porter Airlines is back with service from Halifax to Stephenville, Newfoundland and Labrador this summer. They also are extending their Toronto-Mont Tremblant service to Sept. 25. And Porter will be testing flights between Toronto-Winnipeg and Ottawa-Winnipeg next month.
Toronto Sun
Canadians to get many new destinations this summer
