Air Canada is planning three new U.S. routes next summer despite lower transborder travel numbers.
The Star Alliance carrier will return to San Antonio International Airport (SAT) from its hub at Toronto Pearson Airport (YYZ), and add new routes to both Cleveland Hopkins International Airport (CLE) and Columbus’ John Glenn International Airport (CMH) in Ohio from Montreal-Trudeau International Airport (YUL). All three routes will operate seasonally from May 1, 2026, through that October.
Below are details of Air Canada's new routes:
- YYZ-SAT: Three times a week on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays on an Airbus A220-300.
- YUL-CLE: Daily on an Embraer E175.
- YUL-CMH: Daily on an E175.
Air Canada last flew YYZ-SAT in 2020, schedules from aviation analytics firm Cirium show. It currently serves both CLE and CMH from YYZ.
The airline plans to grow transborder capacity between the U.S. and Canada by about 15% year over year in summer 2026, Air Canada said.
Air Canada flew 7% fewer transborder seats from May through August this summer compared to 2024, Cirium schedules show.
The planned growth comes at an uncertain time for U.S.-Canada air travel. From January through June, the number of Canadians arriving in the U.S. by air was down 11% to 4.7 million compared to the same period in 2024, the latest data from the U.S. International Trade Administration shows.
And by all measures, Canadians are not staying home but traveling elsewhere, like the Caribbean and Mexico, instead of the U.S., amid animosity toward the Trump administration.
Air Canada, however, may not be targeting Canadians with its new U.S. routes. The airline does a big business flying Americans to Europe and Asia via its hubs at YYZ, YUL and Vancouver International Airport (YVR). These are known as “sixth-freedom” routes because travelers originate in one country, transit in a second and arrive in a third.
Alexandre Lefèvre, Air Canada's vice president of planning and scheduling, said in February that the airline planned to add as many as 15 new U.S. airports to grow connectivity over its hubs. And those new destinations, he added, would not necessarily be among the largest U.S. markets.
"Our big focus, and our big success over the past few years, have been in those unaligned markets where we've got a right to win,” he said.
CLE, CMH and SAT are all markets that fit this description — midsize U.S. cities with no single dominant hub airline.
The new transborder routes complement Air Canada's long-haul expansion in 2026. In June, the airline will launch new flights to Palma de Mallorca Airport (PMI) in Spain and Catania Airport (CTA) in Italy, and resume flights to Budapest Ferenc Liszt International Airport (BUD) and Shanghai Pudong International Airport (PVG) from YYZ that it has not flown since at least 2020.
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