Weakening demand for U.S. travel is prompting Canadian airlines to cut flights south of the border, with Air Canada canceling five routes for 2027.
Data from aviation data and analytics company Cirium shows that the airline, Canada’s flag carrier and the largest in the country by fleet size and passenger volume, has cut its flights from Montréal to Seattle, Toronto to Boston and Charleston, and Vancouver to Nashville and Raleigh-Durham.
The service between Toronto and Charleston, which the company started in March 2024, was the only Air Canada flight bringing Canadian snowbirds to South Carolina, one of the most popular U.S. states for their neighbors’ winter escapes.
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These are the routes to U.S. destinations canceled by Air Canada next year:
- Montréal-Trudeau International Airport (YUL) to Seattle–Tacoma International Airport (SEA);
- Billy Bishop Toronto City Centre Airport (YTZ) to Boston Logan International Airport (BOS);
- Vancouver International Airport (YVR) to Nashville International Airport (BNA);
- Vancouver International Airport (YVR) to Raleigh–Durham International Airport (RDU);
- Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ) to Charleston International Airport (CHS).
According to aviation website SimpleFlying, three of the routes were already suspended—from Montréal to Seattle, Vancouver to Nashville, and Vancouver to Raleigh-Durham—but were supposed to be reinstated in May 2027. However, all flights have now been removed.
Flights from Toronto to Charleston, also already suspended, were supposed to start again in April next year, but they have been removed as well. According to SimpleFlying, only 66.5 percent of seats on flights between the two destinations were filled between March 2024 and July 2026, falling from 67.8 percent in the first year of service to 62.1 percent in 2025, despite fewer flights and less capacity.
An Air Canada representative confirmed the suspension of the seasonal flight to Charleston to TheStreet.
On the other hand, Air Canada announced it will resume flights from Toronto to Kentucky’s Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport (SDF), which were last available in 2002.
Newsweek contacted Air Canada for comment by email on Thursday morning.
Other Canadian Airlines Have Already Withdrawn from the US Market
As Canadian travel to the U.S. remains under pressure from the simmering political tension between the Trump administration and the Canadian government and from rising fuel prices, other companies have already drastically reduced services to the United States.
Westjet, Canada’s second-largest airline, has cut 10 U.S. routes this year, according to Cirium data cited by SimpleFlying. Flights from Edmonton International Airport were the most affected, with services to Atlanta, Nashville, Chicago, Seattle and San Francisco halted this year.
Flights between Edmonton and Nashville and Chicago were only operative for one season.
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The company also cut three routes between Vancouver International Airport and Boston, Nashville and Lihue, Hawaii, leaving the Canadian city without direct service to the latter. WestJet also cut its nonstop service between Toronto Pearson and Los Angeles in April, and removed the service from Winnipeg to Nashville in May.
Montréal-headquartered airline Air Transat ended all its flights to the U.S. by mid-June, which had been reduced by then to two destinations: Florida’s Fort Lauderdale and Orlando. Flights from Montréal to Orlando ended on May 3, while flights from Quebec City to Orlando and Fort Lauderdale ended between May and June.
Newsweek contacted WestJet and Air Transat for comment by email on Thursday morning.
Why Are Canadian Airlines Cancelling Routes?
The number of Canadians traveling to the U.S. has plummeted since President Donald Trump’s return to the White House. Even though travel rebounded slightly last year, new figures show that the decline has not stopped.
According to the latest data by the Canadian government’s statistics agency, the number of Canadian cross-border trips last month was down by 29 percent compared with two years ago in 2024, with car border crossings down by 31 percent and air travel down by 19 percent.
The pullback by Canadian travelers appears to reflect a combination of political backlash and weaker purchasing power, while decisions by airlines to cut back on services would appear to be straightforward common sense for carriers that want to stay afloat while facing dwindling demand.
Trump’s calls for Canada to become the "51st state" have angered many Canadians who had already turned sour on his administration after the imposition of sweeping tariffs on Canadian goods, pushing many to avoid traveling south of the border.
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It is also a decision that makes financial sense to many travelers, as a weak Canadian dollar has been making U.S. holidays more expensive. The Canadian dollar has weakened throughout 2026: it began the year at about $0.729 and had fallen to around $0.71 by Thursday.
With fewer travelers choosing American destinations, airlines have responded by cutting capacity. Aviation intelligence provider OAG reported that Canadian carriers cut U.S.-bound capacity by nearly 10 percent in the first quarter of 2026, equivalent to about 450,000 seats, as demand moved away from traditional American sun destinations.
Instead, Canadian airlines are shifting services to European and Caribbean destinations, which have seen a rise in demand. In the first quarter of the year, according to OAG, capacity from Canada to Costa Rica rose 15 percent and to Mexico by 5 percent, an increase which likely reflects "a shift in leisure travel demand from traditional U.S. sun destinations," the company wrote.
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Ben Kelly and Tony Phillips.