Air Canada launches a massive global route expansion this June, introducing seven new and resuming international routes from Toronto, Montreal, and Halifax to capture surging transatlantic and transpacific summer demand.
Air Canada will launch seven new and resuming international routes in June 2026, strategically expanding its long-haul network to capture surging summer travel demand across key European, Asian, and Mediterranean corridors.
The Star Alliance member, which accounts for 36% of Canada’s long-haul departures, will add service to Shanghai, Budapest, the Azores, Catania, Palma de Mallorca, Nantes, and Brussels, according to OAG scheduling data. The expansion brings the carrier’s total summer network to more than 126 international destinations.
“From Canada to Berlin, Ponta Delgada, Nantes and Brussels, we are strategically increasing new non-stop routes across Europe to bring convenient access to key destinations, while strengthening economic ties, and supporting tourism,” said Mark Galardo, Air Canada’s executive vice president and chief commercial officer.
Air Canada averages 68 long-haul departures per day in June — the third-highest figure for that summer month — though total outbound capacity remains 2% below the all-time record set in June 2018, when Rouge’s Boeing 767-300ERs carried a heavier share of the carrier’s European flying.
Toronto Leads the Push With Three New Services
Air Canada’s primary hub at Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ) anchors three of the new routes.
The first departs June 3, when four-weekly, year-round service to Shanghai Pudong (PVG) resumes on the 298-seat Boeing 787-9. The route operated continuously from 2006 until the pandemic forced a suspension in 2020, deploying a succession of aircraft over that span — the Airbus A340-300, A340-500, Boeing 777-200LR, 777-300ER, and 787-9.
On June 5, Air Canada will begin its first mainline service from Toronto to Budapest (BUD), operating three to five times weekly on the Boeing 787-8 and 787-9 depending on the month. The route replaces the carrier’s lower-cost Rouge subsidiary, which served the Hungarian capital between 2016 and 2019. Hungary has had no nonstop link to North America since LOT Polish Airlines ended its New York JFK service in 2022. American Airlines separately resumed seasonal flights from Philadelphia to Budapest on May 21.
Toronto’s third new corridor — to Ponta Delgada (PDL) in the Portuguese Azores — launches June 11 with three weekly flights on the Boeing 737 MAX 8. At 2,443 nautical miles each way, it ranks as Air Canada’s third-shortest transatlantic narrowbody service in 2026. WestJet will introduce an identical Toronto-Azores service one day later, on June 12, joining incumbent Azores Airlines on a route where the sudden concentration of capacity will test all three carriers.
Montreal Opens Three First-Ever Canadian Routes
Air Canada’s second-largest hub, Montréal-Trudeau International Airport (YUL) — averaging 23 daily long-haul departures in June — will inaugurate three routes that have never before been served from Canada.
On June 4, the carrier begins three-weekly summer service to Catania-Fontanarossa Airport (CTA) in Sicily on the Boeing 787-8, marking the first scheduled nonstop flights from Canada to the island. Air Canada becomes the fourth carrier operating between North America and Sicily, joining Delta Air Lines, the Italian charter carrier Neos, and United Airlines — the two U.S. carriers launched their own flights in 2025. Total round-trip seats between North America and Sicily reach 31,000 in June 2026 — a 25% year-over-year increase and 6,000 seats above the same month in 2025. In addition to the roughly 18,000 travelers who flew between Canada and Catania last year, Air Canada is also positioned to attract passengers connecting to and from the United States. Nico Torrisi, chief executive of Catania Airport’s management company SAC, called the launch “a strategic step for our airport and for the entire region.”
Palma de Mallorca (PMI) follows on June 17, with three weekly summer flights also operated by the Boeing 787-8. The service marks the first scheduled connection from Canada to Spain’s Balearic Islands. Originally conceived as a debut route for Air Canada’s incoming Airbus A321XLR fleet, delivery delays from the manufacturer prompted a switch to the wider 255-seat 787-8, inadvertently upgrading travelers with the carrier’s flat-bed Signature Class business cabin where a single-aisle layout had been planned.
Montreal’s third new route, to Nantes Atlantique Airport (NTE), begins June 1 with three-weekly service operated initially by the Boeing 737 MAX 8. Air Canada will compete head-to-head with Air Transat — the first time two scheduled carriers have served the Montreal-Nantes city pair simultaneously. The Airbus A321XLR is scheduled to take over the route starting July 15, once aircraft deliveries from the European manufacturer stabilize.
Halifax Gains Its Longest-Ever Transatlantic Flight
Halifax Stanfield International Airport (YHZ) picks up its most ambitious international connection to date when Air Canada launches three-weekly summer flights to Brussels Airport (BRU) on June 18, using the Boeing 737 MAX 8.
At 2,670 nautical miles each way, the service becomes Air Canada’s longest nonstop flight from Nova Scotia and adds to the carrier’s record transatlantic narrowbody network. Brussels had ranked as Halifax’s fifth-largest unserved European city; barely 3,500 round-trip local passengers traveled between the two markets in all of 2025. Air Canada expects to supplement thin point-to-point demand by routing onward traffic through Brussels — a Star Alliance hub for partner Brussels Airlines — to connections across Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. The route is Halifax’s second international nonstop destination after year-round service to London Heathrow.
Air Canada will also resume twice-weekly service from Montreal to Tel Aviv (TLV) on June 5, using the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, complementing its established year-round Toronto-Tel Aviv route.
Key Takeaways
- Air Canada launches seven new and resuming long-haul routes in June 2026 from Toronto, Montreal, and Halifax, expanding its summer network to more than 126 destinations.
- Montreal gains Canada’s first-ever nonstop flights to Sicily and Mallorca; Toronto resumes Shanghai Pudong service on the Boeing 787-9 after a six-year pandemic suspension.
- Budapest regains nonstop North American connectivity for the first time since LOT Polish ended its New York JFK service in 2022.
- Airbus A321XLR delivery delays prompted Air Canada to substitute Boeing 787-8 wide-bodies on Mallorca and Nantes for the initial summer season; XLR service on Nantes begins July 15.
- Air Canada and WestJet will both launch Toronto-Azores service within 24 hours of each other, creating immediate three-way competition with incumbent Azores Airlines.