More correct would be YYZ handles the bulk of Europe flying - as its numbers are YVR and YUL combined.

With Beijing Capital and Hong Kong Airlines coming up YVR will have 23 overseas carriers flying there!

Breakdown by continent:

Asia 14
Europe 7
Australia (Oceania) 2

YVR should be the fastest growing of the major airports this year but YYZ definitely not far behind in % growth. YVR international growth is just mind blowing this year and should continue into next year with the upcoming new services.

Only a fraction of that is US-YYZ-Europe/Asia. Most of the connecting happening at YYZ is domestic/domestic or domestic/international or vice versa.

Airlines serving Europe Asia and Africa from YUL including Transat, Air Canada and Rouge

EUROPE 13 carriers
ASIA 4 (including AC to PVG daily beginning February 2017)
AFRICA 4 carriers

YVR has 10 carriers serving Europe. DOnt know where u got 7

What's your point? If anything, seeing three of those rare 50-something A350s fly to YVR in no less than three different colors AMAZING and truly a testament to how important airlines' see YVR.

But don't worry, I am sure you will get to see a A350 one day too! :yes:

That's probably true, and makes sense, but the same argument could be made for most U.S. hub airports, specifically JFK, LAX, and MIA.

If I remember correctly, AC's strategy was to capture only 5% of U.S. pax traveling to Europe and Asia, and funnel them through YYZ - which in absolute numbers is pretty huge.

My breakdown was for overseas carriers only (ie non North American airlines).

Total is 23 overseas carriers.

14 are Asian based
7 are European based
2 are South Pacific based

I think YUL has 16.

Oops yeah 16!

Do you ever look online for flights and they give you all the options and some of them are just crazy. You can fly direct with either air Canada or West Jet from YVR - Vancouver to YXJ Ft St John in NE BC, it's about a 1 1/2 hour flight.

The west jet flights however only seem to have 1 or 2 direct flights per day, the other options fly you via calgary and it turns into a 6+ hour flight, there is about a 3.5 hr layover.

So one of the options that came up once said it was 20+ hours, it went like this, Vancouver - Toronto - Winnipeg - Calgary - Ft St John. WTF why would they even suggest that route?

I think it's a bit of both. YHZ has a decent selection of direct connections to Europe, but almost all of them are seasonal - the only year-round service between Atlantic Canada and Europe is YYZ-LHR and YYT-LHR. I don't think any other Atlantic airports offer connections to Europe anymore (YQX used to be an important hub, but became redundant with improvements in technology). I'm not sure if YQB has any direct flights to Europe.

On top of this, only 3 of the (seasonal) flights from Halifax actually bring you to the European continent - the rest go to England, Scotland, Ireland, and Iceland. I would imagine YYT is similar.

The result is that most of Europe is not "directly" accessible from YHZ. Anecdotal, but one of my best friends is from Brussels and studying at Dalhousie - when going home for holidays he'll usually have the option of flying to London and then transferring to Brussels (either by connecting flight or by train) or backtracking to Toronto or Montreal and transferring straight to Brussels. The second option is usually some combination of cheaper or more convenient (might just be a result of when he chooses to buy tickets, not sure). I would imagine the situation is the same for people traveling to Spain, Italy, the Balkans, Eastern Europe, Scandinavia, etc. YYZ has more immediate demand for connections to Europe but these flights also benefit from the fact that no other airport in Canada has as many options as YYZ in terms of destinations/transfer points in Europe (and probably most continents).

Are direct flights to the Caribbean common across Canadian airports or is that more of an Eastern thing?

Definitely an Eastern thing. I think YYC still has the winter seasonal flight to Nassau (WestJet), and of course the flights to Cuba but that is pretty much it (unless you count Cancun and Costa Rica too). Oh and Dominican Republic too. But to get to any of the smaller islands YYZ is the place to connect in Canada.

Ummm......no. YWG has direct flights to several Caribbean destinations, and I'm sure other Western cities do as well. It isn't just YYC.

I only listed YYC flights as I am familiar with what is offered from here. Anecdotally it seems folks here head to the Pacific side of Mexico and Hawaii. Cuba and the Dominican are up there too, but to get to the majority of the islands in the Caribbean you are looking at connecting somewhere (YYZ usually offering most options).

I only count 15 for YUL:

1. Air China
2. Turkish
3. Swiss
4. Lufthansa
5. British
6. Qatar
7. Royal Jordandian
8. Air France
9. KLM
10. Air Algerie
11. Iceland
12. SATA
13. Royal Air Moroc
14. Corsair
15. WOW

Am I missing one?

Definitely more of an eastern thing. There are a few out west but they get less and less the further west you go. Getting from YVR to the Caribbean is almost always a connection.

Like Bigtime said it's mostly pacific flying here, ie Pacific Coast of Mexico or Hawaii.

Nevermind, found it. Tunisair.

People will do that for the miles ;)

Say, if you do YVR-SYD-HKG-PEK-JFK, you pay the price for YVR-JFK (sort of..), but you'll earn enough miles for a free ticket by going around the Pacific.

U could have just edited your previous post :)

non-stop flights to Caribbean/Mexico from Saskatchewan are seasonal and operated by WestJet, Sunwing and AirTransit to:
Cancún, Montego Bay, Huatulco, Puerto Vallarta, Santa Clara, San José del Cabo, Varadero, Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo, Cayo Coco, Punta Cana, Puerto Plata, Freeport, Holguin, Manzanillo

Montreal and Toronto
Dominate the Caribbean that's for sure.