Canadian Airport Thread II

[savevp]

Apologies if this has already been posted, but Transat next summer are launching Montréal - Keflavik , and...... Dakar!

Direct flights to West Africa was not on my diversification bingo card, but it's a most interesting opportunity, especially with a Francophone Senegalese diaspora in Mtl.

Lien en français :
https://quebec.openjaw.com/2025/11/17/ai...r-et-reykjavik-a-son-programme-ete-2026/

[hollywoodcory]

Originally Posted by RomanR27

Is it possible that January's update will contain new routes? Or was the purpose of today new routes, and that January will be the update that posts the final frequencies for the rest of the network?

The internal announcement says more is coming in the January announcement.

[q12]

Westjet also launching Halifax (YHZ) - Detroit (DTW) daily starting in May (last served by the former Northwest Airlines)

WestJet expands transatlantic and domestic network, strengthening Halifax as Canada’s Atlantic gateway

By WestJet November 18, 2025

7 minute read

WestJet increases presence in Nova Scotia with four new summer routes from Halifax Stanfield International Airport



WestJet announced a major expansion of its leisure travel network, reinforcing Halifax’s role as a critical transatlantic bridge and a dynamic gateway for both domestic and international travel. The airline’s latest news introduces three new transatlantic destinations including Lisbon, Portugal (LIS), Madrid, Spain (MAD) and Copenhagen, Denmark (CPH), growing WestJet’s total transatlantic network from Halifax to nine connections and further enhancing connectivity for travellers on both sides of the Atlantic. New service between Detroit, Michigan (DTW) and Halifax (YHZ) marks expanded transborder service planned for Summer 2026. 

“WestJet is proud to invest in Halifax and to help open Europe to Canadians, and Canada to the world,” said Samantha Taylor, WestJet Group Executive Vice President and Chief Experience Officer.  “With shorter flight times, competitive fares and direct access to Europe’s cultural heartlands, Halifax is uniquely positioned to serve as Canada’s Atlantic gateway.”
Halifax key to WestJet’s overall strategic growth
This expansion aligns with WestJet's commitment to balanced and sustainable growth, focusing on markets where it can make a meaningful impact. Halifax’s strategic location, strong community ties and award-winning infrastructure make it the ideal launch point for this next chapter.
Origin  Destination Peak Frequency  Start date
Halifax Madrid 4x weekly May 15, 2026 
Halifax Lisbon* 4x weekly May 1, 2026 
Halifax Copenhagen 4x weekly May 28, 2026 
Halifax Detroit 7x weekly May 18, 2026 

*Subject to government approval
WestJet’s expansion to Detroit builds on its successful partnership with Delta Air Lines, further enhancing its ability to deliver exceptional travel experiences, with onward connections to Delta’s U.S. network. With the introduction of service between Halifax and Detroit, WestJet will be connecting guests to a Delta global hub, for the first time.  

In addition to the three new European connections announced today, WestJet will resume summer seasonal flying on all existing transatlantic routes from Halifax including service to Barcelona, Amsterdam, Dublin, Edinburgh, London Gatwick and Paris. The airline will announce its remaining schedule for the Summer 2026 season, including additional domestic routes and frequency increases, in early 2026. For more information regarding the routes announced today, visit WestJet.com.
Additional quotes
“WestJet’s continued growth at Halifax Stanfield is great news for our region. These four new non-stop services will complement WestJet’s six existing European destinations from Halifax Stanfield, reinforcing our status as North America’s most internationally connected airport of our size and a key Canadian gateway. Each new route strengthens our global reach, offers travellers more choice, and fuels economic opportunity here at home.” - Joyce Carter, President & CEO of Halifax International Airport Authority 

"WestJet’s expansion of their international and U.S. routes between Halifax and Europe with help the province establish new markets for our products and services, grow our economy and make it easier for more people to visit our province than ever before. The new direct WestJet routes between Halifax and Madrid, Copenhagen, Lisbon and Detroit, in addition to the continuation of their other routes, illustrates the airlines acknowledgement that Nova Scotia is a province that is open for business, and our economy is taking off.” - Colton LeBlanc, Minister of Growth and Development, Province of Nova Scotia.

“Strengthening our direct connections to key markets, including Europe and the northeastern United States, enhances tourism, creates economic opportunities, and makes it easier for our residents and businesses to connect with the world. These new routes will bring more visitors to Halifax, support our local economy, and further position our city as a gateway to Atlantic Canada. Thank you, WestJet, for creating these connections and giving more opportunities for travelers to experience Halifax and the East Coast.” - Mayor Andy Fillmore, Halifax Regional Municipality 

“We’re excited to welcome WestJet to Copenhagen. The new direct route to Halifax opens the door to unforgettable experiences in Eastern Canada and strengthens the ties between Scandinavia and Canada. It’s a win for Danish travelers and for the many Canadian guests who now have easier access to Copenhagen and onward connections across Europe. We look forward to a strong partnership and welcoming even more visitors from Canada.” - CCO Copenhagen Airport, Peter Krogsgaard 

“The new direct flight to Madrid represents an important opportunity for us, expanding access to the many regions and cities that Spain has to offer. This route connects Atlantic Canada with the capital of Spain for the very first time and opens a new window to discover diverse destinations across Spain. Connectivity with Canada is essential to strengthen Spain's position as a leading tourist destination in the market.” - Isabel Martín Benítez, Consul for Tourism Affairs at the Embassy of Spain in Canada 

“Canada is an important market, and we welcome WestJet’s first operation to Portugal, as well as the first flight from Halifax to Lisbon. The route is well aligned with our strategy to expand connectivity and drive tourism growth, having tourists throughout the territory, all year round.” - Carlos Abade, Turismo de Portugal President 

“We are thrilled that WestJet’s new direct route from Halifax to Copenhagen opens an entirely new travel opportunity. Canadian visitors can now experience Copenhagen’s world-class culture, design, and gastronomy more easily than ever before” - Søren Tegen Pedersen, CEO, Wonderful Copenhagen 

“We’re excited to offer travelers even more options through our partnership with WestJet. The airline's continued investment at DTW strengthens Detroit’s position as a vital international gateway and connects our customers directly to Halifax for the first time since 2014." - Wayne County Airport Authority CEO Chad Newton

https://www.westjet.com/en-ca/news/2025/...antic-and-domestic-network--strengthenin

[Djeffery]

Is Rome not doable from Halifax? Would have thought that would be a popular route.

[Dominion301]

Originally Posted by Djeffery

Is Rome not doable from Halifax? Would have thought that would be a popular route.

YHZ-FCO is about 170 km further than YYZ-LGW so that might be pushing it. Don't WS have to already block a few seats on YYZ-LGW?

The airline will announce its remaining schedule for the Summer 2026 season, including additional domestic routes and frequency increases, in early 2026.

YOW/YUL-YHZ are the two glaring holes in WS' YHZ international gateway connection strategy. Let's see if they actually get re-added in January...I'm not holding my breath though that they will.

[Djeffery]

Originally Posted by Dominion301

YHZ-FCO is about 170 km further than YYZ-LGW so that might be pushing it. Don't WS have to already block a few seats on YYZ-LGW?

My daughter recently relocated to Charlottetown and has a cruise late next summer in Europe. She really doesn't want to backtrack if she can avoid it. Barcelona at the start, Rome at the end, so getting there can work out out of Halifax. Getting back is the trickier part. I'm off work the next couple months so I have time to play travel agent for her. Will have to look at options from either Rome back to Canada and then back to Charlottetown, or Rome to wherever in Europe that has a flight to Halifax.

[Djeffery]

Originally Posted by Dominion301

YOW/YUL-YHZ are the two glaring holes in WS' YHZ international gateway connection strategy. Let's see if they actually get re-added in January...I'm not holding my breath though that they will.

Maybe they should get some Q400's back in the east to get some feed into Halifax. Ottawa is slowly growing their own European flights as you obviously know, but I wonder if people there would rather connect in Halifax to one of those European flights, or connect in Europe on the flights right from Ottawa? Of course, the widebody thing will probably come into play for a lot of people as well.

[Dominion301]

WS are adding/extending some WG charters to year-round: https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/we...ional-summer-destinations-873467204.html

Route Summer frequency

Toronto-Puerto Plata 1x weekly
Montreal-Puerto Plata 1x weekly
Montreal-Samana 1x weekly
Quebec City-Cayo Coco 1x weekly
Winnipeg-Cancun 1x weekly
Calgary-Mazatlán* 1x weekly
Calgary-Guadalajara* 1x weekly

* = WS scheduled and not WG charter


Here's also the YWG additions:
WS 074 YWG-KEF 2015-0705 6 7M8
WS 075 KEF-YWG 0825-0940 7 7M8

Here's also the new YWG-YXU schedule:
WS 556 YWG-YXU 1030-1345 257 7M8
WS 557 YXU-YWG 1435-1605 257 7M8

New service of any kind at YXU is long overdue.

YVR-YYF also returns 5x weekly on Encore.

[hollywoodcory]

Details of WS first ever scheduled service to South America:

WS2590 YYZ 00:05 - 05:00 MDE 2346 737
WS2591 MDE 07:00 - 13:50 YYZ 2346 737

Shows a mix of 73W/73H and 7M8.

[msmariner]

Since there already is YYC-PTY 3083miles. Is YYC-MDE 3300miles doable on a 737MAX?

[LO 044]

Originally Posted by casper

Those are crappy times, especially if you want to connect onward on a train to Oporto or Faro.

Originally Posted by thenoflyzone

It's a foot in the door, but it's not pretty. And it won't get any better for a while. New airport isn't slated to open until 2034.

Knowing this, it will be interesting to see if they tough it out on the route, or pull out due to the 🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵 timings.

Full credit to them for attempting the route, however, unlike B6.

These times may not be ideal but by no means are they the end of the world. The flight to LIS is fine. Yes you get there late but many times you're tired on that first day anyways so you can immediately go rest at a hotel. Midnight Lisbon time is 8pm Halifax time so your internal clock will adjust fine.

The return flight is early but there are many flights that depart early for business travelers and for those flying south from Canada to Mexico, Dominican Republic and so on. Connections through YHZ both ways also work well.

I know it's apples to oranges based on location but I would take that flight any day if I lived out anywhere out east. We at YEG are supposed to be "thrilled" at a 1x weekly (essentially charter) flight to Iceland.

[Base]

Originally Posted by Djeffery

Maybe they should get some Q400's back in the east to get some feed into Halifax. Ottawa is slowly growing their own European flights as you obviously know, but I wonder if people there would rather connect in Halifax to one of those European flights, or connect in Europe on the flights right from Ottawa? Of course, the widebody thing will probably come into play for a lot of people as well.

Love the play Westjet is making in Halifax but they do have that missing regional feed. Not sure what the future of the Q400 fleet looks like but YHZ would be a great eastern candidate for them.

[hollywoodcory]

Originally Posted by LO 044

WestJet also removed following international routes for Northern summer 2026 season (from May 2026, based on schedule filing comparison 28SEP25 vs 16NOV25). This includes selected service suspensions:
Calgary – Fort Lauderdale (operates until 25APR26)
Calgary – Punta Cana (operates until 25APR26)
Edmonton – Nashville
Edmonton – Orlando (operates until 19APR26)
St. John’s NFLD – Orlando (operates until 25MAY26)
Vancouver – Nashville (suspended 01JUL26 – 06SEP26)
Vancouver – Tampa (Previously reported)
Winnipeg – Atlanta (Previously reported, last flight on 24APR26)
Winnipeg – Nashville (service tentatively scheduled from 11SEP26)
Winnipeg – Orlando last flight 24APR26)

Toronto Pearson – Nashville service is scheduled 5 weekly from 28APR26 for summer season, instead of 7 weekly.
https://www.aeroroutes.com/eng/251117-wsns26int

There's a few more US cuts coming that haven't been removed from booking just yet.

[q12]

The updated route map for YHZ:

[Innsertnamehere]

Why is Hamilton listed as seasonal? It's year round!

[q12]

Never thought I'd see the day where Halifax is used as a viable connecting option for Detroit/Windsor passengers to get to Madrid.

[someone123]

I wonder if that Madrid flight from Detroit via Halifax is cheaper than Halifax-Madrid would be directly. In any case, it's sort of interesting and wonder if Halifax could operate as a hub at all beyond Atlantic Canada. It could make sense in cases where say big airports like JFK are congested or expensive, or people are going on less major routes (like a smaller European city to the Caribbean) and don't want to transit the USA.

I think a lot of people have an image of the size and isolation of Halifax that doesn't take these flight options into account (Halifax is remote by car, but by boat or plane it's on some of the world's busiest routes). They're not to the level of a major hub airport, but they're better than a lot of decent-sized airports and all but a handful of other airports in Canada.

[EnvisionSaintJohn]

Originally Posted by q12

Never thought I'd see the day where Halifax is used as a viable connecting option for Detroit/Windsor passengers to get to Madrid.

Would be great to see that type of route for Moncton with flights originating in Detroit, Toronto, or Montreal and connecting onwards to Europe.

I think Montreal<-Moncton->Paris would be the logical route to go with first. The province of NB should step up and find a way to make this type of route possible.

Very good to see more of these routes for Halifax, especially now that Saint John has the non stop route to Halifax. Still, I'd like to be able to walk to the ferry with my luggage, then take bus onwards to Halifax from Digby, even if it meant staying over the night at the airport or a hotel in Halifax.

[EnvisionSaintJohn]

Originally Posted by savevp

Apologies if this has already been posted, but Transat next summer are launching Montréal - Keflavik , and...... Dakar!

Direct flights to West Africa was not on my diversification bingo card, but it's a most interesting opportunity, especially with a Francophone Senegalese diaspora in Mtl.

Lien en français :
https://quebec.openjaw.com/2025/11/17/ai...r-et-reykjavik-a-son-programme-ete-2026/

I wonder if similar routes to North and West Africa could be in the cards for YQM one day, even if they are once weekly season flights?

Quite a growing French speaking population of West and North Africans in Moncton and Nouveau Brunswick in general... all the direct flights to Montréal really make it harder for other cities to compete with Montréal for Françafrique immigrants.

Moncton has like 8 non stop seasonal flights to hot weather destination in the Caribbean and Mexico, I wonder if most Francophone New Brunswickers would find a warm weather winter vacation to French speaking Morocco or Dakar a lot more interesting than a warm weather winter vacation to slightly closer Spanish speaking countries to the south.

Plus, there are a lot of North and West Africans newcomers in New Brunswick... I really think there's a market there, and I think it's a Francophone niche that is better filled by YQM than YHZ.


possible connections to major French speaking cities in Africa + Paris


I could see seasonal routes between Montreal<Moncton>Paris, Quebec<Moncton>Paris, or say Montreal<Montreal>Casablanca or Dakha, being mostly filled up by Newcomers from those regions, along with some curious French Canadian tourists.

[egb]

1. DTW is the most interesting addition as it shows that WestJet is really leaning into trying to feed traffic through YHZ. YHZ-DTW daily makes little sense on its own.
2. On some level it would make sense for WestJet to add more YYZ/YUL/YOW capacity to feed all these Europe flights but I think the more likely outcome is more summer flights from Western Canada.
3. From an amenity point of view, YHZ will really need a second lounge over the long-term.
4. If there is enough sustained demand from this Euro Hub strategy then the airport will likely have to expand (as planned) down the road. The heavy seasonality of YHZ (which is just going to get more pronounced) will make the economics of that more challenging as they will have to expand expensive infrastructure to meet a relatively short-term peak.
5. Curious if there are other secondary US city airports that would make good pairings for YHZ a la Detroit.