Air Canada recently unveiled a major expansion of its operations at Toronto Island Billy Bishop Airport. The hub, which was originally the Canadian metropolis' historic airport, is built on an island in Toronto, opposite the city centre.
The hub has undergone remarkable growth since the beginning of the decade, exceeding two million passengers a year. Its success can be attributed to its central location, opposite the financial district in the heart of the city.
This explains the renewed interest of airlines such as Air Canada. The latter now wants to offer new cross-border connections to four major US cities. Air Canada has also announced an increase in its daily frequencies to Montreal and Ottawa.
An offer for business passengers
These new services, designed to meet the needs of business travellers, are accompanied by an enhanced customer experience: free, fast Wi-Fi on board, premium snacks, beer and wine on offer, as well as privileged access to the Aspire Air Canada Café for eligible passengers on domestic flights.
But the most important change will come in the spring of 2026. Air Canada will launch four daily non-stop rotations to New York's LaGuardia airport, three to Boston Logan, two to Chicago O'Hare and one to Washington Dulles. All these routes will be operated by Air Canada Express, via its regional partner Jazz Aviation LP, using 78-seat Dash 8-400 aircraft.
The Air Canada flights to the United States have been made possible by the installation of US immigration preclearance stations at Billy Bishop. These facilities will enable travellers to the United States to complete customs formalities before leaving Canada.
From January 2026, Air Canada will also be strengthening its services in the country's busiest domestic corridors: Toronto-Montreal flights will be increased from eight to nine daily round trips, and those to Ottawa from four to six.
" This is our most significant expansion on Toronto Island since we arrived 35 years ago. The new transborder connections will offer a real advantage to our loyal customers and business travellers, facilitating frequent and fast connections between Canada's financial centre and the major markets of New York, Boston, Washington and Chicago. We are also increasing the frequency of flights to Montreal and Ottawa, two key corridors for business travellers. "said Mark Galardo, Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer of Air Canada.
He added " These new services complement our extensive network and frequencies from Toronto Pearson. We will be offering more than 600 daily return flights to 124 destinations next summer..
Air Canada to land in Nantes in summer 2026
In a completely different development, Air Canada is continuing its expansion in France next summer. The airline will inaugurate a new seasonal Nantes-Montréal route in the summer of 2026.
Operating three times a week from 11 June to 12 October, it will offer travellers from the Greater West of France direct access to Canada and easier connections via Montreal to North and South America and the Caribbean. Flights will depart from Nantes on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays, and from Montreal on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. The route will be operated by an aircraft equipped with Premium and Economy cabins.
