Air Canada will gradually suspend most of its international flights by the end of this month amid moves by several countries – including Canada – to close international borders to stop the spread of COVID-19.
The airline said on Wednesday they will still serve a ‘small number of international and trans-border destinations’ from select Canadian cities after April 1.
“The airline also intends to continue serving all provinces and territories of Canada after that date, albeit with a significantly reduced network,” said an Air Canada statement.
Air Canada will also operate between one or more Canadian hubs and six international airports to repatriate citizens back home throughout April. Those airports include London, Paris, Frankfurt, Delhi, Tokyo, and Hong Kong.
In the United States, Air Canada will serve just 13 airports, down from 53, starting April 1, although that move is “subject to further reductions based on demand or government edicts.” The list of U.S. cities includes New York, Washington D.C., Boston, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Seattle.
Similarly, in Canada, the country will reduce service from 62 to 40 airports, with a full list expected to be posted on April 1.
Air Canada operates several daily flights from Kamloops to Vancouver and Calgary. The Calgary flights will be suspended from March 23 to April 30, while the Vancouver flights will be suspended from April 1 to April 30.
“The restrictions on travel imposed by governments worldwide, while understandable, are nonetheless having a cataclysmic effect upon the global airline industry,” Air Canada’s president and CEO Calin Rovinescu, said in a statement.
“We are working around the clock to deal with the impact for our customers and our business of the various travel restrictions that are being made by governments at unprecedented speed without advance warning.”
The announcement came hours after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Canada and the U.S. had mutually agreed to close their shared border to non-essential traffic.
WestJet announced on Monday that it too was suspending international flights for at least 30 days.
