Air Canada will add six international routes and restore a fifth daily Toronto-London Heathrow frequency in summer 2027, using incoming Airbus A321XLRs and additional widebody capacity to expand across Europe and Asia.
The schedule introduces five destinations to Air Canada’s network: Guangzhou, China; Oslo, Norway; Shannon, Ireland; Basel, Switzerland; and Dubrovnik, Croatia. Nice, France, will receive a new route from Toronto, complementing the Star Alliance member’s existing Montreal service.
“Summer 2027 will mark the most extensive intercontinental expansion in Air Canada’s history,” Chief Commercial Officer Mark Galardo said. “Overall, our schedule reflects our commitment to championing Canada around the world, leveraging the opportunities enabled by a growing, next-generation fleet of A321XLR and widebody aircraft … and the far-reaching networks we have built at our three Canadian hubs.”
Four of the seven routes will use the A321XLR, opening thinner long-haul markets while adding frequencies on larger routes. The type will operate Toronto Pearson-Oslo, Toronto-Shannon, Montreal Trudeau-Basel and the restored daytime Toronto-London Heathrow service.
Air Canada will offer 4X-weekly Toronto-Oslo flights from June 2 through Oct. 10, followed by 3X-weekly service to Shannon from June 10 through Oct. 2.
The Oslo route will make Air Canada the only North American airline serving Norway nonstop—although SAS Scandinavian Airlines currently links Oslo with New York John F. Kennedy International Airport and Newark Liberty International Airport. Shannon will become Air Canada’s second destination in Ireland alongside Dublin.
Sabre Market Intelligence data indicates that approximately 52,300 O&D passengers traveled between Canada and Oslo in 2025, including about 19,900 between Toronto and Oslo. Canada-Shannon was considerably smaller, generating an estimated 4,900 passengers, including about 1,500 from Toronto.
Toronto-Nice will operate 2X-weekly with A330-300 aircraft from June 16 through Oct. 23. Air Canada already flies between Montreal and Nice, competing with Air Transat, but the Toronto service will be the only nonstop link between the two cities.
Nice has the largest underlying Canadian market among the new European routes. Sabre data shows approximately 117,900 passengers traveled between Canada and Nice in 2025, including about 31,400 from Toronto.
From Montreal, Air Canada will begin 4X-weekly flights to EuroAirport Basel Mulhouse Freiburg on June 16. The airline will compete with Air Transat, which offered about 20,300 two-way seats on Montreal-Basel during summer 2026, OAG Schedules Analyser data shows.
The wider Canada-Basel/Mulhouse market generated an estimated 37,500 O&D passengers in 2025. Montreal accounted for approximately 20,600, or almost 55%, providing the strongest local-market concentration among Air Canada’s new European destinations.
Montreal-Dubrovnik flights will operate 3X-weekly from May 11 through Oct. 23 using Boeing 787 aircraft. The route will be the carrier’s first to Croatia and will complement United Airlines’ existing Newark-Dubrovnik service in the wider North America market.
Sabre data shows that about 25,500 passengers traveled between Canada and Dubrovnik during 2025, although only approximately 5,500 originated or terminated in Montreal.
The expansion comes as overall North America-Europe capacity growth has slowed. OAG data shows airlines offered approximately 80.2 million two-way seats during summer 2026, up just 0.4% from 79.9 million a year earlier.
Air Canada outpaced the wider market, increasing capacity by 3.9% to 6.1 million seats and expanding its transatlantic network from 49 airport pairs to 56. Its capacity share increased from 7.3% to 7.6%, making it the fifth-largest airline in the North America-Europe market behind Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, American Airlines and British Airways.
Additionally, Air Canada will take its Toronto-London Heathrow route to 5X-daily next summer, with the additional daily year-round flight using an A321XLR.
In Asia, the airline will launch 3X-weekly, year-round 787 service between Vancouver and Guangzhou from May 4, subject to government approval. Guangzhou will become its third mainland Chinese destination after Beijing and Shanghai.
Air Canada will be the only North American carrier serving Guangzhou, although China Southern Airlines already operates between Vancouver and the southern Chinese city.
The addition comes amid an expansion of Canada-China capacity. OAG data shows airlines offered approximately 772,800 two-way seats during summer 2026, up 33.5% year over year.
Air Canada grew its capacity by 43.2% to about 288,500 seats, increasing its market share from 34.8% to 37.3%. The airline will also raise Toronto-Shanghai service to daily in summer 2027 and expects to operate up to 24X-weekly frequencies to Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.
Elsewhere, Toronto-Guatemala City service, which begins in December 2026, will become year-round. Montreal flights to Tenerife, Lima and Guatemala City will also extend across the full year.
Overall, Air Canada plans to operate more than 125 international routes and offer up to 169,000 weekly seats from Canada to more than 85 international destinations in summer 2027. International available seat miles are expected to increase by more than 8% year over year.
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