February will see Air Transat entering the Brazil market for the first time with new nonstop service to Rio de Janeiro, expanding its long-haul leisure footprint in South America.
Beginning Feb. 4, the carrier will operate 2X-weekly flights from Toronto Pearson to Routes Americas 2026 host Rio de Janeiro Galeão International Airport on Wednesdays and Saturdays, alongside a 1X-weekly Montreal-Rio service on Thursdays starting Feb. 5. All flights will be operated with Airbus A330 aircraft.
The move fills a gap in the Canadian market. While Air Canada operates year-round services to Sao Paulo from Toronto and Montreal and launched Toronto-Rio flights in December 2025, Montreal has remained without nonstop service to Rio until now. Sabre Market Intelligence data shows that O&D traffic between Canada and Brazil totaled about 348,500 two-way passengers in the year to June 2025. Toronto-Sao Paulo was the largest city pair with about 75,000 two-way passengers.
The Brazil launch is part of a broader winter-season expansion for Air Transat, which is also boosting frequencies across its transatlantic and sun networks. Additional February launches include Quebec-Pointe-à-Pitre, Charlottetown-Cancun and Fredericton-Cancun.
Fellow Canadian carrier Porter Airlines is also expanding internationally, launching Montreal-Nassau service on Feb. 5 as part of its growing Caribbean push. Porter opened its first Nassau route from Toronto Pearson in November and added Ottawa and Hamilton in December. The airline is also launching daily Vancouver-Phoenix service from Feb. 2, continuing its evolution from a regional operator into a broader leisure carrier using Embraer 195-E2 aircraft.
Also in the Bahamas, American Airlines will introduce the only nonstop service between the U.S. and Bimini starting Feb. 14. The route from Miami will operate three times per week on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays with E175 aircraft, offering both economy and premium cabins. Bimini becomes American’s seventh destination in the Bahamas.
Elsewhere in the Americas, Breeze Airways will continue building its international network with new services from New Orleans to Cancun beginning Feb. 7 and Providence-Cancun from Feb. 14. The additions follow Breeze’s first-ever international flights in January, when it introduced Norfolk-Cancun service—Norfolk’s first international route in 25 years. The carrier also launched Charleston-Cancun last month and will add Raleigh/Durham-Punta Cana in March.
Spirit Airlines, meanwhile, will introduce new international service from Boston to Santo Domingo and Cancun beginning mid-February. Santo Domingo will operate daily from Feb. 12, while Cancun will be offered once weekly from Feb. 14, both using A320 aircraft.
In Europe and Asia, IndiGo will expand its long-haul footprint with the launch of New Delhi-London Heathrow flights on Feb. 2. The service will operate five days per week using Boeing 787 aircraft on damp lease from Norse Atlantic Airways, as the carrier awaits new widebody deliveries. The route follows IndiGo’s Mumbai-Heathrow launch in October and comes shortly after its first A321XLR services to Athens began in late January.
Rounding out the month, Maldivian will add Xi’an as its fifth destination in mainland China with a weekly Male-Bangkok-Xi’an service operating from Jan. 31 through March 1. Xi’an will host Routes Asia 2026 from April 14–16.
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