It’s no surprise that Canada and the United States are well connected by air (we also have a well-developed road network, with even Amtrak serving three Canadian provinces). Flights between Canada and China have fallen by about 91% in recent years, but flights between the United States and Canada remain strong. According to information collected by aviation analytics firm Cirium, the following are the connecting flights from the United States to Canada scheduled for October.
New York City and Toronto dominate busiest routes
Most major US-based airlines fly to Canada (with the exception of Southwest Airlines, as its system is not set up to accept Canadian dollars). Canada’s largest airlines are Air Canada, Porter Airlines, and WestJet, all three of which serve the United States.
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In October, there were 13,549 flights scheduled from the United States to Canada with 1,584,499 seats. There are 3,070 flights per week and 357,921 seats. Traveling between the United States and Canada is relatively smooth (after all, the United States and Canada are often said to have the longest unprotected border in the world).
The top 20 busiest routes to Canada all serve three major Canadian cities: Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver. Flights between New York City and Toronto make up the majority of the most frequented US/Canada routes. 8 of the 10 busiest routes into Canada go to Toronto (Canada’s largest city). Seven of these flights will be to Toronto Pearson International Airport and one will be to Billy Bishop City of Toronto. Of the following 10 busiest routes, an additional 6 also serve Toronto Pearson (which means 14 of the top 20 routes go to Toronto).
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It is unclear why flights to Montreal, Canada’s second largest city, have not been increased. Flights to Montreal that made the top 20 list are Air Canada’s New York LaGuardia Airport to Montreal Trudeau International Airport (4th busiest) and Air Canada’s Boston to Montreal Trudeau Airport (4th busiest) There are only two flights (18th place).
From the United States, all but 8 of the 10 busiest routes depart from the New York City area (LaGuardia and Newark). In particular, New York’s LaGuardia Airport handles mostly domestic flights and only limited international flights (there are no U.S. Customs and Border Protection facilities). As a result, U.S. border pre-clearance only accepts international flights from the airports it serves (primarily Canadian airports).
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10 busiest routes to Canada
The top five routes to Canada are Air Canada’s New York LaGuardia to Toronto Pearson flight 336, Porter Airlines’ Newark Liberty to Billy Bishop Toronto City flight 273, and Air Canada’s New York LaGuardia to Toronto Pearson flight 273. Flight 216 from Newark Liberty to Toronto Pearson, Air Canada flight from New York LaGuardia to Toronto. Pearson, Air Canada has 206 flights from New York LaGuardia to Montreal to Trudeau, and United Airlines has 204 flights per month from Chicago O’Hare to Toronto Pearson.
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The top 10 busiest airline routes are United’s Newark Liberty to Toronto Pearson, Delta’s New York City to LaGuardia to Toronto Pearson, Air Canada’s Los Angeles to Toronto Pearson, Delta’s Seattle-Vancouver route, American Airlines’ New York City-LaGuardia-Toronto Pearson route. Toronto Pearson.
