Air Canada suspends flights from Mississauga’s Pearson Airport to some sunny destinations

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Published January 7, 2022 at 4:49 pm

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Air Canada is temporarily suspending flights from Pearson Airport in Mississauga to more than a dozen Caribbean vacation destinations amid surging COVID-19 numbers in Canada and around the globe.

Canada’s flagship airline made the announcement this week, saying that due to the pandemic, it is pausing service to select destinations from Jan. 24 to April 30.

Those destinations include Antigua, Aruba, Samana, Curacao, Exuma, Grenada, Puerto Plata, Santo Domingo, Bermuda, Grand Cayman, Havana, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Saint Martin/Sint Maarten, and Saint Kitts and Nevis.

Travellers affected by the suspended flights will be given full refunds, Air Canada says. They’ll be contacted and have refunds processed in order of departure date.

Additionally, to help ensure Canadian travellers aren’t stranded abroad, the airline will run a number of one-way commercial flights from the affected destinations back to Canada.

In addition to the various sunny Caribbean destinations, Air Canada is also cancelling all direct passenger flights between Pearson and Hong Kong from today through March 3.

The carrier is also suspending its Vancouver-to-Hong Kong passenger flights until March 1.

Air Canada officials remind travellers that current travel restrictions, including providing proof of vaccination and a negative COVID-19 test result before boarding a Canada-bound flight, remain in effect.

“It is your responsibility to ensure that you, and any child travelling with you, have all the valid travel documents required for re-entry into Canada,” Air Canada officials say.

Air Canada isn’t the only Canadian carrier grounding a number of flights temporarily.

Air Transat also announced this week that it’s cutting about 30 per cent of its flights over the next two months. Officials say the ongoing impact of the Omicron variant and Ottawa’s restrictive travel measures led to many cancellations by travellers.

Air Transat’s reduced flight schedule will remain in effect until Feb. 25. The carrier did not specify which flights were affected.

Last week, WestJet Airlines chopped 15 per cent of its scheduled flights through the end of this month.

The carrier said it made the move in response to a large number of flight crew members calling in sick due to COVID-19.

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