Air Canada to discontinue 30 routes throughout the country

Air Canada will be closing eight stations around the country and is discontinuing service on 30 of its domestic routes due to a drop in demand for travel as a result of the pandemic, reports Global News.

On Tuesday, the company released a statement that the majority of suspensions will occur in Ontario, the Maritimes and Quebec. A smaller amount of closures will take place between Ottawa and Saskatchewan.

“Air Canada expects the industry’s recovery will take a minimum of three years,” said the airline in a statement. “As a consequence, other changes to its network and schedule, as well as further service suspensions, will be considered over the coming weeks.”

“These structural changes to Air Canada's domestic regional network are being made as a result of continuing weak demand for both business and leisure travel due to COVID-19 and provincial and federal government-imposed travel restrictions and border closures, which are diminishing prospects for a near-to-mid-term recovery.”

The industry was hit hard by the pandemic after travel restrictions were implemented—including limitations on non-essential travel.

In the first quarter of 2020, Air Canada saw a net loss of about $1.05 billion. In mid-May, the company announced that it had to lay off around 20,000 employees—over 50 percent of the total staff.

Air Canada noted that it will contact customers affected by the closures.

A full list of suspensions can be found here.