Air Canada suspends 30 regional lines, eight of which are in Quebec

magictr | June 30, 2020 | Business | No Comments

Photo: Graham Hughes The canadian Press
In a press release, the company blames “a persistent weakness of demand both in the business market than in that of leisure” due to the pandemic, as well as the travel restrictions put in place in the country.

Air Canada announced Tuesday the indefinite suspension of 30 regional lines and the closing of eight stopovers at regional airports canadian.

The airline has explained these reductions in service by the “continued weakness” of the demand in the market of business and leisure because of the restrictions of travel and border closures related to the pandemic COVID-19.

Half of the regional airports affected by the closure of Air Canada are located in Quebec (Gaspé, Baie-Comeau, Mont-Joli and Val-d’or), while the other two are airports in ontario (Kingston and North Bay), in addition to a New Brunswick (Bathurst) and one in Newfoundland-and-Labrador (Wabush).

Air Canada has indicated that other changes to its network and its schedule, as well as other suspensions of service, would be evaluated in the coming weeks.

The airline announced earlier this year that she would have to walk about 20 000 workers, more than half of its staff, as part of its plan to reduce its costs.

Air Canada pointed out that the capacity of the entire network was down by about 85 % in the second quarter, compared to the same period last year. The company also expects that its capacity is down 75 % in the third quarter compared to the third quarter of last year.

In Quebec, the links concerned by the disruption are :