Canadian travelers heading into the summer of 2026 are about to experience an airline landscape that looks quite different from last year. Across the country, airlines are shaking up their networks, adding fresh routes to Europe and sun-soaked destinations, scaling back some U.S. services, and even launching flights to cities that previously weren’t on the map. The reasons? A potent mix of the upcoming FIFA World Cup, shifting travel demand, and a growing appetite for direct, point-to-point flights that bypass the traditional hub-and-spoke headaches.
One of the most noticeable effects this summer is the so-called “World Cup effect.” According to The Globe and Mail, Edelweiss Air, a Swiss leisure carrier, has made a bold move by launching service to Vancouver in May, with daily flights starting June 13, 2026. The timing is no coincidence—Vancouver is one of the host cities for the FIFA World Cup, and the airline is betting on a surge of soccer fans flying in for the matches. Edelweiss has also extended its Halifax season through October 18, after a strong debut last year, and is keeping its three-times-weekly Calgary service running from late May to mid-September.
SWISS International Air Lines, the parent company of Edelweiss, is also getting in on the action. The airline, which already operates year-round daily service from Montreal, has added five weekly flights from Toronto this summer. Heike Birlenbach of SWISS summed up the mood, saying, “I am delighted that, with our long-established destinations in the U.S.A. and Canada, we’ll also be able to fly many soccer fans straight to their World Cup games.” Switzerland, after all, is expected to send plenty of traveling supporters.
But the World Cup isn’t the only force at play. Canadian carriers are broadening their European offerings in a big way. Air Transat, for instance, has rolled out a weekly non-stop service between Quebec City and Marseille through October 8, 2026, and a Quebec City-to-Nantes route running from June 2 to October 22. These new flights complement Air Transat’s long-standing Quebec City-to-Paris service and reflect a growing interest in regional French cities among Canadian travelers.
Air Canada is also expanding its reach, adding a Montreal-Nantes route in June, as well as new flights to Palma de Mallorca, Spain, and Catania, Sicily. Starting next month, travelers out of Toronto Pearson can fly direct to Shanghai Pudong, Budapest, and Ponta Delgada in the Azores. WestJet, not to be outdone, is launching its own Toronto-Ponta Delgada route in mid-June and has reinstated its Glasgow-to-Toronto service, while also adding Cardiff, Wales, to its network.
Sun-seekers haven’t been forgotten. WestJet announced a new Montreal-Cozumel route, while Air Canada is ramping up its summer schedule to Mexico by 18% over last year. This includes a new Montreal-Guadalajara flight, offered three times a week starting in June, and an expanded Montreal-Cancun service now running 11 times weekly.
The domestic scene is buzzing, too. WestJet is strengthening East-West connectivity with four new Canadian routes: twice-weekly flights from Calgary to both North Bay and Sault Ste. Marie, daily service from Calgary to Campbell River on Vancouver Island, and twice-weekly flights from Edmonton to Terrace, B.C. Meanwhile, Porter Airlines passengers departing from Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport can now breeze through U.S. Customs pre-clearance, making for a smoother journey to new destinations like Nashville and Chicago, both of which launch in September. Porter is also serving Montreal’s new Metropolitan Airport, which officially opened on June 15.
On the West Coast, Harbour Air is making waves by launching Victoria to Seattle harbour service on June 11, doubling its Vancouver–Seattle flights ahead of the World Cup, and adding a new Vancouver-to-Ucluelet route on June 25. In July, the airline will also offer direct flights to Campbell River, a rising destination on Vancouver Island’s east coast.
What’s behind all these changes? The summer 2026 schedule is a reflection of several intertwined trends. As Simple Flying reports, there’s a softer appetite for U.S. travel among Canadians, with more people looking to Europe, sun destinations, and direct flights that skip major hubs. The World Cup is certainly a catalyst, but so is a broader shift in how Canadians want to fly—favoring convenience, new experiences, and less time spent in transit.
Air Transat, for its part, is making headlines with its new transatlantic ambitions. On December 15, 2026, the airline will launch twice-weekly nonstop flights from Montreal (YUL) to Istanbul Airport (IST), covering a hefty 4,162 nautical miles (7,708 km). These flights, operated with 332-seat Airbus A330-200s, will start just in time for Christmas. According to Simple Flying, this move isn’t really about winter tourism to Istanbul—after all, the city isn’t exactly a hot spot in December. Instead, it’s about leveraging a partnership with Turkish Airlines and working within the constraints of a bilateral air service agreement that limits Turkish Airlines’ direct access to Canada. Air Transat effectively operates on Turkish Airlines’ behalf, offering connections via Istanbul and using the Canadian half of the traffic rights.
This isn’t Air Transat’s first tango with Istanbul. The airline originally flew to the old Atatürk Airport between 2011 and 2014, then exited after Turkish Airlines ramped up its own service. After an 11-year hiatus, Air Transat returned to Istanbul in December 2025, flying from Toronto (YYZ) on a twice-weekly basis. By May 2026, that frequency had jumped to three times weekly, with the same schedule planned for the upcoming winter. In December 2026, Air Transat and Turkish Airlines will collectively operate 18 weekly flights between Montreal and Istanbul—a 29% increase compared to the same period in 2025.
Looking beyond Canada, global carriers are plotting their own expansions. Taiwanese full-service carrier Starlux Airlines announced on May 29, 2026, that it’s planning to add four new long-haul destinations in 2027: Barcelona, Zürich, Sydney, and Auckland (the latter as an extension of the Sydney route). These plans are still under evaluation, but if they go ahead, they’d be the first-ever nonstop services between Taipei and these cities. Starlux is also set to launch service to Prague on August 1, 2026, and is considering further U.S. expansion with possible new gateways in Chicago, Washington, New York, and Dallas. Before the end of 2026, the airline will also start flying to Busan, South Korea, and Bali, Indonesia.
All told, the summer of 2026 is shaping up to be a season of bold moves and fresh opportunities for travelers. Whether it’s soccer fans jetting off to World Cup matches, sun-chasers seeking new beaches, or adventurers eager to explore previously overlooked corners of the globe, the options are more diverse—and direct—than ever before. For those willing to look beyond the obvious, the world feels a little closer this summer.