Air Transat Makes Strategic Leap with New Rio de Janeiro Flights from Toronto and Montreal
A strengthened 2025-2026 winter program including a total of 14 new routes
MONTREAL, Aug. 7, 2025 /CNW/ - Air Transat, voted World's Best Leisure Airline at the 2025 Skytrax World Airline Awards, today announces new non-stop service to Rio de Janeiro* from both Toronto and Montreal. These flights will be operated with the Airbus A330 aircraft; twice weekly from Toronto (on Wednesdays and Saturdays) and once weekly from Montreal (on Thursdays), where Air Transat will be the only carrier offering a non-stop service. This addition is part of a broader set of recent announcements that reinforce the company's winter offering.
This winter, Air Transat will operate a total of 14 new routes from its Canadian gateways, including several new destinations and the extension of certain transatlantic services. From Montreal, travellers will enjoy non-stop access to Rio de Janeiro, Guadalajara, Valencia, Bordeaux and Madrid. From Toronto, they will be able to fly to Georgetown (Guyana), Medellín, and Istanbul in partnership with Turkish Airlines, in addition to Rio de Janeiro.
"This enriched winter schedule marks an important milestone in the evolution of our network," said Sebastian Ponce, Transat's Chief Revenue Officer. "By targeting markets we have never served before, we are pursuing a clear diversification strategy toward destinations that Canadians are eager to explore, supported by growing connectivity through our expanding network of partners."
Air Transat's winter program to the South also continues to diversify, with departures not only from major hubs, but also from Quebec City and new Canadian cities such as Windsor, Fredericton and Charlottetown.
New for Winter 2025-2026:
Route | Details* |
Toronto (YYZ) – Rio de Janeiro (GIG) | 2 flights/week, starting February 4, 2026 |
Toronto (YYZ) – Istanbul (IST) | 2 flights/week, starting December 6, 2025 |
Toronto (YYZ) – Georgetown (GEO) | 2 flights/week, starting December 16, 2025 |
Toronto (YYZ) – Medellín (MDE) via Cartagena (CTG) | 2 flights/week, starting November 1, 2025 |
Montreal (YUL) – Rio de Janeiro (GIG) | 1 flight/week, starting February 5, 2026 |
Montreal (YUL) – Guadalajara (GDL) | 2 flights/week, starting December 13, 2025 |
Montreal (YUL) – Bordeaux (BOD) | 1 flight/week, starting February 21, 2026 |
Montreal (YUL) – Madrid (MAD) | 2 flights/week, starting February 18, 2026 |
Montreal (YUL) – Valencia (VLC) | 1 flight/week, starting February 21, 2026 |
Quebec City (YQB) – Fort-de-France (FDF) | 1 flight/week, starting December 14, 2025 |
Quebec City (YQB) – Pointe-à-Pitre (PTP) | 1 flight/week, starting February 18, 2026 |
Charlottetown (YYG) – Cancún (CUN) | 1 flight/week, starting February 18, 2026 |
Fredericton (YFC) – Cancún (CUN) | 1 flight/week, starting February 18, 2026 |
Windsor (YQG) – Punta Cana (PUJ) | 1 flight/week, starting December 19, 2025 |
*Number of weekly frequencies at the peak of the season. |
Air Transat is also strengthening its overall winter offering by increasing capacity and adding frequencies on several existing routes to the South and across the Atlantic, giving even more flexibility to its clients. Compared to last winter, this year's schedule represents a capacity increase of approximately 6%.
Expanded transatlantic program:
Route | Details* |
Montreal (YUL) – Lyon (LYS) | 3 flights/week (+1) |
Montreal (YUL) – Marseille (MRS) | 3 flights/week (+1) |
Quebec City (YQB) – Paris (CDG) | 4 flights/week (+1) |
*Number of weekly frequencies at the peak of the season, along with variations compared to winter 2024-2025. |
Expanded South program:
Route | Details* |
Halifax (YHZ) – Montego Bay (MBJ) | Extended season (starting in December) and 2 flights/week (+1) |
Montreal (YUL) – Punta Cana (PUJ) | 16 flights/week (+2) |
Montreal (YUL) – Holguin (HOG) | 5 flights/week (+1) |
Montreal (YUL) – Puerto Vallarta (PVR) | 6 flights/week (+1) |
Montreal (YUL) – Pointe-à-Pitre (PTP) | 4 flights/week (+1) |
Toronto (YYZ) – Cayo Coco (CCC) | 4 flights/week (+1) |
Toronto (YYZ) – Cartagena (CTG) | 2 flights/week (+1) |
Toronto (YYZ) – Puerto Plata (POP) | 5 flights/week (+1) |
Toronto (YYZ) – Saint Martin (SXM) | 2 flights/week (+1) |
Toronto (YYZ) – Rio Hato (RIH) | 3 flights/week (+1) |
Quebec City (YQB) – Cancún (CUN) | 7 flights/week (+1) |
Quebec City (YQB) – Holguin (HOG) | 3 flights/week (+1) |
*Number of weekly frequencies at the peak of the season, along with variations compared to winter 2024-2025. |
Connectivity within the Air Transat network also continues to improve, particularly through its growing complementarity with Porter Airlines' flights, which facilitate connections from Montreal, Toronto and Quebec City.
*The flights have been planned in coordination with Brazilian and Canadian authorities and remain subject to the required regulatory approvals.
About Air Transat
Founded in Montreal 37 years ago, Air Transat is a leading travel brand voted 2025 World's Best Leisure Airline by passengers at the Skytrax World Airline Awards. Its program offers access to international destinations, mainly in Europe, the Caribbean, the east coast of the United States, South America and North Africa. Air Transat is recognized for its excellent customer service. Its fleet includes some of the most energy-efficient aircraft in their category. Based in Montreal with major hubs in YUL Montréal-Trudeau International Airport and Toronto Pearson Airport (YYZ), it has 5,000 employees with a common purpose to bring people closer together. Air Transat is a business unit of Transat A.T. Inc. (TSX: TRZ). www.airtransat.com
Image bank: transat.com/en-CA/corporate/media
For further information: | Marie-Christine Pouliot |
Manager, Public Relations & Content Marketing | |
SOURCE Transat A.T. Inc.
Partager cet article