“The Porto-Montreal route will begin on 4 June, with four weekly flights that will continue until the end of September,” said the executive, who is optimistic about the airline’s operation in Portugal throughout the summer of 2025.

Raquel Serra Pinto says Air Canada is “optimistic about summer 2025 operations in Portugal and other EU markets” as the airline has launched “new routes” and increased capacity on existing connections.

In addition to the new route to Porto, Air Canada will also open new routes to Italy and the Czech Republic, flying between Toronto and Naples, as well as Toronto to Prague, starting in May, with three flights per week.

Air Canada also has flights between Lisbon and Toronto, as well as between the Portuguese capital and Montreal, operations that, according to the manager, saw their capacity increase in 2024 and which “respond to the significant demand for Portugal from the Canadian market”.

Air Canada's new route between Porto and Montreal was announced in August last year, with Turismo de Portugal highlighting that this will be the “company's first air connection to Porto, and the third connection to Portugal”.

According to Turismo de Portugal, Canada is “a promising market for value tourism in Portugal” and, in 2023, it was the 10th external market in overnight stays for the country, with a share of 2.7%, and is also the 9th external market in number of guests, with a share of 3.3%.

In 2023, overnight stays by tourists from Canada in Portugal registered an increase of 56.9% and guests an increase of 54.5% compared to the previous year, totalling 593.8 thousand guests, which generated 1,472.0 thousand overnight stays.