James lives and breathes route development. Educated in Air Transport Management at Loughborough University and Cranfield University, James has a PhD in airline strategy. James was Market Opportunity Analyst at London Luton Airport and Chief Analyst at anna.aero. He taught airline strategy and economics to undergraduate and postgraduate students for five years and has worked closely with multiple carriers on route and market intelligence projects. He is based near London, UK.
Canadian leisure carrier Air Transat is the eighth-largest operator between North America and Europe. This is based on analyzing all of its flights scheduled for next July. Cirium Diio shows it plans 7% more services than in July 2025, which means it has rejoined the top ten list.
As of December 26, and subject to change, Air Transat will have 40 European routes next July. They have risen from 35 in the same peak month in 2025. It has an average of five weekly departures, with 30 routes having less than a daily frequency. The list includes its brand-new service from Toronto to Istanbul, with two to three weekly flights.
These Routes Have Only One Week Flight
Half of the four routes are brand-new to Air Transat’s network. On June 2, the airline will lift off from Quebec City to Nantes, with a weekly seasonal A321LR operation. Separately, Air Canada will begin Montreal-Nantes flights next year. On June 18, Air Transat will introduce Toronto to Tirana service, with a weekly seasonal Airbus A330-200 operation. More on this unusual long-haul market below.
Although not a brand-new link, it’ll reintroduce service from Quebec City to Marseille on May 23. It’ll run weekly through early October on the A321LR. This airport pair was previously served in 2013 on the A310-300. Finally, there’s the long-standing Toronto to Lamezia Terme, which Air Transat has served since 2009.
Naturally, the route to Calabria particularly revolves around the Italian Canadian diaspora. Over 450,000 such people live in Greater Toronto, and many come from Southern Italy. Other Canadian carriers previously flew to Lamezia Terme. Reports suggest Air Transat achieves extremely high seat load factors, hence its continued reemergence each year. It only plans 19 round-trip services from June 10 until October 14.
A Look At Air Transat To Tirana
The Albanian capital is a reasonably large market to/from North America. According to booking data for the 12 months to October 2025, more than 240,000 passengers flew. The most popular airport-level markets were New York JFK (104,000), Newark (37,000), Toronto Pearson (29,000), Detroit (27,000), and Boston (24,000). Chicago O’Hare was sixth (21,000).
Naturally, it primarily consists of Albanian Americans and Canadians, who travel to visit friends and relatives. A problem is that this segment tends to be the lowest of the lowest for yields, which partly explains why no nonstop flights exist. However, as with Lamezia Terme (and other places like Zagreb), Air Transat has spotted an opportunity for a highly seasonal, time-limited operation. Albania is also becoming increasingly popular for inbound tourism. I’ve visited and enjoyed it.
It’ll take off from Toronto to Tirana on June 18, with the final Europe-bound departure on October 8. Only 17 round-trip services are scheduled on the 332-seat A330-200, with 11,288 round-trip seats for sale. The aircraft will remain in Albania for 26 hours, before heading back with the same crew that flew out.
Analysis of booking data shows that Toronto to Belgrade (49,000) and Budapest (34,000) were both larger markets than Tirana in the broad Central and Eastern Europe region. Air Serbia will return to Toronto in May 2026, while Air Canada will reintroduce Budapest flights in June. But while Rouge was previously used, flights will now be on Air Canada mainline.
Day
Toronto To Tirana; Local Times*
Day
Tirana To Toronto; Local Times**
Thursday
10:00 pm-1:00 pm (next day arrival)
Friday
3:00 pm-7:15 pm
* July 2026. Shown in Simple Flying’s new time format
** July 2026. Shown in Simple Flying’s new time format
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Posts By James Pearson These Are The Next Least-Served European Routes…
Air Transat’s average European frequency next July is five times weekly. After the four routes with a weekly flight each, two markets have two weekly departures. They are Montreal to Keflavik and Montreal to Valencia.
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Air Transat will introduce the Montreal to Keflavik route on June 16, with a seasonal operation on the 198-seat A321neo (not the A321LR). It’ll mark its debut in Iceland. Meanwhile, the carrier inaugurated service to Valencia in 2025, and flights operated from Canada between June 20 and October 3.
Performance must have been very encouraging, as Valencia flights will resume on February 21 and run until October 23. It’ll have three times more services in 2026, all of which will continue to use the 199-seat A321LR. If performance continues to be strong, the route may become year-round or frequencies increased.
