Toronto airport expects record number of European airlines in summer 2026

The following airlines are scheduled to operate between Toronto and Europe: Aer Lingus, Air Canada, Air France, Air Serbia, Air Transat, Azores Airlines, British Airways, Condor, Finnair, Icelandair, ITA Airways, KLM, LOT Polish Airlines, Lufthansa, SAS Scandinavian Airlines, SWISS International Air Lines, TAP Air Portugal, Turkish Airlines (serving Istanbul Airport on the European side), Virgin Atlantic (which began flights in March 2025), and WestJet. Collectively they will serve 34 destinations across Europe. New routes will include Belgrade (Serbia), Budapest (Hungary), and Helsinki (Finland), while flights to Terceira have ended.

During the third quarter of 2026—traditionally the busiest travel period—Toronto is projected to have about 60 daily departures for Europe at peak times. Among non-Canadian carriers in 2025 and continuing into 2026, LOT Polish Airlines will be the largest European operator from Toronto. The Star Alliance member typically operates two or three daily flights to Warsaw. While Ontario is home to more than 400,000 people of Polish descent—which contributes significantly to traffic—LOT also focuses on connecting travelers from Central and Eastern Europe as well as other regions such as India and the Middle East.

Booking data for July-August 2025 indicates that top connecting markets for LOT included Belgrade—a market likely affected by Air Serbia’s upcoming service—Kraków, Delhi, Istanbul, Rzeszów, Wrocław, Budapest (to be served by Air Canada mainline equipment next year), Sofia, Skopje, Bucharest, Tirana, Tel Aviv, Gdansk, Podgorica and Vilnius.

The projected numbers of nonstop European departures from Toronto for Q3 2026 are led by Air Canada with up to 2,144 flights (21–25 daily). Other major operators include Air Transat with up to five–13 daily flights (986 total), WestJet with two–four daily flights (259 total), LOT Polish with two–three daily services (197 total), followed by Air France (184), British Airways (184), KLM (184), Lufthansa (184), Icelandair (170), and TAP Air Portugal (158).

Since reaching its previous peak in Q3 of 2018 with more than twenty European airlines operating at Pearson International Airport there have been several withdrawals from the market. Carriers no longer serving Toronto include Air Italy (now defunct), Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, Discover Airlines (Lufthansa Group’s leisure arm), French bee, Jet Airways (now defunct), Neos Airlines of Italy which recently withdrew service as noted above; Primera Air; Ukraine International—which cannot operate due to ongoing conflict—and WOW Air which ceased operations.

Of these former operators Jet Airways was unique as a non-Canadian/non-European carrier; it operated flights from Indian cities through European hubs such as Brussels or Amsterdam before ending operations in 2019 due to bankruptcy.