Infographic 1
COVID-19 impacts: Key events affecting air travel in March

Infographic description

The title of the infographic is "COVID-19 impacts: Key events affecting air travel in March"

This is a timeline of key events that affected air travel in March.

March 11: COVID-19 was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization.

March 13: The Government of Canada advised Canadians to avoid non-essential travel outside of Canada until further notice.

March 18: Prince Edward Island was the first province to announce the closure of non-essential businesses. By the end of the month, all provinces and territories had ordered non-essential businesses or those businesses that could not conform to physical distancing rules to close.

March 18: The Minister of Transport required air carriers to deny boarding to Canada (with some exceptions) of foreign nationals from all countries except the United States. Most international arrivals were redirected to four airports: Toronto/Lester B. Pearson International, Vancouver International, Montréal/Pierre Elliott Trudeau International and Calgary International. Flights from the United States, Mexico, Central and South America, the Caribbean, and Saint Pierre and Miquelon were exempted.

March 18: Air Canada announced it would gradually suspend the majority of its passenger transborder and international flights by March 31 and significantly reduce its domestic network. The airline provided repatriation flights and continued to support the movement of essential goods and cargo.

March 18: Air Transat announced the gradual suspension of all its flights by the end of the month and announced it would be focusing on repatriation flights over the next two weeks to bring Canadians home.

March 20: This was the last day of operations before Porter Airlines temporarily suspended all operations.

March 21: The Government of Canada closed the border with the United States to all non-essential travel.

March 22: Swoop Airlines suspended transborder and international flights at 11:59 p.m. Mountain time. The following day, the airline began repatriation flights.

March 22 to 25: WestJet suspended scheduled commercial operations at 11:59 p.m. Mountain time on March 22 for all passenger transborder and international flights and reduced its domestic schedule by 50%. Between March 23 and March 25, the airline operated repatriation flights.

March 23: This was the last day of operations before Sunwing Airlines suspended all flights.

March 25: Air Canada announced it had begun offering cargo-only flights to Europe, with other flights planned for Central and South America. The aircraft moved time-sensitive shipments, including medical supplies.