Aircraft movement and civil aviation statistics, March 2025
Released: 2025-05-28
Highlights
Major Canadian airlines flew 7.5 million passengers on scheduled and charter flights in March, down 1.7% from March 2024.
Aircraft movements at Canada's major and select small airports totalled 457,016 in March 2025, up 2.9% from the previous year. Local movements rose 7.8% year over year, while itinerant movements increased 0.5%.
Consult the Aviation Data Visualization Hub to explore aircraft movement statistics and monthly civil aviation statistics in an interactive format.
Air travel declines in March
The seven Canadian Level I air carriers flew 7.5 million passengers on scheduled and charter flights in March, down 1.7% from March 2024. The number of passenger-kilometres in March 2025 was 20.3 billion, down 1.3% from one year earlier.
In contrast, capacity increased 1.8% year over year to 24.3 billion available seat-kilometres in March. As a result, the passenger load factor (the ratio of passenger-kilometres to available seat-kilometres) declined to 83.6% in March. By comparison, it was 86.1% in the same month the previous year.
Chart 1
Passenger load factor, Canadian air carriers, Level I
Each passenger travelled an average of 2,719 kilometres in March, which is similar to the average distance travelled in March 2024 (2,707 kilometres).
Level I carriers flew 197,000 hours (+2.1%) in March 2025 and generated $2.6 billion (-3.3%) in total operating revenue.
Local movements lead increase
At Canada's major and select small airports, increased flight school activity impacted both local and itinerant aircraft movements in March. Local movements rose 7.8% year over year, with gains being recorded in 8 of the 13 provinces and territories. The largest increase was recorded in Alberta (+42.4%; +7,191 movements).
Chart 2
Total aircraft movements at major and select small airports, by class of operation
Domestic itinerant movements edged up 0.5% year over year to 246,087 in March. There was strong growth in activity at Moncton/Greater Moncton International (+1,547 movements) and Winnipeg/St. Andrews (+1,289), while reductions were recorded at Boundary Bay (-1,717) and Fredericton International (-1,128).
In March, transborder movements (to and from the United States) were up 0.6% from the previous year to reach 35,627. The most notable gain was at Kelowna (+53.7%), as two carriers increased flights to and from Seattle, Washington, in the previous few months. Following a decline in February, other international traffic (outside the United States) increased slightly by 0.5% year over year to 19,506 in March.
Focus on Canada and the United States
Transborder aircraft movements (to and from the United States) represented 11.8% of total itinerant movements at Canada's major and select small airports in March 2025, unchanged from the level recorded in March 2024.
In March 2025, year-over-year declines in aircraft movements to and from the United States were recorded at three of the four largest Canadian airports: Toronto/Lester B. Pearson International (-0.2%), Montréal/Pierre Elliot Trudeau International (-3.6%) and Vancouver International (-3.9%). In contrast, Calgary International increased 4.3%.
Meanwhile, the number of passengers carried on scheduled transborder flights by Canadian Level I air carriers in March was 5.3% below the level recorded in the same month of the previous year. The total capacity of these flights, measured in available seat-kilometres, was up 1.3%. The load factor on scheduled transborder flights decreased from 86.1% in March 2024 to 81.3% in March 2025.
For more data and insights on areas touched by the socio-economic relationship between Canada and the United States, see the Focus on Canada and the United States webpage.
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Note to readers
This consolidated monthly release covers the following survey programs:
- Aircraft movement statistics (survey number 2715, tables 23-10-0296-01 to 23-10-0304-01)
- Monthly civil aviation statistics (survey number 5026, table 23-10-0079-01).
Consult the Aviation Data Visualization Hub to explore data from Aircraft movement statistics and Monthly civil aviation statistics in an interactive format.
The aviation statistics program uses respondent (Monthly civil aviation statistics) and administrative (Aircraft movement statistics) data.
An aircraft movement is defined as a take-off, landing or simulated approach by an aircraft, as defined by NAV CANADA.
An itinerant movement is the initial take-off or the final landing of an aircraft.
A domestic itinerant movement is defined as a movement, at a Canadian airport, of an aircraft departing to or arriving from another point in Canada.
A local movement is an aircraft conducting the following airport activities: touch-and-go, stop-and-go, simulated approach without landing, low approach, pull up while on final approach or missed approach. Local movements are often carried out during training flights (touch-and-go), equipment tests, etc.
On July 11, 2024, the flight service station at Peace River, British Columbia, was officially closed. Since August 2024, movements for Peace River Airport are excluded from Aircraft movement statistics. Data prior to August 2024 will continue to be available.
The Monthly Civil Aviation Survey covers all Canadian Level I air carriers: Air Canada (including Air Canada Rouge), Air Transat, Flair, Jazz, Porter, Sunwing and WestJet (including WestJet Encore).
The average passenger trip length is calculated by dividing the number of passenger-kilometres by the number of passengers. Trips across Canada and around the world are included in this calculation.
The data in this monthly release are not seasonally adjusted.
Data are subject to revisions.
Contact information
For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact us (toll-free 1-800-263-1136; 514-283-8300; infostats@statcan.gc.ca) or Media Relations (statcan.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.statcan@statcan.gc.ca).
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