Aircraft movement and civil aviation statistics, March 2026
Released: 2026-05-28
Highlights
Major Canadian airlines flew 7.6 million passengers on scheduled and charter services in March, up 1.6% from March 2025.
Aircraft movements at Canada's major and select small airports totalled 436,682 in March 2026, down 4.4% from the same month in the previous year. Local movements declined 11.6% year over year, while itinerant movements were down 0.8%.
Consult the Aviation Data Visualization Hub to explore aircraft movement statistics and monthly civil aviation statistics in an interactive format.
Air travel increases in March
Canadian Level I air carriers flew 7.6 million passengers on scheduled and charter services in March, 1.6% more than in March 2025.
The number of passenger-kilometres rose 4.5% year over year to 21.2 billion in March 2026, while capacity increased 2.4% to 24.8 billion available seat-kilometres. The passenger load factor (the ratio of passenger-kilometres to available seat-kilometres) was 85.2% in March, up from 83.6% observed in March 2025.
Chart 1
Passenger load factor, Canadian air carriers, Level I
Each passenger travelled an average of 2,795 kilometres in March 2026, up 2.8% from the same month a year earlier.
Level I carriers flew 205,000 hours (+4.1%) in March and generated $2.9 billion (+12.7%) in total operating revenue.
Transborder movements mark 12th consecutive month of year-over-year decline
In March, transborder aircraft movements (to and from the United States) declined 4.6% year over year, falling to 33,987. This marked the 12th consecutive month of year-over-year decline. Toronto/Lester B. Pearson International, Ontario (-690 movements), Montréal/Pierre Elliott Trudeau International, Quebec (-354) and Toronto/Billy Bishop Toronto City, Ontario (-270) accounted for 80.8% of the total decrease.
Chart 2
Total aircraft movements at major and select small airports, by class of operation
Domestic itinerant movements also fell in March, edging down 0.8% from the same month the previous year to 244,023. The decrease was largely driven by smaller airports, with Oshawa, Ontario (-1,615 movements), Winnipeg/St. Andrews, Manitoba (-712) and Calgary/Springbank, Alberta (-683) recording the biggest declines. In contrast, the three largest airports in terms of screened passenger traffic—Toronto/Lester B. Pearson International (+584 movements), Vancouver International, British Columbia (+389), and Montréal/Pierre Elliott Trudeau International (+300)—each recorded increases in domestic itinerant movements.
Other international movements (outside the United States) were up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis to 20,891 in March—the 13th consecutive month of year-over-year gains. Flights to Cuba by Canadian airlines continued to be on pause in March, with some carriers announcing they would not restart until the fall.
March 2026 saw a sharp increase in prices for refined petroleum energy products (including aviation fuel) due to the conflict in the Middle East. Looking ahead to April, air carriers began announcing route reductions as a result of rising jet fuel prices.
Focus on Canada and the United States
Transborder aircraft movements (to and from the United States) represented 11.4% of total itinerant movements at Canada's major and select small airports in March 2026, down from 11.8% in March 2025.
In March 2026, year-over-year declines in movements to and from the United States were recorded at the four largest Canadian airports: Toronto/Lester B. Pearson International (-5.0%), Vancouver International (-0.6%), Montréal/Pierre Elliot Trudeau International (-6.9%), and Calgary International (-4.9%).
Meanwhile, the number of passengers carried by Canadian Level I air carriers on scheduled transborder flights in March 2026 was 11.2% below the level recorded in the same month of the previous year. This was the 14th consecutive month of year-over-year declines. Capacity of these flights, measured in available seat-kilometres, declined year over year for the 12th consecutive month, down 15.7% from March 2025.
For more data and insights on areas touched by the socioeconomic relationship between Canada and the United States, see the Focus on Canada and the United States web page.
Note to readers
This consolidated monthly release covers the following statistical 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 a 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 June 2, 2025, Stephenville Airport in Newfoundland and Labrador was closed. Since June 2025, movements for Stephenville Airport are excluded from Aircraft movement statistics. Data prior to June 2025 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 and WestJet (including WestJet Encore). As of June 2025, Sunwing Airlines was fully integrated into WestJet.
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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