VANCOUVER - WestJet has suspended five of its United States routes from Vancouver International Airport for the winter season, cutting its U.S. non-stop network from YVR nearly in half just as the winter travel rush begins, while Air Canada is going the other way and adding new sun destinations from Vancouver in December.
The suspended WestJet routes, in effect from October 25, 2026 to April 24, 2027, are Vancouver to Atlanta, Fort Lauderdale, Los Angeles, Lihue (Kauai) and Orlando. The suspensions, reported from WestJet’s published schedules and confirmed by the airline, drop the carrier’s U.S. non-stops from Vancouver from 11 to 6 for the winter. Delta Air Lines starts a Vancouver to Los Angeles service on November 21, 2026, which partly fills the Los Angeles gap.
What is changing at YVR
The winter suspensions are the latest step in a year of pullback from the U.S. by Canadian carriers. Earlier in 2026, WestJet also ended Vancouver service to Boston and Nashville, according to aviation schedule data. Trade publications attribute the cuts to softening demand for U.S. travel amid the Canada-U.S. trade dispute, together with rising jet fuel prices.
Surrey readers may have seen a widely shared headline this month saying WestJet cancelled 10 non-stop routes from “a major city.” That story was about Toronto Pearson, not Vancouver: the Toronto cuts were mostly Caribbean routes suspended in February 2026, when the WestJet Group wound down its Cuba operations because of a jet-fuel shortage on the island, plus Toronto to Kelowna, Las Vegas and Glasgow. Vancouver’s exposure is the separate winter suspension list above.
Air Canada is adding sun routes instead
Air Canada’s winter plan for Vancouver runs in the opposite direction. The airline is launching four new sun destinations from YVR this December, announced in its spring schedule release and promoted again on October 20, 2026: Monterrey, Mexico, from December 3 (Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays); Puerto Escondido, Mexico, from December 7; Liberia, Costa Rica, from December 13; and Mazatlan, Mexico, a brand-new Air Canada destination, from December 15, flying Tuesdays and Fridays until April 9, 2027. Air Canada also begins its first winter seasonal service from Vancouver to Sapporo, Japan, on December 17, 2026, flying three times a week into late March 2027.
What it means for Surrey travellers
For Surrey families, the practical hit is on U.S. winter trips. Anyone holding or planning a WestJet booking to Los Angeles, Orlando, Fort Lauderdale, Atlanta or Kauai this winter should expect a connection through Calgary or another hub, a different carrier, or a rebooking, and winter seats on the remaining non-stops will sell earlier than usual. Delta’s new Los Angeles flight restores one non-stop option from November 21.
The India routes that matter most to many Surrey households are not affected by these changes, which are confined to U.S. and sun flying. The new Air Canada sun routes, on the other hand, put four more warm-weather destinations within one flight of YVR for the December holidays, at the same time as the U.S. map shrinks.
Source: Air Canada schedule releases, April 6, 2026 and October 20, 2026. WestJet winter suspensions are per the airline’s published schedules as reported by Travelweek and Open Jaw; discontinued-route data is Cirium schedule data as reported by Simple Flying and Travel Market Report. WestJet has not issued a news release announcing the cuts.
