Air Canada is suspending its operations at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City for five months over the height of the summer travel season, The Gazette has learned.
The airline said flights to and from JFK will be eliminated from June 1, expected to resume as of Oct. 25. That includes one daily Montreal route and three daily Toronto flights. Other New York-area routes remain unaffected.
Christophe Hennebelle, Air Canada’s vice-president of corporate communications, said surging fuel costs have made “some lower profitability routes” no longer economically viable. As a result, the airline is adjusting its schedule accordingly.
Spiked oil prices, driven by the U.S.-Israel conflict with Iran disrupting tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow strip of water linking the Persian Gulf to the Arabian Sea, have put upward pressure on jet fuel prices, squeezing airline margins globally.
On Friday morning, oil prices dropped more than 10 per cent after Iran declared the strait, through which around a quarter of the world’s oil supply is transported, to be open. The cost of a barrel of Brent crude fell to about US$88, down from $98.
Air Canada initially launched its service to JFK in March 2023.
It typically serves over 30 flights daily flights to New York’s LaGuardia Airport and Newark Airport in New Jersey from Canada.
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