Tenerife announced this Monday the new direct air routes that will link the island with Canada operated by Air Canada. Starting next October, the Canadian airline will launch four weekly flights between Tenerife South Airport and the cities of Toronto and Montreal throughout the winter season.
In detail, the company will schedule two frequencies per week to Toronto and another two to Montreal, creating for the first time a direct connection between Tenerife and North America, as the island's council pointed out in a statement.
The presentation was attended by the vice-president and minister of Tourism of the Cabildo de Tenerife, Lope Afonso; the vice-minister of Tourism of the Government of the Canary Islands, Jose Maria Sanabria; the CEO of Turismo de Tenerife, Dimple Melwani; the Senior Director EMEA of Air Canada, Margaret Skinner; and the Country Manager Sales of Air Canada for Spain, José Blázquez. All of them underlined the strategic nature of this new operation to strengthen the relationship between Tenerife and the North American market.
Lope Afonso emphasized that Air Canada's arrival on the island represents "a milestone" for Tenerife's international connectivity and the culmination of several years of work aimed at opening avenues with a key market such as North America.
The destination's competitiveness
"These direct connections reinforce our positioning as a global, competitive, and quality destination. They allow us to continue advancing in a model based on diversification, sustainability, and attracting visitors who value the authenticity, culture, and excellence of our offering," Afonso indicated.
For his part, the vice-minister of Tourism of the Government of the Canary Islands, José Sanabria, stressed that it is "very important" to continue expanding the archipelago's connectivity with new source markets. "This connection represents an opportunity to diversify the origin of our visitors and move towards a more diversified tourism model," he pointed out.
The CEO of Turismo de Tenerife, Dimple Melwani, focused on the fact that this direct link will become the "gateway to continue positioning Tenerife in North America, a priority market on which we have been working for years with promotional and commercial actions."
As recalled, "Canada and the United States show a growing interest in destinations such as Tenerife, which offers a privileged climate throughout the year, unique nature, gastronomy, heritage, and authentic experiences. With this new route, we reinforce our international visibility and continue to generate opportunities for tourism, business, the audiovisual industry, and cultural exchanges."
New routes with Airbus A321XLR
Representing the airline, Margaret Skinner, Senior Director EMEA of Air Canada, explained that the incorporation of Tenerife into its network responds to that "continuous ambition" to offer more travel alternatives.
"We are proud that these new routes are operated by our new Airbus A321XLR. This aircraft expands our capacity to operate in new and attractive destinations like Tenerife, combining greater range and efficiency with the comfort and premium experience that our travelers expect," she stated.
In turn, the Country Manager Sales of Air Canada for Spain, José Blázquez, highlighted that Tenerife constitutes "an important addition" to the company's map of destinations in Spain, as it provides passengers with a direct and convenient link to Toronto and Montreal, and from there to Air Canada's extensive network in North America, Mexico, the Caribbean, and South America.
"These new routes will make it easier for companies, students, and families with ties on both sides of the Atlantic to stay connected, while also allowing North American travelers to discover all that Tenerife has to offer," he affirmed.
Boost to the North American market
The launch of these connections is part of Turismo de Tenerife's strategy to consolidate the island's presence in priority markets such as the United States and Canada, where promotional campaigns and commercial actions have been carried out for years to publicize the destination's differential value.
The purpose is to reinforce Tenerife's image as a benchmark destination for high-value visitors, aligned with the island's attributes and unique offering.
The aim is to attract a profile that seeks to discover new places with a mild climate all year round and appreciates the authenticity, traditions, culture, heritage, gastronomy, and unique character of Tenerife.
The figures of growth
The data confirm a constant growth evolution of the North American market, which is consolidating as one of the segments with the greatest potential for the island. Tenerife received a total of 51,174 passengers from Canada and the United States in 2025.
Analyzing each market separately, in 2025, 7,130 passengers arrived in Tenerife from Canada and 44,044 from the US. The most relevant originating cities from that country for the island are Toronto, Montreal, Calgary, and Vancouver.
The main passenger originating cities were New York, Miami, Boston, Washington, Chicago, and San Francisco. These figures reflect a positive and upward trend year after year, doubling the records of 2019. In 2026, between January and May, the number of passengers who landed at Tenerife airports amounted to 22,168, of which 17,430 came from the US and 4,738 from Canada.
Details of Air Canada's operation
Air Canada flights to Tenerife will be operated with the company's new Airbus A321XLR, equipped with lie-flat seats in the Business Class cabin, offering an experience typical of a wide-body aircraft in a narrow-body aircraft.
With a capacity for 182 passengers in a configuration of 14 Signature Class seats and 168 Economy Class seats, the A321XLR also inaugurates a new stage in Air Canada's cabin interiors, by introducing a renewed design standard for the onboard experience.