Air Canada (AC) says its passenger volumes have now recovered to pre-pandemic levels.
Canada’s flagship carrier flew more than 100,000 passengers in one day for the first time since
the COVID-19 pandemic began in March 2020, a sign that travel demand is strengthening.
The Montreal-based company said it flew 100,701 people on April 15. The last time Air Canada
carried more than 100,000 passengers on its planes in a single day was on March 13, 2020,
before the COVID-19 pandemic hit and governments closed borders and implemented travel
restrictions that dramatically cut airlines’ capacity.
While demand has started to recover, it is still short of what Air Canada was flying most days
before the pandemic. In 2019, the airline carried an average of 150,000 people daily. It flew a
record 187,000 customers in one day on August 16, 2019.
The carrier announced last month that it will boost its full-year seat capacity by 150% compared
to 2021 levels as COVID-19 restrictions ease in Canada and around the world and demand
recovers. But the airline noted that a full recovery to pre-pandemic levels will take longer, as this
year’s capacity levels represent about 75% of what Air Canada flew in 2019.
The airline has said that it expects capacity to reach 95% of 2019 levels by 2024.