A trend to emerge in the airline space over the last two years has been the rise of flights to cities normally too small for a direct transatlantic flight on a major airline.
With the rise of North American travelers looking to avoid a transfer in a major airports like London Heathrow (LHR) and Charles De Gaulle (CDG), North American airlines such as United, Delta, and Air Canada have all added cities like Catania, Dubrovnik and Venice to their 2026-2027 flying network.
But amid the cost-cutting that came as a result of jet fuel price increases in 2026, riskier flights that can either tap into a unique market or flounder with low uptake are often the first to get cut.
WestJet cuts 13 cities from its 2026 flight schedule
Over the last month, flag carrier and national airline Air Canada permanently suspended flights to Dubai International (DXB) and Houari Boumediene Airport (ALG) in Algiers due to traffic numbers disproportionate to the cost of fuel.
Its main Canadian competitor and the tenth-largest airline in North America, the Calgary-based WestJet, has recently also cut three long-haul European destinations and 10 North American ones from its flight schedule.
Read now: Air Canada exits entire market
As first reported by airline news outlet Simple Flying, the airline has removed its flight to Glasgow Airport (GLA) from Toronto Pearson (YYZ) after bringing it back from a four-year hiatus in May 2026. The carrier is also not scheduled to bring back two seasonal flights between Copenhagen (CPH) and Madrid (MAD) from Halifax Stanfield International Airport (YHZ) that ended their seasonal run in September for the coming year.
The Glasgow route was the second European destination to which WestJet expanded its network in May 2014 but was later suspended and relaunched several times before getting brought back in 2026.
Other North American destinations WestJet has quietly axed in 2026
These long-haul route cuts come, since the start of 2026, alongside 10 other market exits from holiday destinations in the U.S., the Caribbean and Mexico.
WestJet canceled seven flights to different cities in Cuba. It also axed three routes and three other flights to San Andrés Island (ADZ) in Colombia, Lihue (LIH) in Hawaii, and Guadalajara (GDL) in Mexico from different Canadian cities.
While Cuba was once a popular holiday destination for Canadians, the Cuban flight cuts came following the U.S. fuel blockade of the island and subsequent security situation as a result of the Trump administration’s pressure campaign on its government. The other destinations were cut later in 2026 due to the network shake-ups and unprofitable traffic numbers.
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In each case, the cut routes represent a permanent market exit from the specific city for the airline. For the long-haul European flights, the canceled flights also mark a WestJet exit from the countries of Scotland, Denmark and Spain.
John Weatherill, WestJet’s Executive VP and Chief Commercial Officer, classified these cuts as part of “difficult decisions” that needed to be made in order to ensure the airline can remain financially strong and weather economic ebbs going forward.
