Air Transat's next long-haul route, from Québec City to London Gatwick, began shortly after Montréal to Amsterdam. It runs 1x weekly from Canada between May 11th and September 28th throughout the summer season. Its final flight from London is scheduled for September 29th.
Air Transat, a leisure airline, took departure from Québec City to London Gatwick seven minutes before midnight on May 11th. All airlines and airports now serve six Canadian locations nonstop from London.
The 3,125-mile (5,029-kilometer) airport pair is long-haul since it exceeds the 3,000-mile benchmark. This summer, however, it is only beaten by Glasgow-Halifax, London Heathrow-Halifax, London Gatwick-Halifax, and Edinburgh-Boston as the shortest of 68 UK-North America connections.
The flight is operated a 199-seat A321LR aircraft, with 12 business seats (not fully lie-flat) and 187 economy seats.
Stéphane Poirier, President and CEO of Québec City Jean Lesage International Airport, said the route was "a dream come true" when it was announced last year. It's easy to see why. While Paris would always be number one, London was the largest untapped European market for Québec City.
In 2019, London had roughly 12,000 round-trip point-to-point passengers (excluding those diverted to Montréal), with Canada being the slightly larger point of sale, according to booking statistics. Except for CDG, more people fly to and from London than any other French airport.Of fact, Québec City to London is strongly summer-seasonal, with three times the number of passengers in the peak month as in the nadir, explaining Air Transat's limited-time offer with 42 roundtrip flights.
It will have 8,358 seats to fill with its 199-seat aircraft. With its nonstops and reduced rates, it should have no trouble boosting demand. In 2019, the average one-way fare, excluding taxes and fuel fees, was CAD$443. Return flights with Air Transat start at CAD$583 in 'Eco Budget,' which excludes a checked bag, seat assignment, and other fees.
