Air Canada Launches New Routes to Tulum and Charleston

Air Canada has announced two new routes to Tulum from Toronto and Montreal that will launch as of May 2024.

The airline is also launching a new route to Charleston, South Carolina, from Toronto beginning in March 2024, and adding new flights from Montreal to Austin and St. Louis that will begin service in May 2024.

Air Canada’s New Tulum Routes

Air Canada’s routes to Mexico’s newest airport in Tulum is set to begin year-round service in May 2024 from both Toronto and Montreal.

Flights will land at the newly-inaugurated Felipe Carrillo Puerto International Airport, which will serve tourists destined for the Mexican Caribbean, the Riviera Maya, and the Yucatán Peninsula. The airport also serves as an alternative to the more popular Cancún International Airport, which is located some 125 kilometres away.

Starting May 3, 2024, the Toronto–Tulum route will operate twice weekly, flying south to Tulum on Friday and Sunday, and returning north to Toronto on Friday and Sunday as well. Both the flight down to Tulum and back up to Toronto are set to run at just over four hours.

The flight times are blocked as follows:

• AC1854 Toronto (YYZ) to Tulum (TQO), departing 8:15am and arriving 11:20am
• AC1855 Tulum (TQO) to Toronto (YYZ), departing 12:30pm and arriving 5:35pm

Meanwhile, the Montreal–Tulum route will commence on May 4, 2024, operating as a once weekly service in both directions on Saturdays in the interim.

The flights are scheduled to take around four and a half hours in each direction, timed as follows:

• AC1874 Montreal (YUL) to Tulum (TQO), departing 8:15am and arriving at 12:00pm
• AC1875 Tulum (TQO) to Montreal (YUL), departing 1:10pm and arriving at 6:45pm

Both routes will be operated by Air Canada Rouge and will be serviced by the Airbus A321, offering seats in both Premium Rouge and economy class.

The flights are already loaded and bookable through Air Canada’s booking channels, including the Air Canada website and the Aeroplan search engine.

Air Canada’s Toronto to Charleston Route

Air Canada’s new route between Toronto and Charleston is set to commence on March 28, 2024. The daily service has a flight time of approximately two and a quarter hours in each direction.

The flight times are as follows:

• AC8629 Toronto (YYZ) to Charleston (CHS), departing at 6:40pm and arriving at 8:58pm
• AC8628 Charleston (CHS) to Toronto (YYZ), departing at 10:00am and arriving at 12:21pm

This route will be serviced by Air Canada Express Jazz on smaller Embraer E175 aircraft, offering seats in regional business and economy class.

Air Canada’s Montreal to Austin and St. Louis Routes

Air Canada currently offers flights from Toronto and Vancouver to Austin, and from Toronto to St. Louis. Beginning in May 2024, the airline will also begin new services from Montreal to both Austin and St. Louis.

The Montreal to Austin route is set to begin on May 2, 2024, and will fly outbound four times a week on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, and inbound four times a week on Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday.

The flight times are as follows:

• AC1051 Montreal (YUL) to Austin (AUS), departing at 5:15pm and arriving at 8:32pm
• AC1050 Austin (AUS) to Montreal (YUL), departing at 10:15am and arriving at 3:13pm

This route is serviced by Air Canada on its newer Airbus A220-300 aircraft, offering seats in business and economy class.

Meanwhile, the route between Montreal and St. Louis will commence daily service beginning May 1, 2024, with flight times as follows:

• AC8687 Montreal (YUL) to St. Louis (STL), departing at 7:30pm and arriving at 9:05pm
• AC8688 St. Louis (STL) to Montreal (YUL), departing at 12:00pm and arriving at 3:23pm

The route will be served by Air Canada Express Jazz on smaller Mitsubishi CRJ900 aircraft, offering regional business and economy class seats.

The flights mentioned above are already loaded and bookable through Air Canada’s booking channels, including the Air Canada website and the Aeroplan search engine.

Booking Air Canada’s New Routes to Tulum

Tulum’s Felipe Carrillo Puerto International Airport is Mexico’s newest airport, having just opened to revenue flights in early December 2023.

The airport is well-positioned to welcome travellers to the region’s popular sun destinations, such as Playa del Carmen, Riviera Maya, Cozumel, and Tulum itself.

Air Canada is set to be the first Canadian airline flying into this new airport, joining major airlines based in both Mexico and the US.

The new routes between Toronto and Montreal and Tulum are loaded and bookable, with introductory cash fares starting for around $680 (CAD) for a return ticket between Toronto and Tulum in Economy (Basic) and around $1,575 (CAD) in Premium Rouge.

The route between Montreal and Tulum is showing introductory cash fares for around $720 (CAD) for a return ticket in economy class, and around $1,575 (CAD) in Premium Rouge.

With no direct competition on the routes yet, airfares are understandably pricier on average than to Cancun, which is served by Canada’s other major airlines and low-cost carriers.

The new routes are also bookable using Aeroplan points, and for this, we’ll take a look at the Aeroplan Flight Reward Chart.

The flights between Toronto and Tulum, and between Montreal and Tulum, fall within the third distance band of the “Within North America” chart.

Both routes are serviced by Air Canada Rouge on their A321-200, which offers seats in Premium Rouge and economy class.

It’s worth noting that Premium Rouge is priced as a business class seat, though it’s more akin to premium economy in terms of hard product and service standard.

With this in mind, a good deal for these routes would be around 12,500 points in economy class and 25,000 points in Premium Rouge one-way; looking at the calendar, these lower-end price points appear to be wide-open in economy class, although the Premium Rouge price point is a fair bit higher under Aeroplan’s dynamic pricing model.

Conclusion

In May 2024, Air Canada will begin service from Toronto and Montreal to Mexico’s newest airport in Tulum, offering an additional gateway to Sun destinations in the region.

Air Canada is also introducing a new route between Toronto and Charleston in March 2024, and is expanding its service to Austin and St. Louis with new flights from Montreal beginning May 2024.

The new routes are all already loaded and bookable through Air Canada’s booking channels, allowing you to book using cash or Aeroplan points.