MONTREAL – Air Canada is indefinitely suspending service to Rio de Janeiro this fall due to Brazil’s weak economic environment and a drop in demand it expects following the Olympic Games.
The Montreal-based carrier says other airlines are adopting similar changes.
Air Canada (TSX:AC) will end its triweekly flights from Toronto in mid-October but will continue to operate daily flights between Toronto and Sao Paulo.
In December, it will deploy new Boeing 787 Dreamliners with 251 seats to replace older Boeing 763 planes with 211 seats.
Passengers can also connect to Rio with Brazilian codeshare partners GOL and Avianca Brasil.
Air Canada launched its new arrangement with Avianca in May to ease travel to the South American country ahead of the Summer Olympics.
Note to readers: This is a corrected story. A previous version incorrectly said Air Canada was indefinitely suspending service to Rio de Janeiro due to lagging Olympic Games demand.
