Travellers can enjoy flights from Vancouver to Montreal with Porter Airlines starting today (April 11).
The new route is the airline's first Western Canadian destination from Montreal and offers an affordable alternative for locals looking to visit Quebec.
In December 2023, Porter Airlines announced that it would offer service between Vancouver International Airport (YVR) and Montreal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport (YUL) starting this spring.
The airline operates one non-stop flight daily, seven days a week, between Vancouver and Montreal. They also offer connecting flights from YVR to YUL (with stopovers in Toronto).
In March, round-trip tickets from Vancouver with Porter to Montreal started at $356 when booked with a third-party supplier via Google Flights. Now, the lowest prices start just shy of $500. For example, a flight that departs YVR on Monday, June 10 and returns from YUL on Monday, June 17, costs $491 when booked through FlightHub (see slide three).
This price is considered low for an economy class ticket on the popular route and is about $332 cheaper than usual, according to Google Flights (see slide four).
One-way tickets from Vancouver start at just over $200 on several dates in the spring (see slide two).
Porter fills the gap left by low-cost carriers that previously served the route between Vancouver and Montreal
Two low-cost airlines previously serving the popular route connecting YVR and YUL won't fly on it this season.
Lynx Air shut down its operations on Feb. 25, citing fierce market competition, surging fuel costs, rising operating costs, exchange rates, and increasing airport charges.
The budget airline previously offered the YVR to YUL route starting at just $69 for a one-way direct flight.
Canada's third-largest airline, ultra-low-cost carrier Flair Airlines, sold tickets between YVR and YUL for as little as $59 in 2023. However, it halted service over the winter months due to a change in market requirements caused by weather changes.
While Flair said it would resume service on May 5, no flights from YVR-YUL are available for spring and summer travel. The airline did not respond to V.I.A.'s inquiry about whether it would resume service on the route this year.
Porter's new Vancouver-Montreal route offers a variety of connections to Eastern Canada via YUL, including "Halifax, Toronto-Pearson and Toronto-City, complementing existing daily non-stop service between Toronto-Pearson and Ottawa to Vancouver," according to a news release.
The carrier's codeshare partnership with Air Transat also provides connections from YUL throughout Europe, to coveted cities like Paris and London.
The new route is operated with Porter’s 132-seat Embraer E195-E2 aircraft. The two-by-two configuration means there are no middle seats on any flight.
