Air Canada to cut more routes in Atlantic provinces amid rising COVID-19 cases

Air Canada will cutting more routes in Atlantic Canada starting in the new year because of a second wave of COVID-19 infections. Effective Jan. 11, the airline says it will be suspending until further notice all flights in Sydney, N.S., and Saint John, N.B., along with temporarily halting routes in Deer Lake, N.L., Charlottetown, Fredericton and Halifax. “This decision was not taken lightly, and we regret the impact on our customers and community partners, but it is increasingly difficult to continue to operate in this challenging environment, without specific financial support from government, with whom continue to wait for negotiations to start,” said Peter Fitzpatrick, an Air Canada spokesman. The move comes after the country’s largest airline announced in June the indefinite suspensions of 11 routes in Atlantic Canada and the closure of stations in Bathurst, N.B., and Wabush, NL. Fitzpatrick said the most recent route cuts in Atlantic Canada represent a small subset of the 95 planned suspensions it announced along with its Q3 earnings results in November.<br/>