Air Canada has pushed back the planned resumption of its Toronto–Dubai nonstop flights to 2027, extending the suspension of one of the carrier’s longest routes. The airline has also further suspended service between Toronto and Tel Aviv.
The roughly 15-hour link between Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ) and Dubai International Airport (DXB) had been suspended amid the ongoing conflict involving Iran, which has disrupted airspace and route economics across the region. Air Canada had been expected to restore the service sooner, but the carrier has now delayed that return until 2027.
The Toronto–Dubai route, flown with Boeing 787 Dreamliner equipment, operated until early March 2026 before the suspension took hold. Its pause removes a key nonstop connection between Canada’s largest city and the Gulf, leaving travelers to rely on one-stop itineraries via Europe or the Middle East on partner and competitor airlines.
Alongside the Dubai decision, Air Canada has extended the suspension of flights between Toronto and Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion International Airport (TLV), another route affected by the regional situation and the safety and airspace considerations that have accompanied it.
A major factor weighing on the airline’s long-haul planning is the cost of fuel. Jet fuel prices have risen sharply — roughly doubling since the start of the conflict — which disproportionately affects ultra-long-haul routes that burn large amounts of fuel per flight. Sectors with thinner margins or softer demand become harder to justify when fuel costs climb, prompting carriers to trim or defer them.
For Air Canada, the moves reflect a broader reassessment of its network in a challenging environment. Ultra-long-haul flying to the Gulf and the eastern Mediterranean is particularly exposed to swings in fuel prices, airspace availability and demand, and airlines have been recalibrating schedules accordingly through 2026.
The delay is a setback for passengers who had hoped to see the nonstop Dubai option return this year, including business travelers and members of the large diaspora communities that connect Canada with the Gulf and beyond. Nonstop service offers meaningful time savings over connecting alternatives on a route of this length.
Air Canada has indicated that it continues to monitor conditions and will adjust its plans as the situation evolves. A return in 2027 would depend on a more stable operating environment, including calmer fuel prices and dependable access to the airspace along the route.
In the meantime, the Toronto–Dubai and Toronto–Tel Aviv suspensions underline how geopolitical events far from an airline’s home base can reshape its long-haul map, forcing difficult decisions about which routes to keep, defer or drop until circumstances improve.
Sources: Simple Flying, Air Canada. Featured image: AI-generated by AviationShop. By James Holloway.
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