Biggest Airlines in Canada Revealed – Passenger Volume & Fleet Size

Written By Amy Lancelotte

6 minutes read
Last Updated: February 19, 2025

Ask any Canadian what is the country’s largest airline and the most likely answer is Air Canada. And those people would be right. But, there are other players in the market, so we set out to see how the 6 largest airlines in Canada stack up with each other in terms of passengers and fleet size. Can you guess the top 3? We think #3 might surprise you!

The Largest Airline in Canada: Air Canada

There’s no way around it, Air Canada dominates the Canadian skies and the international flights to and from the country. With a major hub at Toronto Pearson Airport, they operate between 600 and 700 daily flights and are the top airline for flights between Canada and the US.

Under the main Air Canada brand, the company operates flights with Air Canada Rouge to fun-in-the-sun destinations, and Jetz, a charter airline predominantly used by business travellers, celebrities, and sports teams. Add to that the partnerships with other airlines that they offer through Air Canada Express, and you can really see why the airline is so large and is fairly secure as Canada’s biggest airline.

• Air Canada Annual Passengers: 44.8 million
• Air Canada Fleet Size: 400+

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The Second-Biggest Airline in Canada: WestJet

Although WestJet is really the only challenger for the top spot in Canadian aviation, it has a long way to go to catch up with Air Canada. With half the fleet size and about half the passenger volume, WestJet is increasing its reach by acquiring other Canadian airlines and folding them into their operations.

In 2023, WestJet purchased the ultra-low-cost carrier (ULCC) Swoop and fully integrated it into the WestJet brand in October. Since Swoop is no more, Canada is left with a single ULCC, which is Flair Airlines.

WestJet also owns another Canadian airline, Sunwing, but it continues to operate as a separate entity. Be careful Air Canada – WestJet is coming for the title all the way from their headquarters in Calgary!

• WestJet Annual Passengers: 25 million+
• WestJet Fleet Size: Nearly 200

Canada’s Third-Largest Airline: Porter

Porter is a relatively new airline in Canada, which began offering short-haul flights in 2006. Recently, the company has been re-branding and ramping up flight destinations. Now, passengers can choose 40 unique destinations from an ever-growing list, which is focused mostly on North America.

Porter now serves more annual passengers than more established brands like Air Transat and has more than double the Air Transat fleet size with 71 planes in service. According to Travelweek, Porter’s Managing Director, Sales & Distribution, Michael Curmi, confirms that Porter has no intention of slowing down anytime soon:

2025 is another year of growth for Porter, and we intend to continue setting the standard with a more enjoyable economy experience for many more travellers. We’re extending our reach throughout Canada and the U.S., increasing frequencies on existing routes and building out other key markets such as Ottawa, Montreal, and Halifax to meet this demand.

• Porter Annual Passengers: 5.5 million
• Porter Fleet Size: 71

The Other 3 Biggest Airline Companies in Canada

Now that we’ve covered the 3 largest companies, let’s review the stats for Air Transat, Flair Airlines, and Sunwing, the remaining major airlines in Canada.

#4 – Air Transat

Dating all the way back to 1986, Air Transat has been around for a long time. And in an effort to increase its passenger volume and flight availability, the company has partnered with Porter to expand route offerings and available seat miles.

In 2024, Air Transat has met a few challenges with its fleet requiring the grounding of 4 planes due to the known Pratt & Whitney motor issue. It’s expected that this number could increase to 8 planes in 2025. As a result, the airline has cut some routes in its schedule due to this aircraft shortage, so the growth for 2025 and beyond could be stunted.

This failure to grow with the demand for air travel could leave Air Transat behind as passenger volume levels confidently return to pre-pandemic levels with steady increases since 2022.

• Air Transat Annual Passengers: 5 million
• Air Transat Fleet Size: 37

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#5 – Flair Airlines

As mentioned, Flair is the sole remaining low-cost airline in Canada, and with budgets stretched pretty far these days, it makes sense that demand for affordable domestic, US, Mexico, and Caribbean flights will increase.

Although Flair’s CEO initially stated in 2020 that the goal was to have 50 aircraft by 2025, they have since had to revise that target. Now, the CEO, Stephen Jones, has revised that to 2027 stating that:

It was always there to inspire people as to what the scale of this business can be, and we will get there. It’s just that it’ll be a year or two further out than what we expected. We’re very confident in the vision.

If all goes ahead as planned, Flair could more than double its passenger volume and fleet size by 2027 and start challenging for one of the top 3 spots on the list of the biggest airlines in Canada.

• Flair Annual Passengers: 4.5 million+
• Flair Fleet Size: 20

#6 – Sunwing

Any Canadian who has taken an affordable all-inclusive vacation down south is sure to be familiar with Sunwing. Jetting passengers to sunny destinations in the US, the Caribbean, Mexico, and Central America since 2002, Sunwing Vacations is a welcome break from the cold Canadian winters.

Sunwing is officially known as WestJet’s vacation division, another acquisition by the second-largest Canadian airline in 2023. Although Sunwing operates under its own name, WestJet has plans to integrate it, like Swoop, into the WestJet brand as early as the end of 2025.

• Sunwing Annual Passengers: 3.4 million* (estimated)
• Sunwing Fleet Size: 32

*averaged out monthly stats from December 2024 and November 2023, 368,000 and 200,000, respectively.

Air Canada Rules the Skies, But That’s Not the Full Story

Yes, there aren’t many big airlines in Canada, and depending on how you define “big,” there are likely only 2: Air Canada and WestJet. But, the other market players certainly see the opportunities here and are attempting to grow rapidly by expanding fleets and destination options. Plus, Canada is a large country, so passengers will continue to need air transportation just to get around domestically.

In addition to the 6 airlines we mentioned, Canada is full of smaller companies, like Voyageur Airways, a charter airline out of North Bay, Rise Air headquartered in Saskatchewan, and Harbour Air Seaplanes serving BC. However you like to fly, there’s an airline for you based in Canada.

Who knows, in 5 years, this list could look a lot different with Flair and Porter as the rising stars in the sky. Whether you're travelling from Vancouver International Airport or Montreal's Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport, these air service companies have you covered.

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