Air Canada Cargo Adds Amsterdam, Monterrey and Panama City Freighters for Winter

Air Canada Cargo will launch freighter service from its Toronto hub to Amsterdam, Monterrey and Panama City starting in late October, adding dedicated large-pallet capacity on transatlantic and Latin American trade lanes just as winter constrains widebody belly space.

The twice-weekly Amsterdam service begins Oct. 29 and complements Air Canada's existing passenger flights to the Dutch city, the carrier said Monday. Monterrey follows on Oct. 26 at three flights per week, and Panama City on Oct. 25 with up to two weekly frequencies.

The expansion gives shippers new two-way routing between Europe, Canada and Latin America — a connectivity play that Air Canada cannot replicate with passenger aircraft alone.

What is driving the freighter push?

Air Canada operates six Boeing 767-300 freighters alongside the cargo it carries in passenger aircraft bellies. Those freighters let the airline cover gaps in its widebody passenger network, serving cities that cargo shippers frequent but that do not support passenger service — or support too little of it in winter.

The commercial backdrop is favorable, at least for now. Cargo revenue rose 28.4% year over year to $229.8 million in the second quarter, ended June 30. First-half cargo revenue climbed 16% to $413 million.

Management attributed the gains primarily to higher cargo yields and favorable pricing conditions, particularly on international routes, and in part to higher carrier surcharges. The caveat sits inside that last phrase: airlines, including Air Canada, have significantly raised fuel surcharges on cargo to absorb jet fuel prices that jumped after hostilities involving the U.S., Israel and Iran began in late February. Strip out surcharge effects and the underlying yield improvement is harder to verify — the release does not break it out.

How does Air Canada's cargo business compare?

The numbers need context. Delta Air Lines and United Airlines, neither of which operates freighter aircraft, posted second-quarter cargo revenue of $294 million and $571 million, respectively. Both American carriers, however, run much larger global widebody networks than Air Canada, so their belly-cargo revenue base is structurally bigger. On freighter strategy, Air Canada is the outlier among North America's majors; on total cargo scale, it is not.

For forwarders, the practical consequence is straightforward: from late October, Amsterdam gains twice-weekly main-deck capacity into Toronto, and Monterrey and Panama City deepen freighter links into manufacturing and distribution markets in Mexico and Central America. In Mexico, Air Canada's cargo jets already serve Mexico City and Guadalajara, so Monterrey becomes the third freighter destination in the country.

What does the network logic look like?

Matthieu Casey, managing director, commercial – cargo, at Air Canada, framed the Amsterdam move as a seasonal capacity play: "The introduction of our freighters in Amsterdam is an important step in strengthening our European network. This gives us dedicated main-deck capacity at a time of year when transatlantic capacity is more constrained, helping us better serve customers in the Netherlands and across Europe while creating opportunities to connect their cargo through our global network."

Casey said the Monterrey and Panama City additions "enhance two-way connectivity between Europe and our growing Latin American network, creating more opportunities to reach key markets such as Quito, Lima, Bogotá and Mexico City."

In other words, Toronto functions as the interchange: European freight moves south on the new Latin American freighter lanes, and Latin American exports ride the Amsterdam rotation east. Whether the connecting traffic materializes at sufficient volume remains the open question — the announcement includes frequencies, not load factors or commitments from shippers.

The schedule additions also follow Air Canada's decision to lease a surplus 767 freighter to Ethiopian Airlines, a reminder that fleet decisions cut both ways: capacity added on one trade lane can mean capacity withdrawn elsewhere. With six freighters now spread across a growing destination list, utilization will be the metric to watch through the winter season.

If surcharges ease as jet fuel prices normalize, Air Canada will need the new routes to stand on underlying demand rather than fuel-inflated yields — a test the winter schedule begins Oct. 25.