Air Canada has handed FlyUs Aviation Group the general sales agency for a three-flight-per-week freighter operation between San Juan and Toronto — a route built almost entirely on pharmaceutical exports.

The GSSA appointment covers capacity on Air Canada Cargo flights linking Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport (SJU) with the carrier's Toronto Pearson (YYZ) hub, where pharma shipments connect into the wider Air Canada network. Three weekly freighter rotations is a modest schedule. For temperature-sensitive freight, it's a serious commitment.

Why Puerto Rico, and why pharma?

The island punches well above its weight in bioscience. Carlo de Haas, President and CEO of FlyUs, put it plainly: "Puerto Rico is the number one bioscience manufacturing hub in the US by export volume, so there is a significant requirement for reliable temperature-controlled air cargo capacity from the island."

That ranking matters commercially. When a territory leads US bioscience exports by volume, every degree of temperature deviation on the tarmac translates into real money lost. Reliability isn't a nice-to-have here; it's the product.

De Haas flagged his team's track record as the qualifier: "FlyUs has extensive experience handling temperature-controlled cargo, particularly pharmaceuticals, perishables, and flowers, so our team is well-positioned to support Air Canada and its customers with these sensitive shipments."

What does this change for shippers?

In practice, forwarders and pharma shippers moving freight out of San Juan now deal with a dedicated sales channel that knows cold-chain paperwork, not a generalist desk. The appointment also signals Air Canada intends to keep marketing the SJU–YYZ freighters actively rather than let the capacity drift — useful certainty for anyone planning weekly export programmes.

For Air Canada, the logic is straightforward. Matthieu Casey, Managing Director, Commercial Cargo, said: "FlyUs has proven to be a trusted partner through the strong results they have achieved as Air Canada's GSA in multiple markets, as our confidence in the partnership has grown, extending that relationship to Puerto Rico became a logical next step."

He added: "Being able to provide reliable uplift from one of the US's most significant export markets is an important part of our cargo offering, and we are glad to have FlyUs on board to support us in Puerto Rico."

A relationship that keeps widening

Puerto Rico isn't a cold start for these two. FlyUs already represents Air Canada in Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Ecuador and several Central American markets. The Caribbean island is simply the latest branch on an established tree.

The network now runs wider still. FlyUs represents 24 airlines across 28 locations, with further office openings planned through the rest of 2026 and into 2027 — a pace of roughly one new base every few months for a GSSA of this size.

De Haas framed the Puerto Rico office as part of that trajectory: "The opening of our Puerto Rico office is another step in growing the FlyUs global footprint and strengthening our ability to support airline partners wherever they need us. Our strategy is to continue expanding into markets where our specialist cargo knowledge can add value, and Puerto Rico gives us another base from which to do that."

The read

Airlines don't hand over sales for pharma-heavy freighter routes to agencies they distrust. This appointment tells you Air Canada sees durable, rate-defensible demand in cold-chain capacity out of Puerto Rico — and expects to sell it hard into 2027. Shippers on the island should watch whether the three-weekly frequency holds or grows; that number is the honest signal.