Travelers holding Air Canada tickets to or from Dubai can change their plans without paying extra, after the Canadian carrier once again pushed back the restart of the route, this time to the end of March 2027.
Under the airline’s flexible booking policy, affected passengers may move their trip to a later date or switch to a different destination at no added cost. Those who would rather not fly at all can cancel and receive credit toward a future Air Canada journey.
The decision, published in the carrier’s latest travel update, scraps an earlier plan to bring the route back to Dubai International Airport (DXB) in mid-January as part of its winter timetable.
Canada is not left without a nonstop link to the emirate. Emirates still flies directly between Dubai and both Toronto and Montreal, and the Dubai-based carrier, along with sister airline flydubai, has kept its DXB operations running normally. The airport also handled millions of passengers during the summer holiday period.
United Airlines, the other North American carrier serving Dubai, has likewise set March 2027 as its return date. British airline Virgin Atlantic is among several major operators that have again said they will stay away until 2027.
Other foreign carriers are moving faster. KLM, Singapore Airlines and Lufthansa are expected back at DXB by late October under their winter schedules, based on the latest travel advisories.
Dubai Airports CEO Paul Griffiths has said that airlines based outside the UAE are having difficulty obtaining insurance for their operations, a problem that has led a number of international carriers to postpone their return to the hub.
