Air Canada suspends flights from Toronto to JFK over soaring fuel costs

Air Canada is suspending a key route between Toronto and New York City this summer as global fuel costs continue to surge amid the U.S.-Israel conflict with Iran. 

The airline announced that it will be temporarily suspending its service from Toronto to New York's John F. Kennedy (JFK) International Airport starting June 1, with service expected to resume on Oct. 25. 

The upcoming temporary suspension will affect three daily flights from Toronto and one from Montreal. The airline says it will be contacting affected customers and presenting them with alternate travel options. 

"As we regularly do, we monitor and review our network to ensure that routes are meeting profitability targets," the airline told blogTO. "As jet fuel prices have doubled since the start of the Iran conflict and some lower profitability routes and flights are no longer economic, and we are making schedule adjustments accordingly."

Despite the halt in service, Air Canada says it will continue to operate dozens of daily flights between Canada and the New York area through LaGuardia Airport and Newark Liberty International Airport. 

The airline reveals that the decision has boiled down to cost, with a sharp spike in global jet fuel prices making the JFK routes uneconomical to operate. Fuel prices have surged over the past six weeks amid the ongoing conflict involving Iran, which has been further strained by restrictions on tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world's most critical oil transit routes. 

Some airlines have even begun passing these increased costs on to travellers. Earlier this month, WestJet announced that it was introducing a temporary $60 fuel surcharge on bookings, which officially took effect on April 8. 

"The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has strained global oil supplies and led to a spike in the price of oil and a larger increase in the price of jet fuel, which typically accounts for approximately 20 per cent of an airline's costs," the airline revealed in a news release.