Quebec City has record capacity to Europe and the US; now 15 routes with 5 airlines
Quebec City Jean Lesage International (IATA code: YQB) is Canada’s 11th-busiest airport. In 2025, the facility welcomed 1.82 million passengers, which was the highest figure to date.
Most of YQB’s growth has been because of incumbent operators. However, the figures were helped by the arrival of Propair in 2025, initially with routes within Quebec but now also to New Brunswick.
Some airlines have grown very strongly
In the second half of 2026 (July-December), Cirium schedule data shows that YQB has 779,000 one-way seats. Capacity has risen by 17% year-over-year and is now 34% above what was achieved before the pandemic in the same six months in 2019. Evidently, YQB will easily exceed its current traffic record.
Compared to 2025, the growth was primarily driven by Porter (+190%), American (+40%), Air France (+26%) and Air Canada (+22%). Porter’s expansion was because it doubled its network by introducing new service to Toronto YYZ on 12 May 2026 (2-daily).
American now has five routes, thanks to the start of New York JFK flights on 5 August 2026 (daily). It has also added 44% more seats on its main route, which is from Philadelphia. Air France’s growth is from having a fifth more departures in the second half of the year, with many more flights being on the very high-capacity, 472-seat 777-300ER.
Given Air Canada is by far YQB’s largest operator, its expansion was especially notable. The airline added 56,000 one-way seats year-over-year, which was far more than all the others. This was partly because of a new route to Pointe-a-Pitre, which will begin on 17 December 2026 (weekly). But it was much more about growth to Montreal YUL (+41%) and Toronto YYZ (+13%). YUL expansion was in response to the arrival of Propair and Central Mountain Air, while YYZ was because of Porter. Air Canada now has 10 routes from YQB.
Record capacity to Europe and the US
Cirium shows that YQB has non-stop flights to 42 airports in the second half of 2026. They are in 11 countries, with the domestic market having 69% of the total capacity. Then it’s the US (14%) and France (7%).
Compared to last July-December, YQB now has flights to Bathurst, Marseille, Nantes, New York JFK, Pointe-a-Pitre, Roatan, San Jose (Costa Rica) and Washington IAD. Nantes was last linked to YQB in 2010, Marseille and IAD in 2013 and JFK in 2017. The addition of these places contributes to YQB having record capacity to US and Europe.
With 205,000 one-way seats, up by 34%, Montreal YUL remains the leading market. 82-weekly flights are available in September, provided by Air Canada (43), PAL (15), Air Inuit (8), Air Transat (6), Central Mountain Air (6) and Propair (4). When YHU is included, Montreal accounts for 29% of YQB’s total capacity.
