Toronto Top NA Airport for International Flights; Montreal Second

A new Cirium report says YYZ has by far the most international connections of any airport in North America, and is the fifth largest for all connections.

The study says Toronto Pearson has non-stop flights to 202 destinations. Of those, 34 are domestic routes and the balance (168) are international flights.

To put it in perspective, YYZ’s 168 international routes gives it 36.6% lead over JFK, the leading airport in the U.S. for direct international flights.

The next largest number of international flights for a North American airport is at YUL, with 128. Montreal also has 33 domestic flights for a total of 161 destinations served, which makes it the 15th best connected airport on the continent.

The top combined domestic and international figure for North America is ORD, with 270 total destinations served. That is followed by DFW at 261 and ATL at 237.

Cirium didn’t provide worldwide stats, but noted Istanbul is the world leader with 309 destinations served.

“It’s no surprise that Toronto Pearson is Canada’s best-connected airport,” a senior YYZ spokesperson told Open Jaw. “Toronto Pearson serves an urban area of six million people, it’s a primary hub for multiple airlines and it connects Canadians east and west, north and south.

“It’s a front door for newcomers and the $100-billion national tourism economy. It’s a critical node for people and industries on the move: trade, conferences, education, innovation.”

The spokesperson said YYZ facilitates 45% of Canada’s air cargo and that last year it served 44.8 million passengers travelling to 68 countries.