Montreal, QC — Air Transat is heading to Istanbul. The Canadian airline has confirmed that it will operate service between Montreal-Trudeau International Airport and Istanbul Airport starting December 15, 2026 twice a week. Now it’s just eleven hours and 4,162 miles of sky between you and Istanbul which is one of the oldest, most layered and most fascinating cities on earth.
Air Transat is launching this service in mid-December right when the holiday season’s in full swing and millions of people are thinking about where they want to be for the new year. This is a move because it will be perfect for families who are reuniting across continents, travelers who are finally taking trips they have put off for years and people who have always wanted to visit Istanbul but just needed a reason to go. Air Transat is giving them that reason with a flight and a departure date that falls during the most popular travel weeks of the year.
A Growing Footprint in Turkey
This isn’t Air Transat’s first time in Turkey. The Toronto–Istanbul route has been running for a while now, and by the looks of it, people have been showing up for it. It’s done well. Well enough, apparently, to make the case for doing it again and this time from Montreal.
That’s new ground. And it means that by mid-December 2026, both of Canada’s major travel hubs will have a direct line to Istanbul at the same time.
[ Montreal (YUL) ] ──( New! Twice-Weekly )──► [ Istanbul (IST) ]
[ Toronto (YYZ) ] ──( Thrice-Weekly )──► [ Connecting Hub ]
Two cities feeding into one destination. For Canadian travelers who have wanted this kind of access the direct, straightforward, no awkward layovers bolted onto the itinerary then that’s a genuinely different set of options than what existed before.
The Turkish Airlines Partnership
Air Transat is not doing this by itself. Turkish Airlines is also. This partnership is important. It is more important than you might think at first.
Think about what each airline’s bringing to the table. Turkish Airlines has a network of flights. It is huge. Has a lot of connections. Istanbul Airport is the center of all this. It is one of the airports in the world. There are flights going out in all directions to Europe, Africa, Asia and the Middle East. If you are flying from Montreal and you want to go to Athens, Nairobi, Dubai or further away going through Istanbul is a good idea. It is often the way to get there.
Air Transat knows its passengers well. These are Canadians who love to travel. They want the process to be easy and the booking to be simple. Air Transat has been. Helping these people for a long time.
When you put Air Transat and Turkish Airlines together you get something. You get a connection between Canada and one of the world’s cities that connects to many other places. This connection did not exist before.
What to Expect Onboard
The Montreal–Istanbul flight runs on an Airbus A330-200, and honestly, it’s a good choice for this kind of trip. Wide-body, built for distance, completely at home on an eleven-hour journey across the Atlantic. Air Transat picked the right plane.
It seats 332 passengers. The front cabin is there for travelers who want to step off feeling human premium seating. The rest of the plane isn’t an afterthought either. You get food, you get entertainment, you get a seat that doesn’t make you regret your life choices somewhere over the ocean.
Eleven hours is eleven hours. Nobody’s going to dress that up. But there’s a real difference between landing tired and landing completely done and the A330-200 tends to keep you on the right side of that line. It was made for trips like this one, and it shows.
Who Is This Flight For?
A lot of people have been waiting for this. Families want to be for the holidays. Some people have had Istanbul on their list for years. They just needed a direct flight from Montreal to finally book their trip. Frequent flyers know Istanbul Airport well. They use it to travel to destinations east or south. Students and people who live far from home are excited. Curious travelers also want to visit Istanbul.
They all have an option now. Air Transat has flights from Montreal to Istanbul twice a week. Air Transat is for people who love to travel. They do not just want to get from one place to another. They want to travel and feel excited about it. A nonstop flight from Montreal to Istanbul is perfect for them. You can buy tickets on the Air Transat website. The date, December 15th, is coming up soon.