Direct flights between Canada and Cartagena are back on the schedule. Air Canada Rouge will restart its seasonal routes from Toronto and Montreal to Colombia's Caribbean coast for the 2026-2027 winter season, according to an announcement from Colombia's Civil Aviation Authority.

Toronto comes first. Twice-weekly flights (Tuesdays and Saturdays) start on Nov. 17, 2026 and run until March 13, 2027, linking Toronto Pearson with Cartagena's Rafael Núñez International Airport. Expect afternoon arrivals into Cartagena, with the return legs leaving in the afternoon and touching down in Canada at night.

Montreal follows in December. A single weekly Sunday flight from Montréal-Trudeau begins Dec. 13, 2026 and operates through March 7, 2027. Both routes fly nonstop, so no more routing through a US hub or Panama to reach Colombia's coast.

There's a bonus for Bogotá-bound or Canada-bound travellers further afield too: Colombia's aviation authority also flagged an added frequency on the Bogotá-Montreal route as part of Air Canada's wider expansion in the country.

This isn't a brand-new experiment. Air Canada Rouge has run these winter services since December 2017, and demand has been strong enough to keep the seasonal pattern going. The logic is simple: when Toronto hits minus ten, Cartagena sits at a balmy 30 degrees by the Caribbean.

For Canadian travellers, the appeal is obvious - a walled colonial old town, island day trips, and a food scene that's among the best in South America, all reachable in around five and a half hours from Toronto. For Colombians, the flights open up a straightforward route to Canada over the crowded December-January holiday window. Hotels, restaurants and tour operators along the coast will be watching the bookings closely, since Canadian winter visitors are a reliable boost to the local economy.

The catch is that these are strictly seasonal routes. If your trip falls outside the November-to-March window, you'll be back to connecting itineraries. And as with any seasonal schedule, frequencies and dates can shift, so it's worth checking Air Canada's own channels before locking in plans. Booking early is usually smart on these routes - winter sun flights from Canada to the Caribbean tend to fill up fast, especially over Christmas and March break.

If you've been putting off a Cartagena trip because of awkward connections, this winter is the time to do it.