Virgin America Pulls Out of Toronto

Contributing Editor Carl Unger believes that every trip is worth taking. He loves an extended trip to Europe as much as he enjoys exploring the towns and landscape near home. Basically, you'll find him wherever there is good food, fresh air, and plenty of stories to bring home.

Carl has been writing for SmarterTravel since 2005. His travel writing has also appeared on USA Today and the About.com Boston travel guide.

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Well, Virgin America’s foray into Canada was short-lived: The airline revealed it will suspend service from Los Angeles and San Francisco on April 6. The low-cost carrier will shift emphasis onto its Dallas service, boosting its daily flights to three each from LAX and SFO.

In a statement, Virgin America VP of Planning and Sales Diana Walke said, “the smaller Toronto-West Coast markets … were not able to stimulate demand as quickly as we would have liked. As a young and growing airline we’ve decided to instead focus on the immediate opportunities that DFW and other markets offer from our California base.”

While the service suspension is “indefinite,” Walke did say, “we hope to return to YYZ at some point.”

In addition to added service from DFW, the airline said it is “adding additional nonstop flights from San Francisco International Airport (SFO) to San Diego International Airport (SAN), SFO to Las Vegas McCarran International (LAS) and from SFO to Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD).”

According to USA Today’s Ben Mutzabaugh, the loss of Virgin in Toronto may pinch consumers’ wallets. A reader wrote in to say his now-canceled $335CDN flight is going for more than $600CDN on Air Canada. Air Canada had been more or less matching Virgin America’s fares.

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