Air Canada has cancelled its summer route from Whitehorse to Calgary, the Star has learned.

An airline spokeswoman confirmed the cancellation Thursday.

Angela Mah said the route was cancelled because the profitability targets were not being met, based on numbers from last summer and the outlook for this year.

Air Canada has been contacting surprised customers about the schedule changes and the need to rebook flights.

Mah said Air Canada will not be releasing the number of passengers it needs to contact because that information is private company business.

Air Canada flew the Whitehorse-to-Calgary route twice a day last year, from May 1 to Oct. 27.

"The non-stop flights were available for booking this summer, and we left it in as long as possible in hopes that bookings would pick up as we approached this spring,” Mah wrote in a email this morning.

"We made a commercial decision in the first quarter to discontinue the flights to Calgary due to the route not achieving the profitability targets set, based on both last year's flights and the outlook for this year.

"We aim to advise customers as soon as possible about schedule changes and rebooking arrangements in advance of their travel dates.”

Air North president Joe Sparling said late this morning he is not surprised by Air Canada's decision to cancel its Whitehorse-Calgary route.

Sparling recalled how he pointed out last year there was just wasn't enough demand to fill Air North's and Air Canada's Calgary route.

"I think this has been in the works for some time,” he said.

Sparling said Air Canada's decision will be good for everybody because it means there won't be so many empty seats in the air.

Air North, he pointed out, will again be expanding its Calgary-Edmonton service to six days a week in the summer from four in the winter.

WestJet spokesman Robert Palmer said his company does not comment on decisions made by other airlines.

Palmer said what he can say is that there are capacity adjustments across the country all the time.

"I suspect we will be monitoring the situation,” he said.

WestJet announced in mid-February it will again be offering daily flights between Whitehorse and Vancouver this summer from May 16 to Oct. 26.

It began its Whitehorse summer connection last year.