Transat A.T. says it is cancelling nearly 30 percent of its winter flights through Feb. 25 as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to wreak havoc on air industry plans and profits. The company says the ongoing impact of the omicron variant and the federal government’s Dec. 15 recommendation against non-essential travel abroad have triggered a wave of trip cancellations.

The slimmed-down flight schedule is subject to more changes, if necessary, Transat adds.

The Montreal-based company, which did not specify which routes were affected, says customers will be fully refunded and, where possible, offered rebooked reservations as an alternative.

The move comes a week after WestJet Airlines Ltd. cut 15 percent of its scheduled flights through to the end of January, citing a high proportion of flight crews calling in sick due to Omicron.

And yesterday, Air Canada Vacations announced the suspension of operations in more than a dozen sun destinations until April 30.

The airline sector, which had begun to recover following a devastating first year of the pandemic, is struggling once again amid the COVID-19 surge, with Air Canada cancelling hundreds of flights so far this month and US carriers scrapping thousands.