MONTREAL - Air Canada is cancelling its Hamilton-Montreal route amid sluggish sales from business travellers, announcing the move in a newspaper ad just one month after ramping up flights between the two cities.

Direct flights will scale down to once daily from three as of Jan. 9, and stop completely after March 30.

The Montreal-based company says it regrets having to nix a route that did not "foster enough demand to be sustainable."

Air Canada Jazz, which provides regional service for the carrier, returned to Hamilton after an eight-year absence in May 2016, targeting business travellers looking for same-day return trips and recreational passengers hoping to use Montreal as a hub to other destinations.

Hamilton's John C. Munro International Airport says it is "disappointed" with the news, but will continue to try to build up a niche with low-cost and leisure carriers.

The airport suffered another loss when Flair Airlines took off for Toronto's Pearson International Airport at the end of October, just months after landing at the smaller airport, 64 kilometres southwest of Toronto. However, it added WestJet's low-cost Swoop airline and will welcome Norwegian Airlines next spring for flights to Dublin.