Over the past year, it would seem that Air Canada
has gone on a bit of a shopping spree for new international
destinations, walking away with seven new hot spots and raising their
total number served to 66 on five continents from their hub in Toronto.
Since December, 2013, Canada’s flagship carrier has added non-stop
service to Panama City, Tokyo (Haneda), Osaka, Rio de Janeiro,
Amsterdam, Delhi and now, UAE’s Dubai.
Air Canada has stressed that the addition of some of the routes, namely
the furthest away cities of Delhi and Dubai, are a direct result of
their recent acquisition of the new Boeing 787 Dreamliner, a
far-reaching yet more economically efficient equipment option than
they’ve previously (and unsuccessfully) tried on the Toronto to Delhi
route in the past. The addition of the 787-900 series aircraft will make
the route not only more affordable to operate but it hopes to draw more
business travellers from both Canada and the United States, looking to
avoid connecting in Europe or the Middle East on their way to India.
Toronto to Delhi non-stop service will begin on November 1st,
2015 and feature Air Canada’s award-winning, three-cabin service,
including the next generation lie-flat seats in Business Class, new
Premium Economy Class and enhanced Economy Class seating with on-demand,
seatback in-flight entertainment at every seat. Flights will operate
four times a week and are scheduled to seamlessly connect passengers
both in North America as well as in India and go on sale this month.
Going on sale today will also be the airline’s new Toronto to Dubai service, scheduled to take flight on November 3rd,
2015. Operating three times weekly, the route will eliminate
connections in Frankfurt or Munich with Star Alliance partner Lufthansa
or London with UAE’s Etihad and Emirates. As with Delhi, the service is
also made possible with the addition of the new Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner
planes.
To compliment their already popular daily service to Sao Paulo, Air
Canada’s new thrice-weekly Toronto to Rio de Janeiro flights will
operate overnight in both directions, maximizing one’s time at
destination and avoid connecting through Sao Paulo as it previously
required. Deployed on the route will be Boeing 767-300 Extended Range
aircraft featuring Business and Economy Class cabins, with lie-flat beds
at the front of the plane and personal in-flight entertainment on every
seatback.
As another year comes and goes and with it being one of the more
profitable ones in recent memory for the airline, it will be interesting
to see what new additions will be planned for 2015 and beyond. Air
Canada has already mentioned it will be using Air Canada rouge
planes on more domestic routes as well as picking up service to cities
such as Portland, Austin and Sarasota in the U.S. As most of the
pre-ordered Dreamliners will be arriving in 2015 and 2016, expect more
from the carrier in terms of new and interesting destinations.
No comments: