TORONTO: Air Canada continues to move ahead with its push to become a global airline, announcing new routes for its 787 Dreamliner jets, and vacation destinations with its leisure carrier Rouge. The airline keeps adding direct routes, such Toronto to Seoul, South Korea, to lure the lucrative business traveller, as well as Montreal to Casablanca, Morocco, for holiday seekers. And soon it can boast it flies to six continents.
Air Canada has taken delivery of 10 Boeing 787 Dreamliners from its order of 37 planes, considered key to its fleet replacement plans. The last two planes have been the 787-9, which is the larger version, offering more range, more cargo capacity and a slight lower unit cost. Ben Smith, Air Canada’s president of passenger airlines, says the plane has “outperformed on many fronts,” so the airline is now able to design ideal routes with this plane in mind.
Air Canada continues to add routes with plans to fly into North Africa next summer. In November, the airline will launch flights between Toronto and Delhi, as well as Toronto and Dubai. Smith says the airline is focused on adding big business routes as well as popular leisure spots, such as cities in Europe next summer like Budapest, Prague, Warsaw and Glasgow. The flight to Morocco means the airline will fly to North and South America, Europe, Asia, Australia and Africa.
The competition across the Atlantic is growing. Ultra-low-cost carrier Wow Air has announced plans for flights from Toronto and Montreal to Europe via Iceland, and WestJet Airlines will soon fly wide-body jets to London’s Gatwick airport. Smith argues the competition has always been fierce, noting the airline’s biggest competitor is Air Transat, along with the likes of Air France, British Airways and KLM. While Wow and WestJet’s planned routes represent a small proportion of the business, Smith said: “We are not underestimating these airlines.”
With fuel prices low, Singapore Airlines now plans to resume flights between the Asian city and New York and Los Angeles. In 2012, it cancelled the non-stop 19-hour flights when oil prices soared. Now, it raises questions about whether global hubs will become less popular. Smith argues that global hubs will still be needed, because international flights are still between major cities. Pearson is becoming a global hub, but Smith said more work is needed, including on issues such as Ontario’s aviation fuel tax and visa requirements for passengers who are only in transit.
Air Canada and Tourism Toronto have extended booking until March 31, for the Stopover program, where travellers flying from U.S. cities on to other international cities can have a free stopover for up to a week here. Modelled on Icelandair’s offer, Tourism Toronto’s Andrew Weir says it’s a chance to promote the city. “It’s an opportunity for a business traveller to tack on a few days, maybe have a spouse meet you in Toronto for a few days,” Weir said. “The customer potentially would have flown on a different carrier.”
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