Air Canada is preparing for a busy Summer 2024 season, with the airline adding Montreal-Madrid, as well as scaling up its Transatlantic Network.
The new Montreal-Madrid will start in May 2024, as the airline attempts to operate 100 per cent of its peak summer 2019 transatlantic capacity next year.
The planned operation of the new service is below:
AC834 DEPART YUL 20:30 ARRIVE MAD 09:40+1 AC835 DEPART MAD 13:15 ARRIVE YUL 15:20 Commences May 2024 (awaiting date at time of publication) Opeates Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from Montreal Operates Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays from Madrid Booked Equipment: Boeing 787-9
The Montreal-Madrid service will be operated with a 255-seat Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner aircraft with three cabins of service, including Signature Class with lie-flat seats, Premium Economy and Economy Class.
Expanding the transatlantic network
Air Canada will serve 51 routes to 30 cities in Europe, Africa, the Middle East and India. In response to projected strength in leisure demand, the airline will expand frequencies to popular Mediterranean destinations and bring forward the start-up of several seasonal European services next summer.
The big increases in Air Canada’s transatlantic services for summer 2024 include:
From Montreal to:
| Destination | Service Improvement in Summer 2024 vs. Summer 2023 |
| Athens | Increase to 3 weekly frequencies in April, daily from May to October |
| Amsterdam | Earlier seasonal start on 30th March 2024, increase to daily service |
| Barcelona | Increase to 4 weekly frequencies in April, 5 in May, and 6 from June to October |
| Casablanca | Increase to 6 weekly frequencies from June to September |
| Copenhagen | Earlier seasonal start on 2nd May 2024 |
| Lisbon | Increase to 4 weekly frequencies in April, 5 from May to October |
| Milan | Increase to daily service from June to September |
| Nice | Increase to 5 weekly frequencies from June to September |
| Rome | Increase to 9 weekly frequencies from May to September |
| Venice | Increase to 3 weekly frequencies from June to October |
From Toronto to:
| Destination | Service Improvement in Summer 2024 vs. Summer 2023 |
| Athens | Increase to 4 weekly frequencies in April, daily from May to October |
| Brussels | Earlier seasonal start on 1st May 2024 |
| Barcelona | Increase to 5 weekly frequencies in April, daily from May to October |
| Copenhagen | Increase to daily service from May to September |
| Edinburgh | Earlier seasonal start on 1st March 2024 (operates from March to January) |
| Lisbon | Increase to daily service from April to October |
| London | Increase to 4 daily services from April to October |
| Manchester | Increase to 6 weekly frequencies from June to September |
| Rome | Increase to 12 weekly frequencies from May to September |
| Venice | Increase to 4 weekly frequencies from June to October |
For those who are looking at seating, these tickets have been released and are on sale via Air Canada and its usual distribution channels
In Quotes
On the Montreal – Madrid route launch Mark Galardo, Executive Vice President of Revenue and Network Planning at Air Canada said
“Air Canada saw a tremendous rebound in international flying this past summer, particularly on the trans-Atlantic, and we expect Europe will remain popular next year. In anticipation of this, we are expanding our flying schedule to offer customers more choice and flexibility as they begin to plan their 2024 holidays,”
“The centrepiece of today’s announcement is our new Montreal-Madrid flight. This will be the only year-round service between Montreal and the Spanish capital, complementing our long-standing Toronto-Madrid flights, and offering compelling options for leisure customers and also returning business travellers.”
He added:
“We are excited to announce a significant expansion of our service offering to Italy, with a combined three daily flights from Toronto and Montreal to Rome, as well as daily services to Milan and Venice. This underpins the importance of Italy in Air Canada’s global network, as we are the largest carrier between Canada and Italy, and the only one connecting the two countries on a year-round basis,”
Confidence in Summer 2024
As has been noted by this blog, a lot of airlines are getting bullish for Summer 2024 – with Air Canada now joining the party to ensure there are available seats for its passengers.
With airlines now seeing the fruits of a busy year, it’s giving them time to plan ahead and reposition as the model against the demands on their booking engines, forward reservations and historical data.
Certainly, confidence is a thing in the industry at the moment as we exit summer and prepare to hunker down for the winter season.
We’ll have to see what additional routes open up for reservation between now and the launch of the Summer 2024 timetable.
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