First scheduled service between Montreal and Japan

MONTREAL, Aug. 23, 2017 /CNW Telbec/ - Air Canada announced today the introduction of a new service between Montreal and Tokyo Narita starting June 1, 2018. Flights will operate year-round, with daily service during summer peak travel and three times a week during the winter, with Air Canada's flagship aircraft, the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. Air Canada's new transpacific service from its Montreal hub is designed to optimize connectivity to several Canadian and U.S. cities: Quebec City, Ottawa, Halifax, Charlottetown, Boston, Philadelphia and Orlando. 

Special introductory fares start as low as $999 round-trip, all in, and tickets are now available for purchase at aircanada.com or through travel agents.

"Air Canada is continuing its global expansion by strategically building its Montreal hub, and we are thrilled to announce the launch of non-stop flights to Tokyo, Montreal's first scheduled link to Japan. The new flights will offer travelers from Atlantic Canada and the Northeastern U.S. convenient access to Japan and beyond, complementing our existing Tokyo flights from Toronto, Vancouver and Calgary, while also strategically positioning Air Canada as a leader in the growing Montreal–Asia market," said Calin Rovinescu, President and Chief Executive Officer, Air Canada. "This new transpacific service further reflects Air Canada's ongoing international growth strategy from Montreal, following the recent introduction of non-stop flights to Shanghai, Lima, North Africa and Europe. In addition, it enables Montreal to derive significant direct benefits including the creation of close to 130 Air Canada flight attendant, pilot and airport positions."

"This direct flight between two international cities, Tokyo and Montreal, shows that Montreal is once again a major player in Canadian and North American aviation. After Shanghai and Tel Aviv, this new flight to Japan's capital reflects a major investment by Air Canada that will generate significant economic and tourism benefits for our city," said Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre.

"Great news for our business community and for Quebec's economy and tourism. This route will facilitate growth of Quebec businesses as well as further trade with Japan and other Asian countries. Moreover, introducing non-stop flights attracts foreign companies, which in turn contribute to Quebec's economic prosperity," said Lise Thériault, Deputy Premier and Minister responsible for SMEs, Regulatory Streamlining and Regional Economic Development.

"We are pleased with this new first for Montrealers," said Philippe Rainville, President and Chief Executive Officer of Aéroports de Montreal. "The addition of Tokyo to our air service, on top of Tel Aviv, Algiers and Shanghai, among others, certainly reinforces Montreal-Trudeau's status as an international hub. This new non-stop flight illustrates once again Air Canada's desire to use Montreal as a strategic platform. This city-pair with Japan also greatly enhances our service for the Montreal community, since Tokyo Narita offers connections to all Japanese cities and to many destinations in Southeast Asia, the Far East and Oceania," he added.

"Among our international development priorities, Japan is a market with significant potential, as our colleagues recently confirmed at the national level. This direct route between Montreal and Tokyo confirms our intention to move forward to further promote Quebec's original tourism offer in Asia. Congratulations to Air Canada on this initiative," said Martin Soucy, President and CEO of the Alliance de l'industrie touristique du Québec.

"Tourisme Montréal wanted to be a partner in this new Montreal–Tokyo service because it allows Montreal to further its international influence. This important addition builds on the new flights between China and Montreal operating during the last two years. We believe that the impact on Montreal tourism will be highly strategic and showcase Montreal's vitality, while giving us access to Japan and other Asian and oceanic destinations. I would like to congratulate Air Canada for its dynamism and its major contribution to the future of Montreal and Quebec tourism," stated Yves Lalumière, President and Chief Executive Officer of Tourisme Montréal.

Air Canada's Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft feature three cabins of service offering comfortable ergonomic seating and enhanced definition intuitive touch personal entertainment screens.  Air Canada's International Business Class cabin has 180-degree lie-flat seats in configuration guaranteeing direct aisle access. The Premium Economy cabin offers more generous personal space, wider seats, greater legroom and recline, premium meals, complimentary bar service, priority check-in and baggage delivery at the airport. The Economy cabin has slimline seats providing comfortable personal space and state-of-the-art individual on-demand entertainment system.

All flights provide for Aeroplan accumulation and redemption, Star Alliance reciprocal benefits and, for eligible customers, priority check-in, Maple Leaf Lounge access at the Montreal hub, priority boarding and other benefits.

So far in 2017, Air Canada has launched seven new services from its Montreal hub to: Shanghai (China), Marseille (France), Dallas/Ft. Worth and Washington/Dulles (U.S.), Reykjavik (Iceland), Tel Aviv (Israel) and Algiers (Algeria) with an eighth new route to Lima (Peru) beginning in December 2017.

Air Canada operates more non-stop flights between Canada and Japan than any other carrier with up to 46 non-stop return flights between Canada and Japan per week. Complimenting the new service between Montreal–Tokyo Narita, Air Canada operates flights up to seven times a week flights between Vancouver–Tokyo Narita; double daily flights between Toronto and Tokyo Haneda and Tokyo Narita; flights up to seven times a week between Calgary–Tokyo Narita. Air Canada also offers summer seasonal service to Osaka's Kansai International Airport daily up to seven times per week and Chubu Centrair International Airport in Nagoya up to four times per week with Air Canada Rouge.

Backgrounder

Air Canada at Montréal-Trudeau Airport (YUL)

• Air Canada served over 8.3 million passengers at YUL in 2016, up 11.5 per cent from 2015.
• Summer 2017 Trans-Atlantic capacity increase of 19% over 2016 resulting in an 81% capacity growth in the last three years.

Air Canada, a major corporation headquartered in Montreal since 1949, is the largest airline in Canada and among the 20 largest air carriers in the world.

The airline employs over 6000 employees in Montreal and, in 2017 for the fourth year in a row, was named among the top employers in Montreal and recognized for its involvement in the community through the Air Canada Foundation among several other criteria.

Including employees of the Company's wholly-owned subsidiary Air Canada Vacations, its vacation airline Air Canada Rouge and its two Air Canada Express commercial partners, Jazz and Sky Regional, which operate flights exclusively for Air Canada, the Company employs close to 7,500 individuals in the Montreal area.

Montréal-Trudeau Airport (YUL) is a strategic hub for Air Canada and international gateway, connecting its Quebec and Atlantic Canada domestic network, with its U.S. transborder, Caribbean, European, North African, and China and south America (2017) flights.

Air Canada, Air Canada Rouge and its regional airline partners flying under the Air Canada Express banner operate on average approximately 2,400 flights per week between Montreal and 87 destinations: 24 in Canada including nine in Quebec, 20 in the United States, 26 in the Caribbean, Central America and Mexico, 13 in Europe, one in China, two in North Africa, one in the Middle East, and starting in December 2017 one in South America. 

Montréal-Trudeau gateway to French speaking destinations
Air Canada provides service in both of Canada's official languages. As a fully bilingual operation, Montréal-Trudeau Airport is a strategic hub for Air Canada. It plays a special role in connecting Canada with many French-speaking communities in the world, known as la francophonie, reflecting Montreal's unique character, with service to points throughout Quebec and New Brunswick among other provinces, as well as to and from France (Paris-Charles-de-Gaulle, Nice, Lyon, Marseille), Switzerland (Geneva), Belgium (Brussels), Martinique, Guadeloupe, Haiti, Morocco (Casablanca), and Algeria (Algiers).

Easy connections for international travelers flying to and from the U.S.
With flights to 20 U.S. cities, the most of any airline, it has never been easier to connect in Montreal to Air Canada's global network including Paris, Lyon, Geneva, Brussels and Casablanca. With the introduction of our new international services from Montreal to Europe, Asia and North Africa, international travelers are increasingly finding that connecting through Montreal on Air Canada is the most convenient way to fly to and from the U.S.

Air Canada network (YUL)

• Two new destinations announced for 2018: Tokyo-Narita, (Japan) and Phoenix (U.S.)
• Seven new destinations announced for 2017: Shanghai (China); Marseille (France), Dallas/Ft. Worth (U.S.), Keflavik (Island), Tel-Aviv (Israel), Algiers (Algeria) and Lima (Peru).
• Nine new destinations launched in 2016: Hamilton (Ontario), Lyon (France), Philadelphia, Houston, Denver (U.S.), San Juan (Puerto Rico), San José (Costa Rica), Puerto Vallarta (Mexico), and Air Canada's first service to Africa with Montreal-Casablanca flights.
• Service to Paris, London, Brussels, Geneva, Frankfurt, Lyon, Nice, Athens, Barcelona, Rome, Venice and Casablanca, as well as Munich and Zurich in codeshare with Star Alliance partners Lufthansa and Swiss International Air Lines.
• Air Canada flies non-stop to the most popular U.S. destinations from Montreal: New York City (LaGuardia and Newark), Chicago, Las Vegas, Orlando and Fort Lauderdale.
• In addition, Air Canada is the only carrier at Montreal-Trudeau to fly non-stop to Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston, Denver, Tampa, Fort Myers, West Palm Beach, Hartford, Washington Reagan, and Washington Dulles.
• Air Canada has three Maple Leaf Lounges at YUL:
• A Domestic Maple Leaf Lounge: seating capacity of 160 and more than 270,000 visits in 2016
• A Transborder Maple Leaf Lounge: seating capacity of 95 and more than 122,000 visits in 2016
• An International Maple Leaf Lounge with more than 95,000 visits in 2016
• A completely redesigned International Maple Leaf Lounge was inaugurated in December 2016 measuring 1,022 square meters with a seating capacity for 259 customers.

Air Canada Foundation
The Air Canada Foundation's primary focus is children and youth in need. It supports close to 70 local charitable organizations including: The Breakfast Clubs of Canada, the Montreal Children's, Sainte-Justine and Shriners Hospitals for Children. With the support of Aeroplan Miles generously donated by customers, the Foundation also manages a Hospital Transportation Program to ensure free travel for seriously ill young people who are unable to get the medical help they need in their local communities.  The Foundation also partners with humanitarian organizations in crisis situations.

Awards
Air Canada is the only international network carrier in North America to receive a Four-Star ranking according to independent U.K. research firm Skytrax. 

About Air Canada
Air Canada is Canada's largest domestic and international airline serving more than 200 airports on six continents.  Canada's flag carrier is among the 20 largest airlines in the world and in 2016 served close to 45 million customers.  Air Canada provides scheduled passenger service directly to 64 airports in Canada, 57 in the United States and 95 in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, Australia, the Caribbean, Mexico, Central America and South America. Air Canada is a founding member of Star Alliance, the world's most comprehensive air transportation network serving 1,300 airports in 191 countries.  Air Canada is the only international network carrier in North America to receive a Four-Star ranking according to independent U.K. research firm Skytrax, which also named Air Canada the 2017 Best Airline in North America. For more information, please visit: www.aircanada.com, follow @AirCanada on Twitter and join Air Canada on Facebook.

SOURCE Air Canada