• New routes to Melbourne, St. Vincent, Belize, Lima, Yellowknife launched since Dec. 1

TORONTO, Dec. 18, 2017 /CNW Telbec/ - Air Canada's inaugural flight, AC1872 from Toronto to Cartagena departed this morning, marking the airline's newest destination in its ongoing international expansion.

"We are very pleased to add Cartagena to our global route network," said Benjamin Smith, President – Passenger Airlines at Air Canada.  "Air Canada is continuing its strategic international expansion with a diverse range of exciting new non-stop routes this winter to Australia, South America, the Caribbean and the United States.  We recently welcomed customers onboard new services from Toronto to St. Vincent and to Belize, Montreal to Lima, Vancouver to Melbourneand to Yellowknife, and we are looking forward to our new flights from Vancouver to Orlando, and Ottawa to Puerto Plata launching before the end of the year."

In 2017, Air Canada launched new international flights from

• Toronto to: Mumbai (India), Berlin (Germany), Reykjavik (Iceland), St. Vincent (Caribbean), Belize City (Belize), Cartagena (Colombia)
• Montreal to: Shanghai (China), Marseille (France), Reykjavik (Iceland), Tel-Aviv (Israel), Algiers (Algeria) and Lima (Peru)
• Vancouver to: Melbourne (Australia), Taipei (Taiwan), Nagoya (Japan), Frankfurt (Germany), London Gatwick (UK)

In 2018, Air Canada will launch new international services from

• Toronto to: Shannon (Ireland), Porto (Portugal), Zagreb (Croatia), Bucharest (Romania), Buenos Aires (Argentina)
• Montreal to: Tokyo-Narita (Japan), Dublin (Ireland), Bucharest (Romania), Lisbon (Portugal), Tel Aviv (Israel)
• Vancouver to: Paris (France), Zurich (Switzerland)

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

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, 60 in the United States and 98 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/media, follow @AirCanada on Twitter and join Air Canada on Facebook.