Fortifies airline's position as the leading transborder carrier

MONTREAL, Aug. 8, 2013 /CNW Telbec/ - Air Canada today announced that its current seasonal flights between Montreal and San Francisco will be extended to year-round flights beginning in November 2013. All flights will be operated with Airbus A319 aircraft featuring Executive Service, complimentary seatback entertainment, the ability to collect Aeroplan miles and lounge access for qualified customers. Air Canada's Montreal-San Francisco flights are timed to offer convenient connections with the carrier's international flights from Montreal-Trudeau airport to London, Paris, Brussels, Frankfurt, and Geneva, as well as its domestic network including Ottawa, Québec City, and Halifax.

"Demand for year-round Air Canada flights between Montreal and San Francisco has been strong from business and leisure travelers and we look forward to being able to maintain a year-round schedule with the support of Montreal's business and tourism communities. With the extension of our San Francisco flights on a year-round basis, in addition to our daily Los Angeles service, Air Canada is solidifying its position as the only airline offering non-stop service between Montreal and California, with up to five flights per day," said Marcel Forget, Air Canada's Vice President, Network Planning. "Both our San Francisco and Los Angeles flights have been scheduled to enable easy connections to Air Canada's extensive domestic and international network via Montreal."

"This decision to offer the Montréal-San Francisco service all year long should not only please the Montréal community but also travellers connecting through Montréal-Trudeau between Europe and the U.S. West Coast," said James Cherry, President and Chief Executive Officer of Aéroports de Montréal. "Clearly, we are reaping the benefit of our investments in making Montréal-Trudeau a more efficient hub."

Montreal-San Francisco daily year-round

Montreal-Trudeau Airport (YUL) is an important Air Canada hub serving more than 6.2 million of the airline's customers in 2012. Air Canada, together with regional airlines operating under the Air Canada Express banner, operates more than 100,000 flights per year to/from YUL and 67 destinations: 21 destinations in Canada, 16 in the United States, 23 in the Caribbean and Mexico, and seven European gateways.

Air Canada Air Canada is Canada's largest domestic and international airline serving more than 175 destinations on five continents.  Canada's flag carrier is the 15th largest commercial airline in the world and in 2012 served close to 35 million customers.  Air Canada provides scheduled passenger service directly to 60 Canadian cities, 53 destinations in the United States and 67 cities in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Australia, the Caribbean, Mexico and South America. Air Canada is a founding member of Star Alliance, the world's most comprehensive air transportation network serving 1,328 destinations in 195 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 that ranked Air Canada in a worldwide survey of more than 18 million airline passengers as Best Airline in North America in 2013 for the fourth consecutive year.  For more information, please visit: www.aircanada.com. 

SOURCE: Air Canada