• New mainline service between Montreal and Lyon will be only year-round flight between North America and France's second largest metropolitan area
• New Air Canada rouge route to London-Gatwick complements and builds on the success of Air Canada flights to London Heathrow, Air Canada's largest international gateway

MONTREAL, June 25, 2015 /CNW Telbec/ - Air Canada today further expanded its extensive global network with the announcement of new non-stop services to Lyon, France and London's Gatwick airport beginning in summer 2016. The two new routes will provide customers even more convenient options when travelling to Europe for business or leisure.

"Pursuing our ongoing strategy to expand internationally, Air Canada is pleased to offer customers non-stop, year-round service between Montreal and Lyon, heart of the second largest metropolitan area in France. Air Canada continues to serve Paris Charles de Gaulle and this new Air Canada mainline route will further increase convenience for customers travelling to France as well as provide the only year-round service between North America and Lyon. It also complements our Air Canada rouge Nice-Côte d'Azur service," said Benjamin Smith, President, Passenger Airlines, at Air Canada.

"Our new seasonal Air Canada rouge service between Toronto and London's Gatwick airport will complement our extensive operation at London Heathrow, our largest gateway outside Canada with non-stop service from eight Canadian cities. Air Canada rouge is ideally-suited to serve London-Gatwick, with its focus on leisure travel and provide easy access to southern London. This new service will also make us the only Canadian carrier serving multiple airports in the London region and complements our Air Canada rouge service to Manchester and Edinburgh. Both new routes offer customers convenient connection times with our extensive domestic, U.S. transborder and international network."

James Cherry, President and Chief Executive Officer of Aéroports de Montréal said: "This new scheduled service between Montreal and Lyon, France's second-largest urban area, is excellent news that further supports Montreal–Trudeau's positioning as a hub between North America and Europe, particularly French-speaking Europe."

Howard Eng, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Greater Toronto Airports Authority said: "As Canada's largest gateway hub airport, we welcome Air Canada's announcement of a new rouge service from Toronto Pearson to London's Gatwick airport starting next summer. This new service will offer our passengers even more choice and convenience when it comes to planning their travel schedule – and that's an important part of how we're working to put our passengers first."

Tickets for both routes will be available for purchase starting July 2, 2015 and service between Montreal and Lyon will begin June 16, 2016 and operate up to five-times weekly with an Airbus A330-300 aircraft with 37 International Business Class lie-flat suites and 228 Economy class seats. Air Canada rouge's summer seasonal service between Toronto and London-Gatwick will begin May 19, 2016 and operate up to seven-times weekly with a Boeing 767-300ER aircraft with 24 Premium rouge seats and 256 rouge seats. All flights are timed to optimize connectivity through Air Canada's Montreal and Toronto hubs respectively.

Air Canada Montreal-Lyon

Air Canada rouge Toronto-London-Gatwick

About Air Canada

Air Canada is Canada's largest domestic and international airline serving more than 190 destinations on five continents.  Canada's flag carrier is among the 20 largest airlines in the world and in 2014 served more than 38 million customers.  Air Canada provides scheduled passenger service directly to 64 Canadian cities, 52 destinations in the United States and 78 cities in Europe, the Middle East, 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 1,321 airports in 193 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. For more information, please visit: www.aircanada.com, follow @AirCanada on Twitter and join Air Canada on Facebook.

About Air Canada rouge

Air Canada rouge is Air Canada's leisure airline. Together with Air Canada Vacations, Air Canada rouge offers competitively-priced travel to 48 exciting leisure destinations on 66 routes in Europe, Mexico, the U.S., the Caribbean, Asia, South America and Canada. Air Canada rouge began operating July 1, 2013 with a start-up fleet of two Airbus A319 aircraft and two Boeing 767-300ER aircraft. Air Canada rouge currently operates a total of 33 aircraft including 20 Airbus A319 and 13 Boeing 767-300ER aircraft. As a wholly-owned subsidiary, Air Canada rouge is backed by Air Canada's 77-year reputation for safety and reliability and Air Canada Vacations' 30-plus year history of vacation travel excellence. For more information, visit www.flyrouge.com or to book a flight visit www.aircanada.com Visit Air Canada rouge on Facebook at www.facebook.com/aircanadarouge

SOURCE Air Canada