First Air Canada flight to Africa affirms city's strategic role in the airline's international growth

MONTREAL, June 4, 2016 /CNW Telbec/ - The arrival of flight AC1936 at Casablanca's Mohammed V International Airport this morning marks the successful launch of non-stop service between Montreal and Casablanca, Air Canada's first African route and the only scheduled non-stop service to North Africa by a North American carrier. Flights between Montreal and the famed Moroccan city will be operated until October 29th, 2016 by Air Canada Rouge with a Boeing 767-300ER aircraft. Service is scheduled to resume on May 1, 2017.

"The launch of Air Canada's first route to Africa is a significant new addition to our international network. Our new service will be appealing for tourists traveling to Casablanca and beyond, the large Moroccan community based in Montreal as well as business travellers due to the historically close ties between Quebec and Morocco. Customers will now enjoy convenient service on the only non-stop flight by a North American carrier to North Africa, with convenient connections throughout Canada and the U.S. on Air Canada's extensive network. For these reasons, we aim to eventually convert this seasonal route to a year-round service," said Benjamin Smith, President, Passenger Airlines at Air Canada. "By making us one of the few carriers in the world to fly to six continents, our new Casablanca service also represents an important element in our ongoing international expansion strategy."

Air Canada Vacations offers vacation packages to Casablanca which include a variety of hotels ranging from three to five stars, as well as car rentals, tours and excursions. 

The new service will be operated by Air Canada Rouge, Air Canada's leisure carrier, with a 282-seat Boeing 767-300ER, featuring a choice of three customer comfort options available: Economy; Preferred seating offering additional legroom; and Premium Rouge with additional personal space and enhanced service. All flights provide for Aeroplan accumulation and redemption and, for eligible customers, priority check-in, Maple Leaf Lounge access, priority boarding and other benefits.

*From June 7th to July 9th, arrival and departure times from Casablanca will be 1 hour earlier, as Morocco reverses DST during Ramadan

**Sunday operations from Montreal and Monday operations from Casablanca are available as of June 26th

Since 2009, Air Canada has increased its system-wide international capacity, measured by seats, by approximately 50 per cent. This summer on June 16, Air Canada will inaugurate new international services from Montreal to Lyon. Air Canada will also launch new international services between Toronto-London-Gatwick, Toronto-Prague, Toronto-Budapest, Toronto-Glasgow, Toronto-Warsaw, Toronto-Seoul, Vancouver-Brisbane and Vancouver-Dublin.

Last year, Air Canada launched new international services between Toronto-Delhi, Toronto-Amsterdam, Toronto-Dubai, Montreal-Venice, Montreal-Mexico City and Vancouver-Osaka.

Air Canada also announced new seasonal Air Canada Rouge service from Toronto to London-Gatwick, Prague, Budapest, Glasgow and Warsaw, Montreal-Casablanca and Vancouver-Dublin. For information on other new Air Canada services please see http://aircanada.mediaroom.com/

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 2015 served more than 41 million customers. Air Canada provides scheduled passenger service directly to 64 airports in Canada, 55 in the United States and 87 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 1,321 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 70 exciting leisure destinations on 99 routes in Europe, Mexico, the U.S., the Caribbean, Asia, South America, Africa and Canada. As a wholly-owned subsidiary, Air Canada Rouge is backed by Air Canada's reputation for safety and reliability and Air Canada Vacations' history of vacation travel excellence. For more information, visit www.flyrouge.com or to book a flight visit www.aircanada.com.

SOURCE Air Canada