MONTREAL, May 17, 2012 /CNW Telbec/ - Air Canada re-launches today daily non-stop seasonal flights between St. John's and London Heathrow, U. K. offering convenient connecting flights throughout Europe with its Star Alliance partner carriers. Air Canada will operate the only daily non-stop flights between Newfoundland and Labrador and London Heathrow until September 30, 2012.

"This year, we are starting service almost two weeks earlier than last year due to strong performance and support from the St John's community," said Marcel Forget Vice-President, Network Planning, Air Canada. "Once again we are pleased to offer our customers in Newfoundland and Labrador the fastest and most efficient way of making connections to several European capitals such as Stockholm, Oslo, Copenhagen, Vienna, Warsaw, and Berlin."

Air Canada flight AC822 leaves St. John's at 22:05, arriving in London at 06:35, and flight AC823 will leave London at 13:00 arriving back in St. John's at 15:10.  At London Heathrow Air Canada offers convenient connections to points throughout Europe with its Star Alliance partners. In St. John's Air Canada's flights are timed to offer convenient connections to and from Deer Lake, Halifax, and Toronto.

Flights will operate using a 120-seat Airbus A319 aircraft in a two-cabin configuration offering a choice of Executive Class and Economy service. On May 1, 2012 Air Canada expanded the selection on its In-flight Entertainment System to offer customers twice as many movies to choose from than before. The enriched personalized seatback system will give each customer free access to a menu of up to 150 movies designed to suit every taste, ranging from the latest Hollywood blockbuster to classic art house and international films.

Air Canada's seasonal St. John's-London Heathrow service will complement the carrier's daily non-stop flights to London Heathrow from Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Toronto, Ottawa, Montréal and Halifax.  In 2012 the carrier will offer up to 84 flights each week from Canada to London Heathrow.

Air Canada is proud to serve Newfoundland and Labrador with safe and reliable air transportation since 1942. With the launch of Air Canada's St. John's-London Heathrow service, Air Canada and Air Canada Express offer over 150 scheduled flights each week to 11 destinations across Canada to and from St. John's, including non-stop service to Toronto, Ottawa, Montréal and London Heathrow, as well as same plane service to Calgary, Fort McMurray and Edmonton.

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 2011 served more than 33 million customers. Air Canada provides scheduled passenger service directly to 59 Canadian cities, 56 destinations in the United States and 63 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 1,290 destinations in 189 countries. Air Canada customers can collect Aeroplan miles for future rewards through Canada's leading loyalty program, and Top Tier members enjoy reciprocal frequent flyer benefits including lounge and priority services.

In 2011, Air Canada was ranked Best International Airline in North America in a worldwide survey of more than 18 million airline passengers conducted by independent research firm Skytrax.  Also in 2011, readers of Global Traveler magazine voted Air Canada "Best Airline in North America," and readers of Business Traveler voted Air Canada "Best North American Airline for International Travel" and "Best In-Flight Services in North America."  In the annual Ipsos Reid Business Traveller Survey, Air Canada was named "Canada's Favourite Airline for Business Travel."  Air Canada was preferred by 73 per cent of Canadian business travellers surveyed for 2011, the third consecutive year of improvement in Air Canada's ratings in the national survey. For more information on Air Canada visit aircanada.com and follow @AirCanada on Twitter and Facebook.