TORONTO, June 17 /CNW Telbec/ - Air Canada today continued to fortify its Toronto hub and strengthen its position as the leading transborder carrier with the launch of the only daily, non-stop flights to San Diego, CA and to Portland, OR. Both flights offer a choice of Executive or Economy class service, and feature the carrier's personal in-flight entertainment system available at every seat. The non-stop flights from San Diego to Toronto, and from Portland to Toronto will launch tomorrow morning, June 18.

"The launch of Air Canada's newest flights to these popular U.S. cities further solidifies our strategy of growing our largest hub at Toronto where our operations are centralized in a single terminal, offering an extremely convenient gateway to and from the U.S. and making it a global transfer point for domestic, transborder and international travellers," said Ben Smith, Executive Vice President & Chief Commercial Officer. "With up to 230 daily flights to 58 U.S. airports, Air Canada is the leading transborder carrier between Canada and the U.S. and the Number One foreign carrier flying to the United States - offering the most flights per day to more destinations in the U.S. than any other international airline."

With the introduction of today's non-stop flights, Air Canada has now launched new daily service between Toronto and seven American cities this spring including to and from: Orange County (Santa Ana) and San Diego, California; Portland, Oregon; Memphis, Tennessee; Cincinnati, Ohio; Portland, Maine; and Syracuse, New York. Flights are non-stop and conveniently timed for connections with flights on Air Canada's extensive domestic and international network. Customers can earn and redeem Aeroplan miles on each route.

Air Canada has added four new international destinations from Toronto with the launch this summer of flights to Athens and Barcelona, same-plane year-round service to Brussels via Montreal, and beginning next week, year-round non-stop flights to Copenhagen.

"We're very pleased to see Air Canada once again enhancing service and expanding its Toronto hub," said Pamela Griffith-Jones, Chief Marketing and Commercial Development Officer for the GTAA. "We are focused on working together with our airline customers to grow and expand choice for passengers travelling through Toronto Pearson."

Air Canada's newest U.S. transborder flight details are:

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    Flight       Depart            Arrive            Aircraft
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    AC779        Toronto           San Diego         120 seat Airbus A319
                 at 5:25 p.m.      at 7:25 p.m.
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    AC780        San Diego         Toronto           120 seat Airbus A319
                 at 7:25 a.m.      at 3:07 p.m.
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    AC533        Toronto           Portland          93 seat Embraer 190
                 at 5:30 p.m.      at 7:38 p.m.
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    AC532        Portland          Toronto           93 seat Embraer 190
                 at 8:00 a.m.      at 3:16 p.m.
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------

With the launch of these routes, Air Canada offers up to 141 scheduled flights each day to 53 U.S. destinations from its hub in Toronto. In total, this summer Air Canada will operate up to 230 flights per day from six points in Canada and 58 destinations in the U.S. In addition, this summer Air Canada will also serve 30 domestic and 45 international destinations from Toronto.

Air Canada was named Best Airline North America in a worldwide survey of more than 17 million air travelers conducted by independent research firm Skytrax for their 2010 World Airline Awards.

In 2009, Air Canada won four top honours in Business Traveler magazine's "Best in Business Travel" annual reader survey: "Best Flight Attendants in North America," "Best In-flight Services in North America," "Best North America Airline for Business Class Service," and "Best North American Airline for International Travel." In 2009 as well, the readers of Global Travel magazine voted Air Canada "Best Airline in Canada" and "Best Airline in North America."

Air Canada is Canada's largest domestic and international full-service airline providing scheduled and charter air transportation for passengers and cargo to more than 170 destinations on five continents. Canada's flag carrier is the 15th largest commercial airline in the world and serves 31 million customers annually. Air Canada provides scheduled passenger service directly to 59 destinations in Canada, 58 in the United States and 60 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 1,167 destinations in 181 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.