Today it has been announced that Air Canada will be operating two transatlantic routes to Ireland using narrow-body B737 aircraft.
The routes in question are Shannon-Toronto and Dublin-Montreal and Air Canada will be deploying B737 MAX 8 aircraft and both will operate four times a week.
But what sets Air Canada apart from its rivals already operating B737 MAX transatlantic flights is that it will adopt a two-class (business and economy) configuration.
It means both these services will have more appeal to business people than do Norwegians dense all-economy B737 MAX flights now operating transatlantic service from the UK and Ireland.
These Air Canada routes above are seasonal service which will operate in summer 2018. The exact start and end dates have yet to be announced.
Says Benjamin Smith, president passenger airline at Air Canada, “With the right aircraft for the right market, Air Canada appears to have the luck of the Irish and we want to share it with our customers.”
What Benjamin Smith is referring to is something which Business Traveller has previously reported on numerous occasions and recently in Narrow Margins, March 2017.
The new breed of narrow-body aircraft like the B737 MAX and A321LR neo are set to change the face of long-haul flying
Routes that were previously uneconomic to operate can now be served profitably with benefits for both airlines and travellers alike.
- In the coming years Aer Lingus will join its rivals in operating transatlantic service with narrow-body A321LRs. These have a longer range (almost 1,000 nautical miles further) than do the B737 MAX8 aircraft but their construction has yet to start at Airbus’ Toulouse plant. Aer Lingus to lease seven A321 neo LR aircraft
