Air Canada is set to launch a new route from London Heathrow to Edmonton in Western Canada on October 31. Services with a two-class (business and economy) 212-seater B767 will operate three times a week (every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday) from October 31 building up to a daily service from April 1, next year.
Flight AC899 will leave Heathrow at 1235 to reach Edmonton the same day at 1430. The return flight to London, AC898, will depart Edmonton at 1835 (2025 on Tuesdays) to arrive in Heathrow the next morning at 1010.
Says Ben Smith, Air Canada's VP for network planning, "We've timed flights to ensure convenient connections at Heathrow with Bmi, SAS and other Star partners such as Lufthansa."
"Edmonton is one of Canada's fastest growing economic regions. We are confident our new service will meet the growing travel needs spurred on by the local booming economy. It will also enable Northern Albertans to travel via London to every major destination in Europe, the Middle East, India and Africa."
Air Canada says the B767s used for this route will be refurbished to feature the carrier's 8.9 inch wide digital in-seat monitors and on demand audio and video. Executive First (Air Canada's business class brand) will feature the latest fully flat beds (see online news January 24).
There are currently only a handful of direct flights between Europe and Edmonton. Zoom and Air Transat operate once weekly from Gatwick and Frankfurt respectively while Holland's Martinair departs twice weekly from Amsterdam.
For more information go to aircanada.com.
Report by Alex McWhirter
