Air Canada announces Montreal-Tokyo

Flying to Tokyo just got a whole lot easier for Canadians.

Today, Air Canada announced that a new route from Montreal to Tokyo Narita beginning on June 1, 2018.

Flights will operate year-round, with daily service during summer peak travel and three times a week during the winter, with Air Canada's flagship aircraft, the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.

The new service offered by Air Canada was designed to optimize connectivity to several Canadian and U.S. cities: Quebec City, Ottawa, Halifax, Charlottetown, Boston, Philadelphia and Orlando.

"Air Canada is continuing its global expansion by strategically building its Montreal hub, and we are thrilled to announce the launch of non-stop flights to Tokyo, Montreal's first scheduled link to Japan. The new flights will offer travellers from Atlantic Canada and the Northeastern U.S. convenient access to Japan and beyond, complementing our existing Tokyo flights from Toronto, Vancouver and Calgary, while also strategically positioning Air Canada as a leader in the growing Montreal–Asia market," said Calin Rovinescu, President and Chief Executive Officer, Air Canada.

"This new transpacific service further reflects Air Canada's ongoing international growth strategy from Montreal, following the recent introduction of non-stop flights to Shanghai, Lima, North Africa and Europe. In addition, it enables Montreal to derive significant direct benefits including the creation of close to 130 Air Canada flight attendant, pilot and airport positions."

A huge player in Canadian and North American aviation, Montreal will continue to grow as a direct result of the new flight service to Tokyo.

"We are pleased with this new first for Montrealers," said Philippe Rainville, President and Chief Executive Officer of Aéroports de Montreal. "The addition of Tokyo to our air service, on top of Tel Aviv, Algiers and Shanghai, among others, certainly reinforces Montreal-Trudeau's status as an international hub. This new non-stop flight illustrates once again Air Canada's desire to use Montreal as a strategic platform. This city-pair with Japan also greatly enhances our service for the Montreal community, since Tokyo Narita offers connections to all Japanese cities and to many destinations in Southeast Asia, the Far East and Oceania," he added.

A flight service between Montreal and China already has already been in operation for two years. Recognizing the growing demand of travel to China, this new route to Tokyo will solidify Quebec's presence in the growing market.

In 2017 alone, Air Canada has launched a series of new services from its Montreal hub to: Shanghai (China), Marseille (France), Dallas/Ft. Worth and Washington/Dulles (U.S.), Reykjavik (Iceland), Tel Aviv (Israel) and Algiers (Algeria) with an eighth new route to Lima (Peru) beginning in December 2017.

There are currently 46 non-stop return flights between Canada and Japan per week, making Air Canada the largest carrier of flights between the two countries than any other airline in the country.