Air Canada launches YUL-LIM, YVR-YZF services

Air Canada inaugurated a pair of new flights this past weekend, including the launch of Montreal Lima on Sunday (Dec. 17) and Vancouver-Yellowknife on Saturday (Dec. 16).

The arrival of flight AC1942 at Lima's Jorge Chávez International Airport yesterday marked the successful launch Air Canada's non-stop service between Montreal and Lima, Peru, Montreal's first year-round link to the southern hemisphere. The twice-weekly flights will be operated by Air Canada Rouge with 282-seat Boeing 767-300ER aircraft featuring Premium Rouge and Economy class service.

"Air Canada is continuing its global expansion with the launch of Montreal-Lima the first South American route from our Montreal hub that will offer business and leisure travelers as well as freight forwarders from Quebec and Atlantic Canada convenient access to Peru. This new route will complement our existing flights from Toronto, and strategically position Air Canada as an important player in the growing market between Montreal and Latin America.

South America will be the third new continent Air Canada serves from Montreal in two years, after Africa (Casablanca and Algiers) and Asia (Shanghai)," said Benjamin Smith, president, passenger airlines at Air Canada. "This concludes an exceptional year of growth out of Montreal-Trudeau with the introduction of eight new destinations. Our global expansion will continue next year as we have already announced service to eight new destinations including Tokyo-Narita (Japan), Dublin (Ireland), Lisbon (Portugal) and Bucharest (Romania). Over the past five years Air Canada has increased capacity from Montreal by 83% and added 29 new destinations."

In addition to Montreal-Lima, Air Canada's inaugural flight, AC8834 from Yellowknife to Vancouver departed Saturday morning, marking the only non-stop service linking Canada's Northwest Territories and Vancouver. The route's daily seasonal service operates until April, and next year's seasonal service from Vancouver will begin Sept. 5, 2018.

"We are pleased to now link Yellowknife to our Vancouver trans-Pacific hub, connecting seamlessly to and from our Asia and US transborder networks to offer time savings and ease for both international visitors travelling to enjoy our country's spectacular Aurora Borealis and Canada's northern winter adventures, as well as for local residents. Our seasonal route will begin in early fall next year to meet the growing demand for travel to Canada's Northwest Territories from Asia," said Smith.

Air Canada's Yellowknife-Vancouver non-stop services are offered onboard 76-seat Bombardier CRJ-705 jet aircraft featuring a choice of Business Class or Economy service operated by Jazz Aviation LP under the Air Canada Express banner.