The flag carrier and the largest airline of Canada, Air Canada has announced new flights from Delhi to Montreal beginning October 31, only days after establishing air service to Toronto. The airline will begin weekly thrice non-stop flights between Delhi and Montreal on October 31 and that it will increase its daily non-stop flights from Toronto to Delhi to ten per week beginning on October 15.
Air Canada announced, on October 13, through a statement “starting October 31, just in time for Diwali celebrations, Air Canada will offer three flights per week to the growing Indian community in Montreal. Additionally, the airline is increasing frequency to Delhi from Toronto to ten flights per week beginning October 15”.
Air Canada’s latest announcement comes just days after the country restarted daily direct flights from India after a four-month hiatus due to the Covid-19 outbreak.
According to Air Canada, the thrice-weekly flight will depart Delhi at 01:55 AM and arrive in Montreal at 08:10 PM. A 298-seat Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner will serve with three cabins of service: Air Canada Signature Class, Premium Economy, and Economy.
Giving details about the operations, Mark Galardo, Senior Vice President, Network Planning and Revenue Management at Air Canada, told IANS: “Air Canada is the only carrier offering a direct service to Delhi out of Montreal, allowing for easy connections through our extensive network. We continue to focus on the growing visiting friends and relatives market and this capacity expansion is a response to (an) increasing demand”.
Galardo went on to say that the Canada-India market is “crucial and critical for Air Canada”.
“These additional flights and new route illustrate Air Canada’s excitement about the Indian subcontinent’s promise and growth – and we also look forward to further developing our cultural and business links,” he said.
Air Canada also has daily flights from Vancouver to Delhi, in addition to Toronto and Montreal.
Air Canada is the country’s major domestic and international airline, ranking among the top 20 in the world in 2019. It is the national airline of Canada and a founding member of Star Alliance, the world’s largest air transportation alliance.
When the second Covid wave hit India in April, Canada stopped all direct flights to-and-from India. The reopening date has been pushed back several times. The flight ban was removed after passenger test results from three Air Canada planes that traveled to Canada from New Delhi on September 22 came back negative.
Prior to the restriction from April 2021, the two airlines were running daily direct flights from India to Canada as part of a bilateral air bubble agreement. Passengers using an indirect route from India to Canada must still present a pre-departure negative Covid-19 molecular test result from a third nation before continuing their journey to Canada.
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