Air Canada (AC, Montréal Trudeau) expects to take delivery of its first A220-300 by the end of the year ahead of the type's commercial debut in 2020.
The carrier said in a statement it will deploy its A220s on flights from its Montréal Trudeau and Toronto Pearson hubs to Canadian cities such as Ottawa International, Winnipeg International, Calgary, and Edmonton International as well as New York La Guardia in the United States.
The first scheduled A220 services will launch on May 4, 2020 with daily return flights from Montreal to Seattle Tacoma International and Toronto to San José, US.
"With these two new non-stop routes, Air Canada is deepening its transborder network. This includes strengthening our position in the Seattle market by providing yet another key link for business and leisure travellers with service from Montreal, complementing our existing non-stop service there from Toronto and Vancouver. And with our new Toronto-San Jose route, we are increasing our presence in the Bay Area, adding to our many flights into San Francisco in addition to our existing service to San Jose from Vancouver. Customers from Canada now have another gateway to the Bay Area and Silicon Valley," Mark Galardo, Vice President of Network Planning at Air Canada, said.
Air Canada has forty-five A220-300s on order from Airbus Canada. As of June 30, 2019, it expects one to deliver in 2019 followed by 14 more in 2020. They will feature 137 seats in a two-class configuration; 12 in premium and 125 in economy.
Air Canada signed a firm order with Bombardier Aerospace in June 2016 for forty-five CS300s/A220-300s with options for thirty additional aircraft. The order included substitution rights for the CS100/A220-100 in certain circumstances. The first 25 aircraft on delivery will replace Air Canada's existing mainline fleet of E190s, with incremental aircraft supporting the carrier's hub and network growth.
