Leisure carrier to operate select U.S. routes from Vancouver and Calgary
New Vancouver-Phoenix flights to start next winter
VANCOUVER, March 25, 2014 /CNW Telbec/ - Air Canada today announced that
its leisure carrier subsidiary, Air Canada rougeTM, is expanding to Western Canada to serve a number of predominantly
leisure markets from Vancouver and Calgary to Los Angeles, San
Francisco, Las Vegas and Anchorage. Flights on these routes, currently
operated by Air Canada, will be converted to Air Canada rouge service
beginning this spring, as will flights to San Diego from Toronto.
In addition, the airline announced that it will introduce new seasonal
non-stop service operated by Air Canada rouge between Vancouver and
Phoenix beginning December 17, 2014. Existing service from Calgary and
Toronto to Phoenix will also be converted to Air Canada rouge. Flights
and optional Air Canada Vacations packages are available for purchase
at aircanada.com and through travel agents.
"We are very excited to bring Air Canada rouge to Western Canada and
launch new seasonal service between Vancouver and Phoenix. The
expansion of our leisure carrier to Vancouver and Calgary, in tandem
with Air Canada's mainline fleet renewal, is a key element of our
strategy for sustainable, profitable growth at both airlines," said Ben
Smith, Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer.
"California and the U.S. Southwest are favourite vacation destinations
for our Western Canada customers and Anchorage is an important port of
call offered with Air Canada Vacations cruise packages. Air Canada
rouge is best suited to compete more cost effectively in these markets
where there is both a high leisure travel demand and low-cost
competition.
"We will continue to evaluate future market opportunities as new
aircraft are introduced into the mainline fleet and existing aircraft
are released for operation by Air Canada rouge as market demand
warrants. Since its launch in July 2013, we have successfully deployed
Air Canada rouge to serve Caribbean, European and select sun
destinations in the United States. We look forward to offering
customers in Western Canada a full range of products and services
offered by both airlines, each suited to specific markets on a
route-by-route basis," concluded Mr. Smith.
Air Canada flights on the following routes will be converted to Air
Canada rouge Airbus A319 service beginning this spring:
Vancouver to:
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Las Vegas, NV, daily flights effective April 28.
Los Angeles, CA, four times daily effective May 1.
Anchorage, AK, daily effective May 16.
San Francisco, CA, four times daily effective July 1.
Phoenix, AZ, daily effective December 17.
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Calgary to:
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Las Vegas, NV, daily effective April 28.
Los Angeles, CA, twice daily effective May 1.
Phoenix, AZ, daily effective December 17.
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Toronto to:
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San Diego, CA daily effective March 29.
Phoenix, AZ, daily effective May 4; up to three times daily during the
winter season.
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With the addition of these routes, together with its previously
announced summer 2014 schedule to Europe, the Caribbean and the United
States, Air Canada rouge plans to operate a total of 54 routes,
including new service this summer to Barcelona, Dublin, Lisbon,
Manchester, Nice and Rome.
Air Canada rouge's aircraft feature three customer comfort options:
rougeTM, rouge PlusTM with preferred seating with additional legroom, and Premium rougeTM with additional space and enhanced service on the Boeing 767-300ER and
on select Airbus A319 routes. Air Canada rouge offers a unique brand
of customer service designed to make every flight a memorable start and
end to a wonderful vacation. Aircraft are equipped with player, a next generation in-flight entertainment system that wirelessly
streams entertainment to customers' personal electronic devices.
Flights provide stylish and modern cabin interiors with innovative new
seats, and the ability to earn and redeem Aeroplan miles. For more
information and bookings, visit: http://www.aircanada.com/en/about/rouge.html
Air Canada rouge operates a fleet consisting of Boeing 767-300ER and
Airbus A319 aircraft transferred from Air Canada. By the end of March
2014, Air Canada rouge's fleet will include four Boeing 767-300ER
aircraft and 13 Airbus A319 aircraft, and by December 31, 2014, the
carrier's fleet is planned to consist of eight Boeing 767-300ER
aircraft and 25 Airbus A319 aircraft.
Air Canada's mainline fleet renewal is ongoing with the introduction of
new aircraft. In February 2014, Air Canada took delivery of the last
of five new Boeing 777-300ER aircraft to enter its mainline fleet, and
is scheduled to take delivery of the first three of 37 Boeing 787
aircraft by the summer of 2014. Air Canada is scheduled to take
delivery of a total of six 787 aircraft in 2014 and the remaining 31
between 2015 and 2019.
About Air Canada rouge
From the moment you book your ticket to the moment you're warmly
welcomed onboard, you'll see that Air Canada rouge is a new way to
vacation ahead. Enjoy the upbeat Air Canada rouge spirit, and our
newly designed cabins. You've never flown leisure like this before.
Air Canada rouge is Air Canada's new leisure airline, part of the Air
Canada Leisure Group, along with Air Canada Vacations. Together with
Air Canada Vacations, Air Canada rouge offers competitively-priced
travel to exciting leisure destinations in Europe and the Caribbean,
Mexico and the U.S.: Edinburgh, Venice, Athens, Lisbon, Dublin, Nice,
Barcelona, Rome and Manchester and multiple destinations in Mexico, the
U.S. and the Caribbean such as Cuba, Costa Rica, Jamaica and the
Dominican Republic.
Air Canada rouge began operating July 1, 2013 with a start-up fleet of
two Airbus A319 aircraft and two Boeing 767-300ER aircraft. The fleet
grew to ten aircraft by the end of 2013 with the addition of six Airbus
A319 aircraft and Air Canada rouge plans to add another five Airbus
A319 aircraft and two Boeing 767-300ER aircraft by end of March 2014,
for a total of 17 aircraft.
As a wholly-owned subsidiary, Air Canada rouge is backed by Air Canada's
75-year reputation for safety and reliability and Air Canada Vacations'
30-plus year history of vacation travel excellence. Learn more at www.aircanada.com/rouge or www.facebook.com/aircanadarouge
About Air Canada Vacations
Air Canada Vacations is a leading Canadian tour operator offering a wide
assortment of leisure travel packages, cruises, and flights to
destinations around the world. A repeat recipient of the Consumer's
Choice Award for Best Travel Wholesaler, Air Canada Vacations services
over 100 destinations in the Caribbean, Central & South America, Asia,
Europe, and in the U.S. And now, Air Canada Vacations will feature Air
Canada rouge on several of its top vacation routes. For more
information, visit www.aircanadavacations.com
About Air Canada
Air Canada is Canada's largest domestic and international airline
serving more than 180 destinations on five continents. Canada's flag
carrier is among the 20 largest airlines in the world and in 2013
served more than 35 million customers. Air Canada provides scheduled
passenger service directly to 60 Canadian cities, 49 destinations in
the United States and 72 cities in Europe, the Middle East, Asia,
Australia, the Caribbean, Mexico and South America. Air Canada is a
founding member of Star Alliance, the world's most comprehensive air
transportation network serving 1,328 destinations in 195 countries.
Air Canada is the only international network carrier in North America
to receive a Four-Star ranking according to independent U.K. research
firm Skytrax that ranked Air Canada in a worldwide survey of more than
18 million airline passengers as Best Airline in North America in 2013
for the fourth consecutive year. For more information, please visit: www.aircanada.com.
Caution Regarding Forward-Looking Information
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statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws.
Forward-looking statements, by their nature, are based on assumptions
and are subject to important risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking
statements cannot be relied upon due to, amongst other things, changing
external events and general uncertainties of the business. Actual
results may differ materially from results indicated in forward-looking
statements due to a number of factors, including without limitation,
industry, market, credit and economic conditions, the ability to reduce
operating costs and secure financing, pension issues, energy prices,
employee and labour relations, currency exchange and interest rates,
competition, war, terrorist acts, epidemic diseases, environmental
factors (including weather systems and other natural phenomena and
factors arising from man-made sources), insurance issues and costs,
changes in demand due to the seasonal nature of the business, supply
issues, changes in laws, regulatory developments or proceedings,
pending and future litigation and actions by third parties as well as
the factors identified throughout Air Canada's public disclosure file
available at www.sedar.com. Any forward-looking statements contained in this news release
represent Air Canada's expectations as of date of this news release and
are subject to change after such date. However, Air Canada disclaims
any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking
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otherwise, except as required under applicable securities regulations.
SOURCE Air Canada