An unprecedented situation will occur at the Montreal airport this summer as many Qatar Airways planes will be present… to help Air Canada and Royal Air Maroc! But that’s not the only change. Details.
Air Canada is facing challenges in its planning following the Boeing 737Max flight ban extended until 01/08/2019.
So far, the company has been able to control the situation, minimizing the impact on passengers.
But with the summer season upon us – always a busy one – Air Canada and its leisure subsidiary Air Canada Rouge’s fleet of aircraft will not be able to keep up with demand.
Here are the measures taken by Air Canada and that it has just announced to the media:
3 Airbus A320s and 3 Embraer 190s were scheduled to leave the fleet in the coming months. Air Canada has decided to extend their lease to address their capacity issues.
WOW Air went bankrupt a few weeks ago, leaving a whole fleet of aircraft on the ground… which is good for Air Canada!
Thus, we learn thatAir Canada will take over 6 Airbus A321 from WOW Air in order to integrate them into the Air Canada Rouge fleet.
These aircraft are being reconfigured and equipped with Wi-Fi, and will be repainted in the Air Canada Rouge livery.
For some services, Air Canada has decided to temporarily suspend them or to modify the aircraft or even to subcontract the route:
People who will travel on the Montreal-Barcelona route should be happy to see a Qatar Airways aircraft instead of the uncomfortable Air Canada Rouge B767s(see this report by Audrey between Montreal and Marseille).
The Montreal-Casablanca route is particularly busy during the summer season.
Until now, the service was operated with a Boeing 747 of Royal Air Maroc. However, the company has withdrawn this type of aircraft from its fleet with the progressive entry of B787-8 and B787-9 in it.
The Montreal-Casablanca flight is frequently operated by a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner and was to be operated by a B787-9.
Routesonline tells us that between June 21 and September 14, 2019, many weekly flights will be operated by a Qatar Airways aircraft instead of Royal Air Maroc.
Here is what the Montreal-Casablanca service will look like:
This will be an unprecedented situation at Montreal airport, as there will be up to 4 Qatar Airways aircraft on the tarmac (which also operates a Montreal-Doha flight with the new QSuites business class!) Discover our Qsuite reviews on board the A350 and the B777-300ER.
Sources: Air Canada and Routesonline
Savings are here:
