New aircraft to drive international expansion starting with Delhi, Dubai this fall

TORONTO, July 31, 2015 /CNW/ - Air Canada announced today it has taken delivery of its first Boeing 787-9, a larger version of the Dreamliner 787-8 already in its fleet that has proven extremely popular with customers with its new international product standard. The Dreamliner is the world's most modern commercial aircraft and the larger 787-9 version's greater range and capacity will enable Air Canada to further expand its international network.

"Air Canada is very excited to take delivery of its first Boeing 787-9. This new aircraft's larger capacity and greater range will accelerate our international expansion strategy and allow us to offer customers more non-stop services to new international destinations. Already, we have announced two new 787-9 routes to Delhi and Dubai from Toronto beginning this fall and as more of these aircraft enter the fleet we will expand our international network even further," said Benjamin Smith, President, Passenger Airlines at Air Canada.

The aircraft is due to arrive at Toronto Pearson this evening and the first designated routes for the Boeing 787-9 are non-stop services from Toronto to Delhi beginning November 1, 2015 and to Dubai beginning November 3, 2015. In the interim, customers will have the opportunity to preview the new aircraft on select flights between Toronto and Vancouver during August and between Toronto and the cities of Munich and Milan during September and October. Future deployments of the 787-9 Dreamliner will be announced as new aircraft enter service.

Air Canada took delivery of its first Dreamliner in May 2014 and will receive a total of 29 new 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft by 2019, in addition to eight 787-8 aircraft already in operation. All Dreamliners will feature Air Canada's redesigned interiors in a three-cabin configuration, including International Business with fully lie-flat seats, Premium Economy and Economy. Air Canada's next generation seatback in-flight entertainment system will be available throughout. The Boeing 787-9 will seat 298 passengers and have a range of 15,372 kilometres, compared with the Boeing 787-8, which is configured to carry 251 passengers with a range of 14,500 kilometres. For more information about the Dreamliner please visit: https://787.aircanada.com/en/

About Air Canada

Air Canada is Canada's largest domestic and international airline serving more than 190 destinations on five continents. Canada's flag carrier is among the 20 largest airlines in the world and in 2014 served more than 38 million customers. Air Canada provides scheduled passenger service directly to 64 Canadian cities, 52 destinations in the United States and 78 cities in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Australia, the Caribbean, Mexico, Central America and South America. Air Canada is a founding member of Star Alliance, the world's most comprehensive air transportation network serving 1,321 airports in 193 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.  For more information, please visit: www.aircanada.com follow @AirCanada on Twitter and join Air Canada on Facebook.

SOURCE Air Canada

Image with caption: "Departure of Air Canada’s first Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner from Toronto to Vancouver celebrated by a water canon salute today at Toronto Pearson International Airport. (CNW Group/Air Canada)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20150731_C8358_PHOTO_EN_470880.jpg

Image with caption: "Delivery of first Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner to its fleet (CNW Group/Air Canada)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20150731_C8358_PHOTO_EN_470861.jpg