Air Canada to carry all eight teams, 150 players for two-week tournament

MONTREAL, Sept. 16, 2016 /CNW Telbec/ - Air Canada is proud to play its part bringing Canadians the best in hockey as the Official Airline of the World Cup of Hockey. Air Canada will fly all eight teams and 150 players to Toronto for the two-week tournament featuring the top players in the world.

"Hockey is Canada's game and, as Canada's flag carrier and a leading global airline, Air Canada is ideally-suited to serve as the Official Airline of the World Cup of Hockey. Air Canada Jetz, our all-Premium charter already carries Canada's seven top professional National Hockey League teams and our selection as the preferred airline of World Cup of Hockey testifies to the superior service provided by Air Canada and Air Canada Jetz. Our employees are extremely motivated to be part of this celebration of hockey at its best," said Benjamin Smith, President, Passenger Airlines, at Air Canada.

Eight teams made up of the world's top 150 players will play in the tournament - Team Canada, Team Czech Republic, Team Finland, Team Russia, Team Sweden, Team USA, Team Europe and Team North America. The two-week tournament will progress from the preliminary round to the semifinals and ultimately the final, with all tournament games played at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto.

To mark its role as the Official Airline of the World Cup of Hockey, Air Canada will be promoting this partnership through social media, broadcast and in-game activities, featuring Team Canada stars Drew Doughty, Brad Marchand and Joe Thornton.

Prior to the official start of the tournament on Saturday, Sept. 17, Air Canada operated flights in Europe with an Airbus A330 in support of pre-tournament games played in Prague, Helsinki, Gottenburg, and St. Petersburg, Russia.  Upon returning to the North America, Air Canada Jetz will fly all eight participating teams to Toronto. Jetz is Air Canada's in-house charter carrier, which uses Airbus A319 aircraft outfitted with 58 Premium seats to offer extra legroom and a private jet-like experience.

For high-resolution photos of Air Canada Jetz aircraft and information on Jetz service features please see http://www.aircanada.com/en/about/media/facts/photos_jetz.html

About Air Canada

Air Canada is Canada's largest domestic and international airline serving more than 200 airports on six continents.  Canada's flag carrier is among the 20 largest airlines in the world and in 2015 served more than 41 million customers.  Air Canada provides scheduled passenger service directly to 64 airports in Canada, 55 in the United States and 87 in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, 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 1,330 airports in 192 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 - Products & Services