Air Canada has announced a significant change to its flight plans, opting not to use its Boeing 737 MAX for the new Montreal-Porto route, which is scheduled to start on June 4. Initially, the airline planned to operate this 169-seat aircraft for the long-haul flight, but now, the route will instead be serviced by the larger 285-seat Airbus A330-300.
While the switch from the MAX to the A330 means a reduction in frequency from four to three weekly flights, passengers will still have more than a quarter of additional weekly seats available. The decision reflects Air Canada’s strategy to adjust its fleet utilization for better capacity management.
The airline’s lower-cost unit, Rouge, previously operated flights to Porto from Toronto in 2018 and 2019, but this is the first time the Montreal-Porto route is being introduced. It remains unclear what adjustments are being made to free up the Airbus A330 for this new route, or where the Boeing 737 MAX will be deployed instead.
This change marks a shift in Air Canada’s approach to long-haul flight routes, with the airline opting for the larger A330 to offer more capacity and accommodate increasing demand for travel to Portugal.
