City Councillor Marvin Rotrand welcomed today’s announcement that Air Canada will soon launch direct service from Montreal to Shanghai.
“This is exactly the type of service that City Council envisioned when we mandated the Executive Committee to work with Aeroports de Montreal to obtain more direct flights from Montreal to major business centres and emerging markets worldwide,” said Rotrand whose motion in 2014 launched Council’s reflections.
During its debate, City Council was clear that Air Canada could be a large part of the solution by assuring that Montrealers not be obliged to transfer via Toronto or Vancouver to get from here to international destinations.
Rotrand notes that Air Canada has taken delivery of 21 of the 37 Dreamliners it has ordered. Most of the rest to come are 787-9 series. The addition of these planes that are 20% more fuel efficient than Boeing’s 767 and have a range up to 15,700 km. will give Air Canada greater capacity to add new international destinations from Canadian Airports.
The Councillor notes that in the past year Air Canada has added long range flights from Toronto to Dubai and Toronto to Delhi. Last June Air Canada added a Vancouver to Brisbane route and a Vancouver to Delhi flight launches February 2017. Rotrand says it’s time for Air Canada to improve its service at Montreal Trudeau.
The Councillor indicates that according to Guy Saint-Jacques, Canada’s Ambassador to China, Chinese tourist travel to Canada rose 24% in the first six months of this year. Mr. Saint-Jacques recently stated that now only Americans and British tourists visit Canada more than the Chinese.
The number of Chinese tourists who visited Montreal this year has spiked 200 percent since a direct Air China flight from Beijing was added in September 2015, he added.
Rotrand says the Montreal to Shanghai route will be a winner.
source: Marvin Rotrand
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