Air Canada’s direct Calgary-Maui, Calgary-Honolulu flights soon

Air Canada has announced direct, seasonal flights between Hawaii in the United States and Calgary in Canada from December 2009. In a statement, Air Canada, the flag carrier of Canada and the country’s biggest airline, said it will start service between Kahului in Maui (Hawaii) and Calgary on December 5, 2009, and between Honolulu (Hawaii) and Calgary on December 6, 2009.

Both services are to be operated with Boeing 767-300ER planes that offer executive-class and economy-class seats.

Air Canada said one-way fares will start as low as $281 between Maui and Calgary, and $254 between Honolulu and Calgary – excluding taxes and including other fees.

The carrier said in the statement that it expects to offer three flights a week between Calgary and Maui, and two flights a week between Calgary and Honolulu.

The Maui flights will run on Saturdays, Mondays and Fridays, and the Honolulu flights will be on Sundays and Thursdays.

The airline said that, with this new service, passengers can save up to two and a half hours of flying time in each direction when compared with the alternative routes.

The proposed Hawaii-Calgary services, Air Canada added, would complement the airline’s 15 flights a week during the peak winter season being operated between Hawaii and Vancouver.

Marcel Forget, Air Canada’s vice-president of network planning, said in the statement that the airline expected the new service to be especially popular with those Albertans who are “looking to escape the winter and enjoy the tropical Hawaiian Islands.”

The proposed Hawaii-Calgary flights, Marcel Forget added, also have been timed as to get convenient connections to and from Edmonton and other points in Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Toronto as well as points across eastern Canada.