Air Canada to fly to 7 more cities in the United States

Air Canada, the flag-carrier airline of Canada, and its affiliates are starting flights to 7 more cities in the United States from its hub in Toronto, Canada, in the spring of 2010.

Air Canada, based in Montreal, Canada, and the country’s biggest carrier, said it will begin its latest expansion in the flights to the United States by adding daily services between Toronto, Canada, and Santa Ana Airport in Orange County, California, the United States, from April 2, 2010.

From May 17, 2010, Air Canada Jazz will launch twice-daily service to 2 cities in the United States – Memphis (Tennessee) and Cincinnati (Ohio) – and Air Georgian will fly from Toronto to Portland (Maine) and Syracuse (New York).

In statement, Air Canada said it will operate daily services from Toronto to San Diego (California) and Portland (Oregon) from June 17, 2010.

With the addition of these 7 destinations, Air Canada and its affiliates will be offering a total of 142 scheduled flights each day to 51 cities in the United Stats  from its hub in Toronto. Canada’s biggest airport is located in Toronto.

Peter Fitzpatrick, spokesman of Air Canada, said that, for example, people travelling from Portland to Europe will have to make a connection somewhere and that Toronto is a “great place” for a connection since Toronto does not have the kind of congestion which many major in the United States have.

Air Canada, the 13^th biggest commercial airline in the world, flies to several cities in Europe such as Munich, Paris, and Copenhagen as well as to Israel.

According to aviation analysts, Air Canada’s addition of 7 its trans-border flights to the United States to its spring schedule indicates that the air travel industry is slowly recovering from the severe downturn of 2009.

Air Canada, which had a narrow escape from having to file for bankruptcy protection owing to heavy debts in the spring of 2009, had suspended some routes to the United States during the worldwide economic depression of 2009.

WestJet Airlines, the low-cost carrier based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, and the main rival to rival to Air Canada in the domestic sector, had announced a week ago that it is witnessing signs of economic recovery as well as an increase in passenger traffic.

According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), it was in 2009 that the airline industry worldwide experienced its worst drop in passenger demand in its history.

For the full year of 2009, the demand for air travel declined by 3.5%. However, there was an improvement in December 2009, when the demand rising by 4.5 % year on year.

The United States-based airlines recently reported enhancement in the demand for air travel, especially from business travellers.