New Route of the Day – Americas (1 August 2023): Air Canada between Toronto YYZ and Brussels
Air Canada introduced seasonal flights between Toronto YYZ and Brussels on Tuesday 1 August. The 6,060-kilometre service will be maintained 5-weekly, on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays out of Canada’s largest city, with operations to increase to daily during S24. The Star Alliance member airline will deploy its 255-seat 787-8 on the route. It faces no competition. The new route builds on Air Canada’s existing non-stop year-round flights between Montreal and Brussels.
Flight AC834 departs Toronto YYZ at 18:30 local time, arriving in Brussels at 07:45 local time the following morning. The return service, operating as flight AC835, takes off from the Belgian capital at 10:15 local time on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays, touching down back in Canada at 12:20 local time.
What they said
Mark Galardo, Senior Vice President for Network Planning and Revenue Management at Air Canada, said: “We continue to pursue our disciplined approach of expanding our global network in response to anticipated demand. Toronto - Brussels will complement our current services from Montreal, while further expanding Air Canada’s reach to Europe and beyond through our Star Alliance partner Brussels Airlines, which offers easy connections throughout Europe and Africa.”
Steven De Bisschop, Regional Manager for Belgium at Air Canada, noted: “We are excited to inaugurate our new non-stop service between Brussels and Toronto. Our customers in Belgium will benefit from direct access to one of North America’s most vibrant cities, Toronto, and the wider Ontario region, as well as even greater travel choice, with up to 12 weekly non–stop flights connecting Brussels to Canada. Customers can also take advantage of Air Canada’s extensive route network from its Toronto and Montreal hubs, enabling convenient onward connections to destinations across the Americas.”
Arnaud Feist, CEO of Brussels Airport, added: “Thanks to Air Canada, we are delighted to have Toronto once again as a direct connection to and from Brussels Airport. This new destination is an important addition to our long–haul network and will be operated by the new generation aircraft Boeing 787. This new service complements Air Canada’s daily flights between Brussels and Montreal.
Air Canada rebuilds European network
Air Canada originally planned to launch operations between Toronto YYZ and Brussels in the summer of 2020, however, those were scrapped as a result of the pandemic. This year, the carrier has been building up and restoring its European network. During the second week of August, the airline will operate of a total of 304 departing flights from Canada to Europe offering just under 100,000 seats each way. It has the most capacity available between Toronto YYZ and London LHR, followed by services between Montreal and Paris CDG and between Toronto YYZ and Frankfurt.
Compared to the same period during the pre-pandemic 2019, Air Canada has 40 fewer Europe-bound flights, with capacity down around 6,000 seats each way. This is because the airline’s lower cost brand Air Canada Rouge has not restored most of its European flights following the pandemic due to the retirement of its widebody 767 fleet.
