MONTREAL — Air Canada is boosting its 2017-18 schedule with six new seasonal routes, including five on Air Canada Rouge – Vancouver-Orlando, Toronto-Belize, Toronto-St. Vincent, Montreal-Lima and Montreal-Phoenix – and one on Air Canada (Vancouver-Melbourne). All flights are now open for bookings and all are part of the airline’s strategic expansion of its international network.

So far in 2017 Air Canada has launched new international services between Montreal-Shanghai, with Vancouver-Taipei, Vancouver-Nagoya, Vancouver-Frankfurt, Vancouver-London Gatwick, Toronto-Mumbai, Toronto-Berlin, Toronto-Reykjavik, Montreal-Reykjavik, Montreal-Tel Aviv, Montreal-Algiers and Montreal-Marseille inaugural services to begin in the weeks to come.

“Air Canada is continuing its strategic, global expansion with a diverse range of exciting new non-stop routes this winter to Australia, South America, the Caribbean and the United States,” said Benjamin Smith, President, Passenger Airlines at Air Canada. “Vancouver-Melbourne is our third route to Australia, in addition to year-round service to Sydney and Brisbane. Our seasonal Melbourne service will provide additional options for business travellers between North America and Australia as well as Australians seeking a Canadian winter vacation experience.”

Montreal-Lima is Air Canada’s first South American route from its Montreal hub, and will offer travellers from Quebec and Atlantic Canada convenient access to Peru, complementing existing year-round flights from Toronto, says Smith.

The addition of the first long-haul, international scheduled service to St. Vincent in the Caribbean, along with the addition of Toronto-Belize, Montreal-Phoenix, Vancouver-Orlando “offers new choices for travellers looking to escape Canadian winters,” he adds.

All new routes are timed to optimize connectivity at Air Canada’s Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver hubs to and from the airline’s network across North America and globally.

The Vancouver-Melbourne service is four times weekly and runs Dec. 1, 2017 – Feb. 4, 2018. The Vancouver-Orlando flights run Dec. 20 – April 8, twice weekly. Toronto-Belize City starts Dec. 15 and goes through April 13, with weekly flights. Toronto-St. Vincent is also weekly, from Dec. 14 – April 12. Montreal-Lima starts Dec. 16 and goes until May 27, twice weekly. Montreal-Phoenix will operate Feb. 22 – May 28, three times weekly.