MONTREAL — Last night marked the successful launch of Air Canada’s nonstop, seasonal Montreal service to Tel Aviv, which will operate twice weekly until Oct. 16, 2017.

Flight AC082 departed at 6:00 p.m. from Montreal-Trudeau airport on June 22 onboard a 292-seat airbus A330-300 aircraft featuring three cabins of service, including Air Canada’s International Business Class. Flights are timed for convenient connections with Air Canada’s extensive domestic and transborder network.

“Air Canada is the leader in the Canada-Israel market, which we have served for 22 years. Today we are pleased to launch a new seasonal non-stop service between Montreal and Tel Aviv, which will also offer convenient connections throughout Canada and the U.S. and complement our existing daily year-round flights from Toronto,” said Benjamin Smith, President, Passenger Airlines at Air Canada.

Smith also noted that the new service reflects Air Canada’s ongoing international expansion strategy; since the beginning of the year, the airline has launched new services from Montreal to Shanghai, Marseilles, Reykjavik, Dallas and Washington Dulles, with Algiers scheduled on July 1.

Ron Huldai, Mayor of Tel Aviv, was on site to commemorate the launch. On his city’s mass appeal, he said: “Tel Aviv is a rare city that enjoys two major assets that usually do not exist in the same destination. First, it is a great beach city. With 14 kilometers of beach and 300 days of sun, National Geographic named it ‘One of the Top Ten Beach Cities in the World’. Secondly, it is an extremely vibrant urban center. The New York Times calls us ‘The Capital of Mediterranean Cool’ thanks to 1748 bars and pubs; amazing art; high culture and street culture; and one of the best culinary scenes in the world. We are eager to see many tourists from Quebec enjoying Tel Aviv.”