Air Canada and United Airlines say they will offer industry-leading capacity and new routes between Canada and the U.S. for summer 2023 - including a new UA-operated flight between Washington-Dulles and Calgary and a new AC-operated flight between Washington-Dulles and Vancouver.
The carriers say they have collaboratively optimized their schedules and added more flights to provide customers greater connectivity and more flexible flight times, with over 80 transborder codeshare routes and more than 260 daily flights.
Mark Galardo, Air Canada (Mark Galardo, Air Canada)
"Through our longstanding partnership with United Airlines, Air Canada has been able to offer customers ever-increasing and significant benefits. This summer, customers will have even greater choice and convenience with our joint summer schedule made possible by our airlines' new enhanced transborder agreement," said Mark Galardo, AC's SVP Network Planning and Revenue Management.
"Together we will offer more than 260 daily departures to the U.S, and new non-stop flights from Vancouver and Calgary to Washington-Dulles. Our coordinated schedules will provide business travellers with the convenience of hourly service and the additional comfort of a business cabin on all flights between Toronto and New York and Chicago, as well as Vancouver and San Francisco."
United Airlines plane. (photo via United Airlines Media)
"We're proud of our continued work with Air Canada to provide customers with even greater transborder connectivity, including adding more flights and new direct service to Calgary and Vancouver from Washington Dulles," said Patrick Quayle, Senior Vice President of Global Network Planning and Alliances at United Airlines.
New Non-stop Flights Between Vancouver, Calgary and Washington
New, non-stop service between Vancouver and Washington-Dulles will begin June 1 and will be operated with an Air Canada Boeing 737 Max 8. United will also introduce a new, non-stop flight between Calgary and Washington-Dulles on June 2 on an Airbus 319.
Flight | Departs |
Arrives | Frequency |
AC 1036 |
Vancouver 8:15 | Washington 16:16 | Mon, Wed, Thu, Fri, Sun |
AC 1037 | Washington 17:10 | Vancouver 20:01 | Mon, Wed, Thu, Fri, Sun |
UA 2221 | Calgary 13:30 | Washington 19:54 | Daily |
UA 1125 | Washington 9:00 | Calgary 11:59 | Daily |
Transborder Schedule
The 260 daily transborder departures in summer 2023 represent about a 20% increase in schedule capacity compared to summer 2022. The schedule will include up to 120 daily departures between the airlines' hub markets, an increase from 101 in summer 2021. Flights will be timed to offer optimized connections at both Air Canada and United's hubs and line stations.
Shuttle-Style Schedule
The coordinated schedule will enable both carriers to offer shuttle-style hourly service throughout the day between key Air Canada and United hubs. The airlines will offer 29 daily flights with complementary timings between Toronto and New York/Newark and Chicago, and 11 daily flights between Vancouver and San Francisco.
Enhanced Western Canada Network to the U.S.
The airlines' summer schedule also provides increased transborder service between the U.S. and Western Canada. There will be nine daily flights between Vancouver and New York/Newark, Houston and Chicago, and seven flights daily between Los Angeles and Vancouver. A second daily flight will be added between Calgary and both Chicago and Houston, and a second daily flight will also be added from Edmonton to Denver.
Customer Experience
Air Canada and United will offer business class seats on every flight between their respective hubs. All eligible customers will be able to enjoy Air Canada's Maple Leaf Lounges and United's lounges, as well as the benefits of the carriers' Aeroplan and MileagePlus® loyalty programs.
In 2019, the U.S.-Canada transborder market was the second largest international passenger air transportation market in the world and the largest international market for both Canada and the U.S., as measured by seats.
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