Newfoundland has always** had transatlantic service.....think Gander International and prior to that....Pan Am and BOAC at Botwood (the old Pan Am terminal still stands)

http://www.skytalkonline.com/2013/09...-culture-meld/

Even little Deer Lake NL pop 5,000 had transatlantic service in the late 2000s on Britain's Monarch and Astraeus Airlines. They also served St. John's.

Newfoundlanders are probably of the same opinion as those in YHZ.....why backhaul me west to go east then have me overfly where I started several hours earlier. There must be enough business or the airlines wouldn't be providing it.

**For a couple of winters in the late 2000s....YYT passengers backhauled to YHZ to connect to LHR. This winter....that usual non-stop YHZ-LHR '767 will set-down in YYT on the way across.

YHZ had three direct chartered boeing 747 this January (stopped in Anchorage for fuel) that landed Zhengzhou (CGO) in central China.
Source:https://halifaxstanfield.ca/2017/01/...service-china/
Source: http://thechronicleherald.ca/busines...essed-to-china

Guangdong province (Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport (CAN)) would be the preferred location for a new direct service.
Source: http://atlantic.ctvnews.ca/china-s-a...alks-1.3667387


Air Canada's Enroute magazine may have leaked some big news for YHZ this summer. ;)

Looks like we will most likely see AC 737 Max non-stop YHZ-FRA
https://s8.postimg.org/lp1yfn8ud/yhz_fra.png
Source:http://enroute.aircanada.com/en/maga...ew-restaurants

Came back two days ago from a last minute trip to CUN. Used CATSA Plus for the first time out of YUL. Didn't notice a difference in time vs the old system. People need to get familiar with how it works for the efficiency levels to progress.

We landed at the new T4 in CUN. Pretty nice. Our plane was the only one there on arrival (as it was the 3rd day of operation), so we had the entire T4 customs to ourselves. Air Transat is now based there, as well as Southwest, Air France, Lufthansa, Condor and some Interjet and Aeromexico flights. There are some others as well. Check-in for our flight back to YUL was a breeze. Even though the terminal was much busier on our way out, TS had no less than 25 check-in agents at our service, so even though the flights to YUL (A332), YYZ (A332) and YQB (B738) were departing at the same time, it took us a mere 5 mins to check-in. Once we cleared security, a lot of shops and restaurants were on offer. Overall, a nice and modern facility.

On my return to YUL, tried out the new PIK (Primary Inspection Kiosk) at customs. They have about 50-60 of them installed. These new kiosks accept a wider range of foreign passports vs the old ones. Also, there is no need to fill out a customs form beforehand. Everything is done at the kiosk. Pretty smooth overall. Now they need to remove the rest of the old kiosks, as that space is being wasted. We arrived at 7pm (peak time), and a lot of passengers were held above the stairway since the lines were full downstairs in the main arrival hall. Once cleared, there was a huge lineup to exit baggage claim. I estimated at least 400-500 people waiting in line. We were lucky in that our baggage carrousel was the first one near the exit, so we were able to cut in front of 400 people waiting in line to exit. So from touchdown to sidewalk, took us only 40 minutes (with a bit of cheating, as explained). Not bad for YUL.

They need to do something about the baggage claim exit area though. That place jams solid during peak arrival times. 6 lanes is not enough.

Or it could simply be an error. That being said, YHZ-FRA on the Max 8 does make sense for AC.

On a side-note, I hate that retro route map ! Not everything that was done in the 60s and 70s needs to come back !

^I agree the new route map is hard to read. I think the only error in the route map may have been showing the new Frankfurt flight before announcing it but we shall see. Should be interesting to see how it affects Condor's non-stop 767 flight from YHZ to FRA.

Here is a YHZ route map showing non-stop flight including seasonal service:
http://i.imgur.com/4neFqD9.png
http://www.flightconnections.com/

That map is missing a few European destinations

I see the summer flights on ASL Airlines missing. Dublin appears to be on the map but the onward route to Paris is not.

http://www.aslairlines.fr/en/flights...lin-and-paris/

YUL-TLV going back to A333 next summer. Puzzling, as that route is pushing the range of the aircraft.

Almost all A333 routes now based at YUL (where the only pilot base for the type is). The exception is YYZ-DUB.

Some other route changes as well.

https://www.routesonline.com/news/38...as-of-13nov17/

Should have close to 1000 miles to spare actually

YYC-FRA returning to a 77L again was expected.
Curious to see if YYC-LHR gets upped to a 77W again or if it will remain a 789.

YYC-NRT is the one I'm hoping they'll still have some 787s left for, especially considering they've added YYZ back into the route too. But not looking very likely at this point.

You are quoting the range of the latest variant of the A333, the ones with 242 tonnes of MTOW (Max takeoff weight).

AC's A333s are 17 years old and have a MTOW of 230 tonnes, a far cry from the latest 242t frames delivered out of Toulouse today. The 242t frame has a centre fuel tank that increases the range significantly. None of the previous MTOW options on the A333 had a centre fuel tank, only the wing tanks, including AC's birds.

Trust me, AC most likely blocks seats on the westbound leg out of TLV.

Btw, since we are on the subject, TS has a 22 year old A333 that has a MTOW of 215 tonnes. That plane is basically restricted to western Europe only, as anything east of France/Belgium is a no go, due to lack of range.) It can barely make YVR-LGW. Just goes to show how much the A333 has evolved over the years.

https://www.flightglobal.com/news/ar...pacity-379583/

Actually i got that info right from ACs website. Quoted range is just over 6500 miles. Not sure how accurate that info is but even the earliest 212 ton variant had a range over 5000 miles. Seating config obviously has an effect on that number as well. The 230 ton variant which AC has had a range around 5400nm.

5400 nm (still air, great circle route) sounds about right, but that is still tight for TLV-YUL (4764 nm) when you account for the headwinds and ATC routes that will add miles to the flight.

5400 nm is about 11.5 hr flying time for the A333. (470 kts, M.82)

AC83 TLV-YUL blocks exactly 11h45 min, gate to gate. That's tight.

Plus the flight leaves TLV around 1 pm, where temperatures can be extremely hot in the summer, hindering aircraft performance on departure. It's not the ideal aircraft for the route, and some seats are definitely left open.

That being said, if AC is utilizing the frame on the route, it's because they feel they can make it work. Even if some seats are blocked, there is still money to be made on the route.

.

I have been told that 30 economy seats have been blocked from sale. Now keep in mind that these are not physical seats being blocked, rather the computer system is just not able to sell above a certain number of tickets.

I think AC problem is that there isnt enough 789s out of YUL to swap with TLV. In order to put the 789 onto YUL-TLV, AC would have to swap AC864 and one other flight as TLV requires 2 aircraft while Western Europe requires 1. Everything out of YUL to Europe that can handle the 333 has all ready been converted to 333 with the exception of AC864

Not really big exciting news, however Tunisair is adding a 4th weekly flight to YUL next summer. I guess the route is working out well. How long until AC rouge takes a piece.

http://www.deplacementspros.com/Tuni...l?TOKEN_RETURN

I think they are maxed out on the Rouge 767s. The 25th one is joining the fleet for next summer, and it will be needed to launch YUL/YYZ-OTP, YUL-LIS/LIM, YYZ-OPO/ZAG. No room left for TUN. Unless they switch some routes to mainline, like they did with YUL-CMN and YYZ-DUB.

On a side note, TS is increaseing YUL-TLV to 3x weekly for next summer. They seem to be pleased with the demand on the route. So far, AC is staying put with 2x weekly.

True they are out of 767s, I'd love to see Athens go mainline. If I remember correctly a few years ago AC had mentioned that Tunis was on the map of destinations that they wanted to serve.

I'm sure AC is yearning to increase TLV however the lack of aircraft is holding them back.

TS is also increasing YUL-AGP next summer to 3 weekly with an extra flight on Saturdays.

While on the topic of TS, they have also added a 3rd weekly MAD, 3rd weekly NTE, 3rd weekly BOD, and 4th weekly TLS from YUL.

Agreed! I would love to see the trip data for the westbound leg.