Air Canada’s plan for its upcoming Airbus A321XLRs continues to evolve. You’d not expect otherwise. According to the airline’s latest schedule update to Cirium Diio, it’ll now fly the XLR domestically, from Montreal to Calgary and Vancouver. While Calgary service was previously known, Vancouver wasn’t.
It comes as the Star Alliance member recently withdrew the XLR from nearly all of its Montreal to Palma de Mallorca flights, with the Boeing 787-8 to be deployed instead. The switch is seemingly at least partly because of the very high temperatures in the Spanish airport in the summer, along with the nearly noon departure time. As such, flights back to Canada would probably have required a payload restriction.
Air Canada’s XLRs From Montreal To Calgary
It is common for operators of long-range narrowbodies to use them on ‘shorter’ sectors, partly to help increase utilization. In this sense, Air Canada is no exception. Aer Lingus, Iberia, and Wizz Air, all of which also fly the XLR, deploy the variant within Europe. Meanwhile, American will initially use its frames between New York JFK and Los Angeles.
At 1,628 nautical miles (3,015 km) each way, Montreal to Calgary is considerably longer than Aer Lingus, Iberia, and Wizz Air’s shorter legs on the variant. Nonetheless, it will be very much Air Canada’s shortest XLR-operated link. The latest information shows it’ll cover 37% less distance than the airline’s average planned route on the variant.
Air Canada’s schedule update shows it’ll use the 182-seat XLR from Quebec to Alberta between May 1 and 15, and then from June 15 to September 7. Running daily, it’ll replace the 169-seat 737 MAX 8. It will be Air Canada’s second most-served XLR route between May and September, surpassed only by Montreal to Toulouse.
The XLR Will Now Also Be Used From Montreal To Vancouver
This city pair will see the XLR between August 1 and September 7, during which time it’ll operate daily. It’ll be on a new service for the peak summer. Next August, Air Canada plans seven daily departures from Montreal to Vancouver, up from the average of six planned last week (+17%).
Cirium shows that Air Canada last had that many flights in 2018. However, the higher frequency is influenced by the falling number of seats per departure. While 263 were available in August 2025, 240 are planned next August—a drop of 9%.
The decrease is for various reasons. For example, the 137-seat A220-300 will become the market’s most-used equipment. Meanwhile, widebodies—the A330-300, 777-300ER, and 787-9—will now only account for 43% of services, down nine points in a year. Despite this, twin-aisle aircraft will be used on three of the city pair’s seven daily flights. It’ll even fly the 450-seat 777-300ER.
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XLR: Montreal To Vancouver; Local Times* |
XLR: Vancouver To Montreal; Local Times** |
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6:35 pm-9:06 pm |
10:25 pm-6:15 am+1 |
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* Shown in Simple Flying’s new time format |
** Shown in Simple Flying’s new time format |
Aer Lingus Adds New 8-Hour Airbus A321 Route To The US
The US city will have three European routes for the first time since 2019.
Air Canada Plans 7 European XLR Routes (For Now)
When writing on December 15, and subject to change, the carrier plans seven European routes on the 182-seater, all from Montreal. On May 15, the variant will be deployed to Dublin and Toulouse, followed by Edinburgh and Porto on June 2, Palma de Mallorca on June 17 (the variant will only be used until June 29), Berlin on July 2, and Nantes on July 31. It had planned Halifax-London Heathrow XLR flights from September, but these have been pulled.
Let’s focus on August. When all aircraft are combined, Air Canada plans an average of 53 daily departures from Canada to Europe, up by 7% year-over-year. The A330-300 will be the most-deployed equipment, followed by the 777-300ER, 787-9, 787-8, A321XLR, 737 MAX 8, and 777-200LR. Like them or not, narrowbody flights have doubled in proportion, accounting for 13% of the total.
