On June 26, Air Canada took off from Montreal to Edinburgh. Until then, the route had never been served, so it is particularly good to see its commencement. It contributes to the Scottish capital surpassing one million North American seats for sale this year. For Air Canada, it has become its new longest Boeing 737 MAX 8 service to date.

Until earlier this year, the Canadian flag carrier had intended to fly the 169-seat 737 MAX 8 between Montreal and Porto. Had it done so, it would have been its joint-longest service aboard the narrowbody equipment. However, flights (which began in early June), switched to the 285-seat Airbus A330-300. To compensate for the additional capacity, frequencies were reduced from four to three weekly.

Air Canada’s 10 Longest 737 MAX Flights: July & August

It is not just Montreal to Edinburgh flights that are new to the top 10 list. On June 3, Canada’s largest operator took off from Vancouver to Tampa. It was the first time the market, which covers 2,257 nautical miles (4,180 km) each way, had been served. Eleven days later, WestJet followed.

With two weekly departures, the low frequency suggests that Air Canada (a Star Alliance member) will primarily target the local market (37,000 passengers last year). However, connections are available elsewhere, including to Tokyo (26,000 passengers) and Seoul (12,000).

The order is based on block time, which is measured as chocks-off-to-chocks-on. It includes taxi time at both airports, flight time, and a period for short delays. It reflects slot possession at slot-controlled airports. Airlines need to have sufficient ‘padding’ to ensure great punctuality, but not too much to ensure competitiveness, usability, and high aircraft productivity.

Montreal To Edinburgh Is Air Canada’s Longest 737 MAX Flight Ever (So Far)

According to ch-aviation, Air Canada has 47 MAX 8s, all of which will be removed from its mainline fleet to join Rouge’s fleet. They average 5.6 years. The first example was delivered in October 2017 and began carrying fare-paying passengers two months later. Since then, and accounting for the MAX’s grounding, no other flight aboard the type has exceeded the maximum block time of 7h 20m.

Others have come close. At up to 7h 16m, Air Canada used the type from Calgary to Honolulu in 2021/2022. At a high of 7h 15m, the carrier operated Toronto-Shannon on the MAX in 2018. At up to 7h 12m, the Star member used the machine from Kahului to Calgary for several years, with this maximum block time available in 2022/2023.

A Look At Halifax To London Heathrow

Air Canada has served the market for many years. The 767-300ER was deployed until April 3, 2018. The carrier still has eight 767s: six are in a cargo configuration, and two frames in a passenger layout are stored in Hamilton. On April 4, 2018, the MAX 8 appeared and was used until March 2019. The route returned in April 2022, also aboard that narrowbody.

It stands out as it is Air Canada’s sole daytime service to Europe. In July and August, AC868 leaves Halifax at 11:00 and gets to Europe’s busiest airport at 21:00 local time. The aircraft remains overnight in the UK, sometimes for 20+ hours. This must reflect the airline’s lack of slots. As parking charges will be expensive, let alone the lack of aircraft use, it’ll be very costly. Its dominance between London and Halifax, which will help with higher yields, will help to offset this.

Daily except Wednesdays and Saturdays, AC869 departs from Heathrow at 12:05 and returns to Halifax at 14:55 local time. However, on Wednesdays and Saturdays, they leave at 17:40 and get to Canada at 20:25. In all instances, the aircraft begins/ends in Toronto. It’s similar to WestJet on its Europe-bound 737 MAX services.

Source: Simple Flying