Air Canada will commence seasonal flights between Montreal and Dubrovnik next year, giving the Croatian coastal city its first nonstop link with Canada in more than four decades. The Canadian flag carrier will introduce flights on May 11 and maintain operations three times per week, on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, with the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner aircraft. Further flight details can be found here. The 787-8 seats 255 passengers, comprising 20 in Signature Class, 21 in Premium Economy and 214 in Economy. Signature Class is arranged 1-2-1 with fully lie-flat seats, Premium Economy 2-3-2 and Economy 3-3-3.
The service to Dubrovnik marks Air Canada’s return to Croatia with its own aircraft after an absence of several years. The carrier first began serving Zagreb in 1989 and discontinued flights in 1991. Its leisure subsidiary, Air Canada Rouge, restored seasonal operations between Toronto and Zagreb in June 2018, initially with four weekly Boeing 767-300ER flights, marking the return of the Air Canada brand to the Croatian market after 27 years. The service was maintained in 2019 but was suspended in 2020 as a result of the coronavirus pandemic and the subsequent retirement of Rouge’s wide-body fleet. Air Canada itself planned to take over the route in 2022 with three weekly Airbus A330-300 flights but withdrew the flights from sale before the route's launch.
Croatia already has a seasonal nonstop link with Canada through Air Transat, which operates between Toronto and Zagreb. Dubrovnik has previously sought a nonstop Canadian service. In 2018, the airport held talks with Air Transat over the introduction of seasonal Toronto flights for the following summer. JAT Yugoslav Airlines operated between Dubrovnik and Toronto during the summer of 1983. JAT was then expanding its Canadian operations, which also included services to Toronto from Belgrade, Zagreb, Ljubljana, as well as charters from Ohrid, at various points during the 1980s. The new service to Canada will further strengthen Dubrovnik Airport’s long-haul network, complementing United Airlines’ seasonal flights from Newark.
Wow, first Zagreb with Air China, then Ljubljana with United, now this? ExYu airports are on a roll this year
ReplyDeleteWell Croatia and Slovenia
DeleteWell this year:
DeleteBEG-YYZ by Air Serbia
PEK-OTP-ZAG by Air China
2027:
EWR-LJU by United
DBV by Air Canada
Hmm someone forgot SPU-EWR.
DeleteYes, sorry forgot about that one. A good year for long haul in the region
DeleteIf Air Canada indeed comes to DBV, then well done! Quite an achievement.
Delete^ it has :) refresh the news
DeleteAgain no ZAG? Good for DBV, but the city is already overcrowded during summer months.
ReplyDeleteAirlines follow the money mate
Deletewhy would the go head to head with Air Transat? That makes no sense..
DeleteThey will likely fly Montreal
DeleteAir Transat also filed flights to SPU for a brief moment when the pandemic hit.
DeleteThis makes much more sense than Zagreb for Air Canada. Dubrovnik has huge North American tourism demand and passengers are willing to pay higher fares during the summer.
DeleteEverything but Zagreb.
DeleteWhat is ZAG management doing?
DeleteZagreb really needs to step up its game. Dubrovnik now has United and Air Canada while ZAG's North American connectivity remains very limited.
Delete^ Zagreb and Dubrovnik are completely different markets. Dubrovnik has huge premium leisure demand from North America. Zagreb relies much more on VFR traffic.
DeleteCan the A321XLR make it from Toronto to Dubrovnik?
ReplyDeleteNo 787-8/9
DeleteIf it's from Montreal I think it will be with A321xlr? Or is it not possible either?
DeleteNo, A321 XLR can not make this long flight full of pax both ways without a refueling stop, especially on the Croatia to north America sector. 🤷♂️
DeleteOk, thanks. So I guess either B787 or A330
DeleteYes, that's a given. 777 is too big I think for the route.
DeleteAir Canada is transferring some A330s over to Rouge next year so it will be interesting to see if its an A330 wheather it will be Rouge and Air Canada mainline.
DeleteAir Transat mentioned they can use the A321XLR on the Toronto-Split route, not sure about Air Canada's configuration doe
DeleteTS A321XLRs have 199 seats. Zero chance of making this without a refueling stop in Ireland.
DeleteThe flights will be from Montreal.
ReplyDeleteNo they will all be from Toronto
DeleteAC950 from Toronto to Dubrovnik
DeleteBeautiful
Delete@11 59 and 12.05, obviously you were wrong
DeleteJasmineee!!! Dobro jutro! Sa'ima? Jel'se ispila kahva? Idjel'se šta na godišnji? Sad je u septembru najljepše. Kako idju Minken i Vrankvurt za pare hrvatske sirotinje? Jel'te bar malo sram kad ovo pročitaš? Znam da nije, znam....
ReplyDeleteHilarious
DeleteHe is angry because of OU's historically shite leadership which is fair enough. He applauds connectivity and travel passionately.
DeleteDalmatia is amazing and foreign airlines will keep flying there bringing millions of tourists and billions of Euro's to the country's economy. 🎉
DeleteBtj što si naporan. Pa ne mora svaka ruta koja dolazi biti logična ili uopće moguća za OU, taman da se vratimo i na prije, debelo prije postojećeg direktora. Ne branim ga niti branim OU, ali naporno je za SVE što se desi od drugih kompanija za Hrvatsku čitati ovaj napor. Shvati da ekspanzija neke kompanije na tržište gdje postoji OU nije nužno nikakav propust ili fail OU po defaultu. Naporno je jbt...
Delete😂😂
DeleteJe, naročito je naporno čitat u Buzinu ono što pišem. "Ne branim direktora ni OU" - hau jes nou, hahahahaha.
DeleteGood news for DBV
ReplyDeleteBravo Hrvatska!
ReplyDeleteExciting news. 2027 will be great year for ex-Yu long-haul development.
ReplyDelete😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍
ReplyDeleteAir Transat probably won't be too happy about this. They have had the Canadian market to Croatia largely to themselves for years.
ReplyDeleteAir Transat serves Zagreb while Air Canada serving Dubrovnik would actually complement the market quite nicely.
DeleteNo need for Zagreb versus Dubrovnik arguments. Croatia can support both markets. Air Transat already flies Toronto–Zagreb and Air Canada can take Dubrovnik.
Delete👏👏👏🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩
ReplyDeleteAmazing to think JAT already flew Dubrovnik–Toronto in 1983.
ReplyDeleteeven more for Ohrid
DeleteIndeed
DeleteWhat long haul route did Ohrid have?
DeleteRead the text
DeleteThey must have had a stop over from Ohrid to YYZ, because the runway is too short for a fully lowded heavy to depart.
DeleteJU 560 flew BEG-OHR-LJU-YYZ
DeleteIn that era when such round about routings could work.
DeleteDubrovnik will have two North American Star Alliance carriers with United and Air Canada. That is quite an achievement for an airport of its size.
ReplyDelete+1000
DeleteDBV is one of the booming destinations for north Americans.
DeleteIt's within Star Alliance, same family as OU and honestly better a direct flight than having to transfer via FRA or MUC.
Good move for Star Alliance and Croatia.
When can we expect for them to announce the flights?
ReplyDeleteAround 3/4 PM European time.
DeleteGreat! Can't wait
DeleteRefresh
DeleteBravo Hrvatska!
ReplyDeleteWill they announce it already haha
ReplyDeleteAC's A321XLR has almost 30 seats more than AA's, so AC picked baby Dreamliner for the job. Interesting to see Montreal ahead of Toronto as the choice for DBV
ReplyDeleteSeeing this announcement makes me wonder how Ljubljana managed to convince United to fly 4x weekly with - 400 to Ljubljana.
ReplyDeleteWhen Dubrovnik starts with 3x weekly flights
In any way - absolutely amazing for Dubrovnik
In H1 there were more Americans in Slovenia than Canadians in Croaita. So it makes sense.
DeleteAnd they launch just a day aoart.
DeleteSize of US market can't be compared to Canada.
DeleteHow are the flights selling so far ?
DeleteThe first flight is around 25 % full and a lot of the subsequent flights in May and June already have some seats filled (judging by the availability of the seats in a seat map on their website)
DeleteIn reality we will see how the flights are selling in around December, first flights loads aren't indicator, but from what I see online the buzz is there, so confidence in the route is high. Next year flights should sell well, whilst 2028 will be the real test
DeleteIt's 3pw from Montreal, with 788.
ReplyDeleteIt is literally in the article.
DeleteSchedule is also linked
DeleteWell done Dubrovnik. Congratulations
ReplyDeleteLove it. Another wide body to Croatia.
ReplyDeleteAnd second Dreamliner operator
DeleteAfter TUI
DeleteThe 787-8 is an excellent aircraft for this route. Not too large and with a proper business-class product that should appeal to cruise passengers and higher-spending tourists.
DeleteUntil when will the flights operate
ReplyDeleteEnd of October
DeleteGreat. Thanks
DeleteThis will work nicely. And not too many seats per aircraft
ReplyDelete20 lie flat business seats will do very well on this route. Dubrovnik attracts exactly the type of North American traveller willing to pay for premium cabins.
DeleteWell a 255 seat Dreamliner three times weekly means more than 1,500 return seats per week. Quite a substantial addition for DBV. That's not a little
DeleteThis could hurt Transat in ZAG
ReplyDeleteNot really. Transat sells full package holidays to Croatian coast.
DeleteAir Transat had years to launch this route
DeleteWhy would it hurt Transat when they fly from Toronto? This is from Montreal.
DeleteWhy not Toronto?
ReplyDeleteBecause Transat flies to Zagreb. This way they don't cannibalise each other.
Delete@16:18 That makes no sense. Air Canada and Air Transat are competitors. They competed head-on on Toronto Zagreb route before pandemic.
DeleteMontreal makes sense because Air Canada can feed the flight from across Canada and the US, while also tapping into Quebec's strong European leisure demand.
DeleteI think Air Transat will be watching this very closely. If AC succeeds from Montreal, Toronto-Dubrovnik seems like an obvious opportunity.
DeleteI could see Toronto-Split working eventually.
DeleteFantastic news for Dubrovnik. Montreal is a great addition and a 787 three times per week is serious capacity.
ReplyDeleteGreat for Canadians travelling to Croatia. Connecting through Frankfurt, Munich or London has become a nightmare.
DeleteConnecting through London isnt that bad if timings are good.
DeleteGreat to see Air Canada back in Croatia with its own metal after all these years.
ReplyDeleteNext target should surely be Chicago.
ReplyDeleteChicago would probably have more diaspora dema
DeleteThe diaspora thing is overblown. This is cold hard tourism.
DeleteCalled?
DeleteI prefer hot soft tourism. Not cold hard.🙂
DeleteHot soft is a nice concept. Lots of money spent by a few.
Delete