Saturday 11 December marked the return of Air Canada in Lyon, after an absence of exactly 634 days. This absence was obviously due to the Covid pandemic. An Airbus A330-300 landed at exactly 8.14am at Lyon Saint–Exupéry due to a flight of 6 hours and 21 minutes.
This return was eagerly awaited at Lyon airport. The Air Canada flight remains the only permanent route to North America.
The Canadian national carrier is resuming services to Lyon with three to four flights per week. Air Canada plans to increase weekly frequencies to five from May 3. The aircraft assigned to the route is an Airbus A330.–300. It is in a sorting configuration–classes with 297 seats spread over the class SignatureEconomy class Privilege and class Economical.
Air Canada says that in Montreal Lyon passengers have connections to 51 cities in Canada as well as to more than twenty cities in the United States and Mexico.
Toulouse still in the firing line
Outside the context of the health crisis, Air Canada serves seven French cities Paris-CDG, Bordeaux, Fort–from–France, Lyon, Marseille, Nice and Pointe–à–Pitre. However, many routes are only operated on a seasonal basis. The carrier operates up to 40 flights weekly to its three hubs in Montréal-Trudeau, Toronto and Vancouver.
The company still specifies that it is preparing the launch of a year-round flight between Toulouse and Montréal. The launch was initially scheduled for 5 June 2020. However, no date has yet been set for this opening.
