Air Canada’s passenger fleet consists of 85 twin-aisle aircraft. According to ch-aviation, it has 32 Boeing 787-8s, 20 Airbus A330-300s, 19 777-300ERs, eight 787-9s, and six 777-200LRs. They account for almost four in ten of its mainline machines.
The Star Alliance member’s highest-capacity equipment is its 450-seat 777-300ERs. It has seven frames with that capacity. Each aircraft has 28 lie-flat business class beds (1-2-1), 24 premium economy seats (2-4-2; 37″ pitch), and 398 economy seats (3-4-3; 31″). Just 6% of the capacity is business. A problem for those not in that class is that they share one bathroom for every 70 seats.
Air Canada’s 450-Seater’s International Network
Credit: Flickr
In the first half of 2026 (January-June), Cirium Diio data shows that Canada’s flag carrier will deploy its seven 450-seaters on 11 international routes. None are quite as exciting as these bizarre 777 routes. A whopping 93% of flights will be from its Montreal hub and 7% from Toronto. The proportion of Montreal departures has risen by ten points compared to the same six months in 2024. When all aircraft are considered, this contributes to Air Canada having more long-haul seats per flight from Montreal than from its other hubs.
Air Canada’s 450-seaters will operate 867 international departures in the examined period, which is up by 2% compared to the same six months in 2025. Curiously, this is despite the average stage length rising by 6% year-over-year.
Unsurprisingly, most of the routes—especially the more heavily served ones—revolve around leisure and visiting friends and relatives’ markets. These tend to have relatively low yields, as they have fewer premium passengers. As such, they require sufficiently large aircraft with suitably low seat-mile costs. Hence, the 450-seater is often used.
January-June Departures On The 450-Seater*
Route
The 450-Seater As A % Of Air Canada’s Flights**
276 (daily in the winter, then two daily in the summer)
Montreal-Paris CDG
94%
143 (four weekly in the winter, then daily)
Montreal-Tokyo Narita
100%
120 (daily through April)
Montreal-Cancun
30%
110 (mainly six weekly through March; returns in June, when it’ll run daily)
Montreal-Brussels
62%
85 (five weekly in April, then daily)
Montreal-Rome Fiumicino
62%
61 (daily from May)
Montreal-Athens
60%
38 (three weekly through March)
Toronto-Tokyo Narita
29%
15 (May 17-31 only)
Toronto-Paris CDG
9%
11 (January 1-12 only)
Montreal-London Heathrow
4%
Six (January 10 and 15-19 only)
Toronto-London Heathrow
1%
Two (February 19 and 21 only)
Montreal-Milan Malpensa
1%
* Known as of January 1, and subject to change. Double for both ways. Dates based on leaving Canada
** 450-seater flights/all Air Canada departures in the first half of the year
The 450-Seater Is Used On Four Domestic Routes
Credit: GCMap
Do not get too excited. Nine in ten domestic flights are on one route: Montreal to Vancouver. It runs daily, except for a twice-daily service on January 1, 3, and 5 to help with the additional traffic surrounding Christmas and New Year’s Day.
In mid-January, AC311 leaves Quebec at 6:20 pm/6:25 pm and arrives in British Columbia at 8:50 pm local time. The operating aircraft remains overnight on the West Coast. AC304 then departs at 9:20 am and arrives back in Montreal at 5:00 pm local time. Air Canada’s upcoming A321XLRs will also operate between Montreal and Vancouver.
Montreal-Toronto only has 15 departures on the 450-seater (January 2, 9, 13, 16, 20, 21, and then Fridays only through March 20). Toronto to Vancouver has six (January 4, then Wednesdays only from January 28 through February 25). Finally, there’s Montreal to Calgary (February 11 only).
Related
Massive Boost: Singapore Airlines Adds The Airbus A380 On This Long-Haul Route
The carrier’s double beds will be available to this ever-popular destination.
Air Canada From Montreal To Paris CDG
Credit: Flickr
For obvious reasons, the francophone market between Montreal and Paris CDG is huge. According to booking data, 610,000 round-trip local passengers traveled in the 12 months to October 2025. It is the most-trafficked Canada-Europe airport pair, although it isn’t first at the city level. Toronto-London is.
Given the nature of the traffic between Montreal and CDG, it is unsurprising that the 450-seat 777-300ER is nearly entirely used by Air Canada. The sole exception in the examined period is the 297-seat A330-300, which has limited flights in January and March.
While subject to change, tThe latest information suggests somewhat different things in November, the first full month of the northern aviation winter based on IATA slot seasons. In November 2025, a ten-weekly operation existed: a daily flight on the 450-seater and three weekly departures on the 297-seat A330-300. In November 2026, a double daily service will operate: daily 450-seat 777-300ER and daily 255-seat 787-8.
