Air Canada to maintain year-round Barcelona-Toronto route, with at least 3 direct flights per week

Barcelona (ACN).- Air Canada announced on Thursday that it will be linking Barcelona El Prat and Toronto Pearson airports all year round, expanding its activities in the winter season. The Canadian airline currently offers only seasonal flights connecting the two cities on a daily basis, only available in summer. As from 1 November 2015, it will also offer 3 non-stop flights per week in each direction - on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays - served by a Boeing 767 aircraft.  The flights connecting Barcelona to Montreal will remain seasonal (only during the summer) for the time being. Santi Vila, Catalan Minister for Planning and Sustainability, has hailed Air Canada's announcement as "excellent news", which will foster the competitiveness of Barcelona El Prat Airport, increasing its intercontinental services, which will be added to a vast network of short- and medium-distance flights.    

"The Catalan Government is working in order for Barcelona to be competitive on short-haul flights. At the same time, efforts are being made with regard to long-haul non-stop flights as well, with the aim of converting El Prat Airport into an international airline hub," Vila stated. Therefore, Air Canada's announcement is "excellent news" for the Catalan Minister, confirming the growth maintained by Barcelona's main airport in recent years.

Barcelona El Prat Airport currently connects 32 intercontinental destinations around the world, for a total of more than 3 million passengers. The Catalan airport's strength is however short-and medium-distance flights, offering one of the widest networks of these flights in Europe. In 2014, 37.5 million passengers travelled through its facilities and it recorded an 11% increase in intercontinental flights over the previous year's figures. The 5 top intercontinental destinations by passenger traffic are: New York (with 379,000 travellers), Tel Aviv (378,000), Dubai (321,000), Doha (233,000) and Casablanca (163,000).

Recently, Sonia Corrochano, Director of El Prat Airport, announced that efforts are being made in order to launch new flights connecting the Catalan capital with Asia. In a similar vein, Vueling has opened new routes to Cape Verde, making Barcelona a new airline hub between Europe and Africa. In the first two months of this year, the airport also registered a 4.3% growth in passenger traffic compared to the same months last year.

Barcelona El Prat is currently the second busiest airport in Spain in terms of passenger numbers, only just behind Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas Airport. Last July, it broke a new record by surpassing 4 million passengers in one month for the first time ever. In the last few years, the Catalan airport has consistently been gaining passengers, particularly attracted by Barcelona's tourist and business activities as well as by the increase of intercontinental flights and transfer services.