Blog 66: Examining the Air Canada Fleet in 2023/2024
Airbus A330-300 upon takeoff from Calgary- YYC
Hello and welcome back to Brooke In The Air! Today, just days before Christmas and our departure, we are taking a closer look at Air Canada’s fleet in 2023/2024 since we’ll be flying on them very soon.
Air Canada is a stalwart founder of the Star Alliance and its vast fleet reflects this. It's website shows all fleet information as well.
In total, Air Canada’s fleet size is a whopping 353 aircraft including its subsidiary groups. This is tiny compared to US legacy carriers such as United which has nearly a thousand aircraft in service. Air Canada as a core airline operates 168 widebody jets with a mixture of Airbus (A330-300) and Boeing (777-300ER and 787 Dreamliner) aircraft with an additional 114 turboprop, and regional jets flying as Air Canada Express.
Air Canada offers Signature class as well as Premium Economy and basic Economy on all widebody long-haul aircraft. Narrow-body short-haul turboprops and regional jets offer rather less glamorous accommodations.
The Fleet
Note: This list does not include Air Canada Express or their leisure carrier, Air Canada Rouge. Those are covered below.
Cargo
Air Canada Cargo is miniscule in size but has more aircraft on order.
With a fleet of just 7 aircraft, Air Canada operates “Special Freighters” in other words, passenger-to-freighter conversions.
Air Canada Cargo:
2x Boeing 767-300F
5x Boeing 767-30ER-BCSF -Boeing/BEDEK Converted Special Freighter
————————————————————————
Air Canada: Wide-body long-haul aircraft first.
18x Airbus A330-300 (No Longer Produced)
6x Boeing 777-200LR (No Longer Produced)
Boeing 777-300ER on approach to Toronto-Pearson (YYZ)
19 Boeing 777-300ER (No Orders Forthcoming)
8x Boeing 787-8 Dreamliners (No Orders Forthcoming)
30x Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners
Boeing 787-10 Dreamliners - (30 on order, option for 12 aircraft)
————————————————————————————
Short-haul
33x Airbus A220-300 (20 on Order)
5x Airbus A319-100 (2x transferred from AC Rouge, Standing by for Retrofit)
12x Airbus A320-200 (6 on Order)
15x Airbus A321-200 (1 on Order)
Airbus A321XLR (25 on Order, Option for 15)
40x Boeing 737-MAX-8 (Option on 12)
Note: Heart Aerospace is developing the ES-30, a hybrid-electric 30-passenger regional airliner. The ES-30 is planned to have a fully electric range of 108 nautical miles (200 kilometres; 124 miles) or a 215 nmi (398 km; 247 mi) range when also using generators powered by aviation biofuel. A range of 430 nmi (nautical miles, or 800 km; 490 mi) could be possible if only 25 passengers are carried. Heart plans to have a proof-of-concept aircraft in 2024 and start flight tests in 2026, with an entry into service in 2028. Back in September of 2022, Air Canada acquired a CA$5 million equity stake in Heart as part of a purchase agreement for 30 ES-30 aircraft, which are expected to enter service in 2028. As such, Air Canada has an order for 30x ES-30 hybrid aircraft with deliveries starting in 2028.
———————————————————————————————————————————————
Air Canada Rouge
Rouge meaning 'red' in French, is a subsidiary of Air Canada, focused on operating lower-cost flights for leisure travellers. It is fully integrated into the Air Canada mainline and Air Canada Express networks; flights are sold with AC flight numbers but are listed as "operated by Air Canada Rouge" (similar to regional flights operated under the Air Canada Express banner).
18x Airbus A319-100
5x Airbus A320-200
17x Airbus A321-200
None are on order.
——————————————
Air Canada Express
Presently, Jazz Aviation and PAL Airlines - branch regional airline subsidiaries - are the sole operators of Air Canada Express regional flights. They primarily connect smaller cities with Air Canada's domestic hub airports and focus cities, although they offer some point-to-point and international service to the United States.
DeHavilland Dash-8 Q400 turboprop in current Air Canada (Express) livery
45x DeHavilland Dash-8 Q400 turboprop
7x Bombardier (Mitsubishi) CRJ-200
35x Bombardier (Mitsubishi) CRJ-900 (12 on Order)
25x Embraer EMB-175 (12 on Order)
——————————————————
