Article from BTNews 9 JANUARY 2017
Air Canada looks ahead
A “significant increase” in global footprint in 2016 with the launch of 28 new routes has been reported by Air Canada as the company prepares to celebrate its 80th anniversary in 2017.
In a review of the past year’s highlights, president and CEO Calin Rovinescu said it had been a “highly satisfying” 12 months on many fronts, with the tally of new routes including 15 new international and 12 US trans-border services.
With the launch of new service to Morocco, Air Canada had also joined the elite club of global carriers serving all six continents, he added, while producing record financial results during each of the first three quarters on which it had so far reported.
Other achievements highlighted by Rovinescu included creating 1,500 new high-quality jobs in Canada between the carrier’s mainline, rouge and Express services, with the company now employing about 30,000 people and serving some 45m passengers on the expanded network.
Major investment in the fleet and product included taking delivery of nine new Boeing 787 Dreamliners in 2016 with nine more planned for 2017, reconfiguring the B777 fleet with the Dreamliner cabin configuration and inflight entertainment systems and completing a milestone order for up to 75 Bombardier C Series.
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