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Three rare daytime transatlantic routes link Canada with Europe and Africa

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Three rare daytime transatlantic routes link Canada with Europe and Africa
Policy
Webp airalgerie
Air Algérie | Wikipedia

Daytime eastbound transatlantic flights from Canada are rare, accounting for just 3% of passenger services to destinations in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and other regions. Analysis using Cirium Diio data covering scheduled flights between August and December identified only three such routes: Halifax to London Heathrow, Montréal to Algiers, and Montréal to Casablanca.

These daytime flights typically cover shorter distances with fewer time zone changes and rely on strong point-to-point demand. Passengers may experience less jet lag but could spend more of their day traveling. Such services may also generate lower revenue than overnight flights because there is potentially less demand for lie-flat seats or beds. For North American operators, the aircraft often remains on the ground overnight at the destination airport, which can reduce overall productivity.

Air Canada operates a daytime flight from Halifax to London Heathrow. The airline ranks ninth among non-UK carriers in terms of Heathrow service frequency, with departures from six Canadian airports including Halifax. Air Canada has served this route for many years; initially flights stopped in St John's using Boeing 767-300ERs before becoming nonstop in September 2006. The switch to Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft occurred in April 2018 and continues today.

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The current schedule requires the aircraft to stay overnight at Heathrow before departing again the next day. This results in long ground times—either 15 hours and 40 minutes or up to 20 hours and 40 minutes on certain days—leading to significant parking costs that must be balanced against fare income and slot retention at Heathrow.

Flights from Halifax depart daily at 11:00 local time and arrive in London at 21:00. The return service operates five times weekly, leaving Heathrow at 12:40 and arriving back in Halifax at 15:25. On two additional days per week, departure is later at 17:40 with arrival at 20:25.

For travel between Montréal and Algiers, both Air Canada and Air Algérie operate services; however, only Air Algérie offers daytime eastbound flights during the summer season. Demand is driven mainly by Canadian Algerians visiting friends or relatives during school holidays or similar periods. Booking data shows around 201,000 round-trip passengers traveled this route between May 2024 and May 2025.

Air Algérie adjusts its schedule based on seasonal demand—offering up to ten weekly flights during summer but reducing frequency in winter months. Daytime departures are available only until mid-September on Saturdays using Airbus A330 aircraft; some recent operations have used HiFly Malta's A330-300 (registration 9H-HFI) or A330-200 (9H-HFL), as well as occasional use of Air Algérie’s own A330-200s. In early 2025, Air Algérie placed an order for new A330neo jets.

Montréal-Casablanca service is primarily used by Canadian Moroccans; approximately 184,000 round-trip passengers flew this route over the past year ending May 2025. Both Royal Air Maroc (RAM) and Air Canada operate these flights but only RAM schedules daytime eastbound departures back to Africa.

In addition to serving local traffic between Montréal and Casablanca, RAM connects more than one hundred thousand passengers onward through its Casablanca hub to other Moroccan cities as well as Francophone destinations across Central and Western Africa via connecting services (https://www.ram.com/). During peak summer season RAM operates twice-daily Boeing 787 flights; frequencies decrease during winter months with daytime operations ranging from daily down to twice-weekly depending on demand levels.

RAM’s August schedule lists a midday departure from Montréal at 12:15 arriving in Casablanca just before midnight local time (23:55). The carrier is a full-service airline based out of Casablanca Airport since its founding in 1953 under CEO Abdelhamid Addou; it is part of the oneworld alliance group (https://www.oneworld.com/).

Organizations Included in this History
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