Air Canada drops Montreal-Edinburgh seasonal flights for summer; maintains Toronto-Edinburgh route

The Montreal-Edinburgh service followed other recent European additions from Air Canada and Montreal, including new routes to Naples and Porto this summer. The Naples route uses a Boeing 787 Dreamliner due to its longer distance, while Porto is served by the same type of aircraft as Edinburgh—the Boeing 737 MAX 8—with four weekly flights starting in early June.

The Toronto-Edinburgh connection will remain available next summer, beginning with three weekly flights in spring before moving to daily service at peak season. An Air Canada spokesperson told Simple Flying: "Air Canada constantly evaluates its routes and performance. It is too early at this time to comment on the possible return of this route."

The Boeing 737 MAX 8 has a range of about 3,550 nautical miles (6,570 kilometers), allowing it to handle transatlantic flights such as those between Montreal and Edinburgh or Porto. Compared to its predecessor, the MAX 8 offers approximately 500 more nautical miles of range than the Boeing 737-800. Since introducing its first MAX 8 in late 2017, Air Canada has expanded its fleet to include a total of 47 of these aircraft.

Narrowbody aircraft like the Boeing 737 MAX are increasingly used on transatlantic routes as their range improves. Airbus recently introduced the A321XLR model, capable of flying up to eleven hours nonstop, which may lead airlines to offer even longer narrowbody transatlantic services in coming years.

Currently, Air Canada operates around fifty transatlantic routes mainly from hubs in Montreal and Toronto. This summer saw new or resumed destinations such as Naples, Porto, and Prague added to its network. For longer European connections like Montreal-Naples—over nine hours’ flying time—the airline deploys widebody aircraft such as the Boeing 787 Dreamliner instead of narrowbodies like the MAX.

In addition to Dreamliners, Air Canada's transatlantic operations use Airbus A330-300s and Boeing 777s—two of its oldest widebody types still active in passenger service alongside two returning Boeing 767s that are about thirty-five years old.

Founded in 1937, Air Canada is a full-service carrier with major hubs at Montréal–Trudeau International Airport, Toronto Pearson International Airport, and Vancouver International Airport.