January 27, 2006

Air Canada to Fly Sydney LA Toronto

From next year, 2007, Air Canada will run flights from Sydney, Australia, to Los Angeles in the US, and Toronto in Canada.

Air Canada plans a daily service on the route with its new fleet of long-range Boeing 777s. And their Australian general manager, Jeannie Foster, says "We believe it's time to get in there and compete."

This announcement comes two days after the Australian Federal Tourism Minister, Fran Bailey, met Air Canada officials and opened a Tourism Australia office in Toronto.

The number of Canadians visiting Australia is growing at seven percent annually, and recently reached 100,000 a year.

Air Canada also sees "attractive opportunities" to work with its Star Alliance partners Air New Zealand, United Airlines and US Airways.

The new Air Canada flights should cut the flight time from Sydney to Toronto from 25 to 21 hours. At the moment, it flies a daily service between Sydney to Vancouver via Honolulu.

Singapore Airlines has been trying to get access to the lucrative route for ten years, but so far without success.