Air Canada Cargo Inaugurates Halifax Service

[In The News]

DALLAS – Air Canada (AC) subsidiary, Air Canada Cargo, operated its first dedicated freighter flight into Nova Scotia today. The airline’s Boeing 767-300ER took off from Toronto Pearson Airport (YYZ) and landed at Halifax Stanfield International Airport (YHZ) after a flight of 1 hr 51 min.

The addition of this link will allow AC to connect Halifax to Air Canada Cargo’s global network. To support demand AC is planning to run the service with a six-flight per week schedule. The airline is targeting to service freight exports of excellencies coming from Atlantic Canada. It states that the first flight out of Nova Scotia’s capital will carry fresh lobster, fish, aerospace parts, and pharmaceuticals.

Jason Berry, Vice President, Cargo at Air Canada stated, “We have always enjoyed a long-standing and strong bond with Atlantic Canada and the Nova Scotia community, and we are thrilled to introduce direct freighter capacity to the market. Atlantic Canada’s economy has experienced important growth in the last few years, with increased demand from North America, Europe, and beyond.”

Mr. Berry went on, ” Nova Scotia is a key element of our growth strategy and Halifax being one of our first Canadian markets with the freighters further emphasizes the importance we place on our partnerships in the community. We are pleased to increase our support to the robust and growing trade sector in the region,”

Photo: Halifax Stanfield International Airport

The Voice of Nova Scotia

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Nova Scotia’s Premier, Tim Houston, also stressed the importance of the new service, saying, “Having stronger air links opens the door for more trade and investment in our province. It means we can build on the already strong relationship with our trading partners and create new ones.”

“This is an important step forward for many of our businesses who will benefit from this exciting growth of Air Canada’s freighter network.”

On her part, Joyce Carter, President & CEO, Halifax International Airport Authority, said, “This exciting Air Canada Cargo expansion will increase capacity at Halifax Stanfield, providing Nova Scotia businesses and industries with more opportunities to ship their products efficiently by air.”

“We are thrilled with Air Canada’s continued investment in Halifax and look forward to their future growth to meet the needs of communities across the region.”

Joyce Carter, President and CEO of Halifax International Airport Authority (HIAA). Photo: HIAA

Air Canada Cargo Transatlantic Expansion

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The YYZ-YHZ connection was operated by the second Boeing 767-300ER, which entered service for the AC cargo division. The converted freighter followed its brother aircraft, delivered by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) in December and used by AC to operate cargo flights to Latin America.

With the addition of this aircraft, AC Cargo will start new services targeting the transatlantic market. Starting in May, Air Canada will launch freighter services from its hub in YYZ to Cologne (CGN) and Istanbul (IST) weekly, Frankfurt (FRA) twice weekly, and Madrid (MAD) three times weekly.

It seems that the Canadian flag carrier is content with the cargo performance of its 767-300ERs. It entered the permanent freighter business by sourcing eight 767-300ERs from its passenger fleet and contracting with IAI to convert the aircraft into freighters. The first of the converted freighters joined the airline’s fleet in December. According to the company, three more will come in 2022 Q3 and the final three will be delivered in 2023.

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Featured image: Air Canada Cargo

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