Air Canada will add new routes from Toronto to Oslo, Shannon and Nice in summer 2027, with its incoming Airbus A321XLR fleet taking on a growing role in the airline’s transatlantic network, including a new daily daytime flight to London Heathrow.
The carrier will begin four weekly flights between Toronto and Oslo on June 2 and three weekly services to Shannon on June 10. Both routes will use the A321XLR, configured with Economy and Air Canada Signature cabins, the latter offering lie-flat seats.
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Oslo will give Air Canada its third Scandinavian destination alongside Copenhagen and Stockholm. The airline says it will be the only carrier offering nonstop flights between North America and Norway.
Shannon will become its second destination in Ireland after Dublin and will provide the only nonstop link between the Irish airport and Canada.
The expansion follows other routes already assigned to Air Canada’s A321XLR. The airline plans to use the type from Toronto to Copenhagen, Manchester and Tenerife, while Montreal will gain A321XLR service to Basel.
The airline expects to open an A321XLR base in Toronto later this year as deliveries of the new aircraft increase.
Daytime flight to Heathrow
The A321XLR will also be used differently on one of Air Canada’s busiest transatlantic markets. Beginning May 1, 2027, the airline will restore its daytime Toronto-London Heathrow service as a fifth daily flight between the two airports.
Flight AC862 will leave Toronto at 8:30 a.m. and arrive at Heathrow at 9 p.m. The aircraft will remain in London overnight before operating AC863 at 11:05 a.m. the following day, arriving in Toronto at 2:45 p.m.
The schedule differs from Air Canada’s existing Toronto-Heathrow flights, which leave Canada in the evening and cross the Atlantic overnight using widebody aircraft. The additional A321XLR frequency gives passengers the option of reaching London the same evening without spending a night aboard an aircraft.
Air Canada previously operated a daytime flight on the route, but the introduction of the A321XLR allows the airline to restore the schedule with a smaller aircraft while retaining a premium cabin with lie-flat seats.
Nice gets A330
Not all of the new European flying from Toronto will use the XLR. Air Canada will launch two weekly flights to Nice on June 16 with an Airbus A330-300.
The route will complement the airline’s existing Montreal-Nice service and give Toronto its first nonstop Air Canada connection to the French Riviera.
The carrier is also expanding elsewhere in Europe for summer 2027. Montreal-Basel will operate four times weekly with the A321XLR, while Montreal-Dubrovnik will use the Boeing 787-8.
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The A321XLR is becoming an important part of Air Canada’s fleet planning as the airline uses the aircraft both to open thinner long-haul routes and add frequencies in larger markets without deploying another widebody.
More capacity is also coming at the other end of Air Canada’s long-haul fleet. The carrier expects its first Toronto-based Boeing 787-10 later this year and said additional network announcements involving the type will follow.
