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Air Canada's first Airbus A220 completes maiden flight

Edward Russell
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Edward Russell Is a Senior Aviation Business Reporter at The Points Guy. Edward joined the TPG team in June 2019 after seven years at FlightGlobal.
Dec. 12, 2019
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2 min read
Air Canada A220
Air Canada's first Airbus A220 completes maiden flight
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Air Canada's first Airbus A220 took to the skies over Quebec on Wednesday in preparation for the jet's Canadian introduction in January.

The planemaker flew the A220-300 on a test flight ahead of delivery to Air Canada from Montreal's Mirabel (YMX) airport, Airbus said Wednesday. The airline has 45 of the jets on order.

Air Canada expects delivery of its first A220 by year's end, with plans to begin passenger flights next month. The airline will become the second North American operator of the jet after Delta Air Lines, which debuted the type last February.

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Air Canada's first Airbus A220-300 took its maiden flight on Dec. 11, 2019. (Photo courtesy of Airbus)
Air Canada's first Airbus A220-300 took its maiden flight on Dec. 11, 2019. (Photo courtesy of Airbus)

The A220 is scheduled to enter service with Air Canada between Montreal Trudeau (YUL) and Calgary (YYC) on Jan. 16, according to Cirium schedules. Service will expand on existing routes, including to New York LaGuardia (LGA) in March, through May when the jet will open new nonstop flights between Montreal and Seattle (SEA) and Toronto Pearson (YYZ) and San Jose, California (SJC).

United Airlines flyers can enjoy the A220 via the carrier's partnership with Air Canada. The flights between Montreal and New York operate under their codeshare, as will service to Denver (DEN) that begins in May, Cirium shows.

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Air Canada is outfitting its A220-300s with with 137 seats, including 12 business and 125 economy. Each seat will have personal in-flight entertainment, and the aircraft will be outfitted with satellite Wi-Fi.

The airline plans to add 17 more A220s to its fleet in 2020, for a total of 18 by year end, its latest fleet plan shows. The aircraft will replace Embraer E190s that are due for retirement next year.

Related: Air Canada adds new California and Seattle Routes with Airbus A220

Featured image by Air Canada's first Airbus A220-300 took its maiden flight on Dec. 11, 2019. (Photo courtesy of Airbus)