Air Canada increases its flights to the UK

Air Canada has just announced a major new expansion of its flights to Europe, including additional services to both London and Manchester for next summer. It hopes to fly 100% of the capacity it flew in 2019 – a full recovery four years after the pandemic paused flights.

Flights from London to Toronto will increase to four times a day from April to October 2024, an increase from the three offered this year.

Flights from Manchester will increase to six weekly fights in the peak summer months from June to September, whilst flights to Edinburgh will enjoy a longer season, starting on 1st March and running until January 2025.

According to Mark Galardo, Executive Vice President of Revenue and Network Planning at Air Canada,

“Air Canada saw a tremendous rebound in international flying this past summer, particularly on the trans-Atlantic, and we expect Europe will remain popular next year. In anticipation of this, we are expanding our flying schedule to offer customers more choice and flexibility as they begin to plan their 2024 holidays.

The centrepiece of today’s announcement is our new Montreal-Madrid flight. This will be the only year-round service between Montreal and the Spanish capital, complementing our long-standing Toronto-Madrid flights, and offering compelling options for leisure customers and also returning business travellers.”

We have yet to review Air Canada’s international business class, which it calls Signature Class. Our review of the Maple Leaf Lounge at Heathrow Terminal 2 is here.

Toronto and Montreal rank as the third and fifth busiest airports in North America when measured by daily transatlantic seats. To be perfectly honest, that’s a far bigger operation than I imagined!

From the UK and Ireland, you have the following choices on Air Canada:

From London Heathrow Terminal 2:

• Calgary – once daily
• Halifax – once daily
• Montreal – up two twice daily
• Toronto – four times daily
• Vancouver – once daily

From Manchester:

• Toronto – six weekly

From Edinburgh:

• Toronto – up to once daily (seasonal)

From Dublin:

• Montreal – thrice weekly
• Toronto – once daily
• Vancouver – four times weekly

Air Canada is a member of Star Alliance and you can earn and redeem miles from any Star Alliance programme on their services. This HfP article looks at the best way to earn Star Alliance miles from UK credit cards.

If you want to learn how to earn Air Canada Aeroplan miles from UK credit cards, take a look at our guide here.

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How to earn Star Alliance miles from UK credit cards (April 2025)

None of the Star Alliance airlines currently have a UK credit card.

There is, however, still a way to earn Star Alliance miles from a UK credit card. 

The route is via Marriott Bonvoy. Marriott Bonvoy hotel loyalty points convert to over 40 airlines at the rate of 3:1.

The best way to earn Marriott Bonvoy points is via the official Marriott Bonvoy American Express card. It comes with 20,000 points for signing up and 2 points for every £1 you spend. At 2 Bonvoy points per £1, you are earning (at 3:1) 0.66 airline miles per £1 spent on the card.

There is a preferential conversion rate to United Airlines – which is a Star Alliance member – of 2 : 1 if you convert 60,000 Bonvoy points at once.

The Star Alliance members which are Marriott Bonvoy transfer partners are: Aegean, Air Canada, Air China, Air New Zealand, ANA, Asiana Airlines, Avianca, Copa Airlines, Singapore Airlines, TAP Air Portugal, Thai Airways, Turkish Airlines and United Airlines.

You can apply here.

Marriott Bonvoy American Express

20,000 points for signing up and 15 elite night credits each year Read our full review