Emirates made a landmark touchdown in Montréal this week, marking the start of scheduled daily non-stop aboard Boeing 777 services to its second gateway in Canada. Emirates now serves Canada with 14 flights per week.
On hand for the arrival of Flight EK243 at Montréal Pierre Elliot Trudeau International Airport on Wednesday were top Emirates executives, including a visiting delegation from Dubai.
Following a welcome ceremony and symbolic gift exchange between the airline, airport officials, and Montréal’s tourism board, Emirates showcased its Boeing 777-300ER aircraft in a three-class configuration to government representatives, media, guests and members of the travel trade industry. The aircraft features eight private suites in First Class, 42 lie flat seats in Business Class and 304 spacious seats in Economy Class for the daily service.
Adnan Kazim, Emirates’ Chief Commercial Officer emphasized the significance of the new destination, stating, “Emirates is excited to launch our service to Montréal, and to grow our network with a second gateway into Canada… Complementing our services to Toronto, customers will now have more choice when planning trips to Canada – they now can fly directly to the country’s second largest metropolis whether for business, leisure, education or for visiting family and friends.
He added, “Since we announced our plans to launch direct services to Montréal, we have witnessed healthy bookings from travellers planning trips to Canada from points in the UAE, India, Iran, and Lebanon, in addition to many Far East and African countries.”
The service will also figure prominently for Canadians headed to Dubai (and beyond), with Canada ranking in Dubai’s top 20 source markets for inbound tourism with 158,000 visitors in 2022, more than double the number in 2021.
Flights to and from Montréal operate as EK243 and EK244 with daily flights departing Dubai International airport at 02:30 hrs, arriving in Montréal at 08:00 hrs local time. The return flight departs Montréal Pierre Elliot Trudeau International Airport at 10:20 hrs, arriving in Dubai at 06:30 hrs (local time) the next day.
The new daily service to Montréal complements Emirates’ seven weekly services to Toronto and takes the airline’s North American network to 14 destinations and a total of 18 across the Americas. The service will provide travellers from Canada convenient access to Dubai, as well as connectivity to popular destinations such as Lebanon, India, Iran, Vietnam and Malaysia.
Expanding network and Air Canada partnership
Customers of Emirates and Air Canada have access to an expansive network of destinations thanks to the strategic partnership between the two airlines. In addition to over 130 destinations that Emirates flies to, through their codeshare relationship, its customers currently can access 19 Canadian destinations beyond Toronto, while Air Canada customers are able to access 17 cities in Africa, the Indian subcontinent, Middle East, and Far East beyond Dubai.
Additionally, Emirates passengers are able to choose from over 140 routes operated by Air Canada on an interline basis, including 27 points in Canada beyond Montréal and 53 routes between Montréal and the US and South America, while also enjoying the simplicity of flight itineraries on a single-ticket.
Emirates Skywards members can earn Miles on all eligible Air Canada flights and can redeem Miles for reward tickets across Air Canada’s network.