Emirates adds Montréal, Canada to its network

After recently expanding flights to Toronto, Emirates has now announced the addition of Montréal, Canada to its network.

Headed to Montréal

Starting 5th July 2023, Emirates will operate a daily flight between Dubai International Airport and Montréal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport with the following timings:

• Dubai-Montréal
• Departure time: 02:30
• Arrival time: 08:00
• Flight time: 13 hours and 30 minutes
• Flight number: EK243
• Frequency: Daily

• Montréal-Dubai
• Departure time: 10:20
• Arrival time: 06:30 (the next day)
• Flight time: 12 hours and 10 minutes
• Flight number: EK244
• Frequency: Daily

These flights will be operated by Emirates’ Boeing B777-300ER featuring 8 First Class Suites, 42 lie-flat Business Class seats and 304 standard Economy Class seats.

Montréal is the second destination in Canada after Toronto. The airline recently increased frequency on Toronto to daily. Emirates has been serving Toronto since 2007.

Emirates is excited to launch our second gateway into Canada as we expand our reach in the country with direct services from our hub in Dubai. As a major metropolitan centre and as Canada’s second largest city, we are pleased to add Montréal to our growing global network of over 130 destinations and strengthening our coverage in the Americas to reach 18 points served by our services from Dubai.

said Adnan Kazim, Chief Commercial Officer, Emirates.

We have been serving customers with passenger and cargo services to Toronto for over 15 years and when we begin services to Montréal in July, customers will have more choice when planning their travel whether for business, leisure, education or for visiting family and friends. We would like to thank the UAE and Canadian authorities for the enhanced agreements which have made this new destination possible. With our expanded reach into the country, we look forward to facilitating new trade lanes, which will bring a host of benefits to Canadian businesses and exporters in addition to promoting tourism into more cities and generating more jobs across all sectors, including those directly serving the aviation industry.

added Kazim.

Emirates says that the “launch of services to Montréal comes as the UAE and Canada aim to deepen economic cooperation between the two nations and stimulate benefits to the aviation and tourism sectors, in addition to enhancing trade flows and commercial links”.

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Air Canada partnership

Last year, Emirates and Air Canada launched a codeshare partnership. As part of the partnership, Air Canada passengers have access to 17 destinations beyond Dubai while Emirates passengers have access to 19 destinations beyond Toronto. Additionally, Emirates passengers are able to choose from over 140 routes operated by Air Canada on an interline basis, including 27 points in Canada and 94 routes between Canada and the US and South America.

Now that Emirates is launching flights to Montréal, Emirates passengers will now be able to choose from 68 points from Montréal, including the United States, Mexico, South America and the Caribbean in a single-PNR itinerary. Emirates Skywards members can earn Miles on all eligible Air Canada flights and can redeem Miles for reward tickets across Air Canada’s network.

Related: Air Canada to start flights on Montréal-Amsterdam route

About Montréal

Located on an island in between the Saint Lawrence and Ottawa River, Montréal is the largest city in Québec and the second largest in Canada. Also known as the capital of French Canada and the nation’s culture capital, the city is famous for its festivals and vibrant food and arts culture, while also being an important centre of commerce, tourism, and design and business hub for industries including aerospace, transport, finance, pharmaceuticals and technology, to name a few.

In addition to its appeal to visitors for its unique geographical location, Montréal is also home to some of the world’s top-ranked universities, earning the city a reputation as a student-friendly and world-class study destination sought by international students.

Emirates finally expands in Canada!

Emirates has long been wanting to expand in Canada. That was not possible until now due to exhausted bilateral rights. However, the United Arab Emirates and Canada recently expanded their bilateral air services agreement, allowing 21-weekly flights in both directions, instead of the previously allowed 14-weekly flights. This has resulted in Etihad too going daily on Toronto route and Air Canada launching new flights between Vancouver and Dubai in addition to its daily flights from Toronto to Dubai.

Montréal seems a logical addition to the Emirates network. This may well be a highly strategical move by Emirates and Air Canada as part of their partnership. While Emirates is connecting Montréal to the UAE, Air Canada is connecting Vancouver, meaning that three Canadian cities have now been connected to the Middle Eastern country.

The only other “Big ME3” carrier (consisting of Etihad Airways, Emirates and Qatar Airways) that flies to Montréal is Qatar Airways. It will now have some fresh competition from Emirates.

Prior to this, Qatar Airways enjoyed monopoly on Montréal route. An interesting thing to note is that Qatar Airways does not fly to Toronto and prior to the s expansion by Emirates, Qatar Airways was the largest Middle Eastern airline in Canada and now that spot has been taken by Emirates in just a matter of days.

It’s good to see Emirates add Montréal to its network, as this will mean that more passengers will have an opportunity to fly nonstop to Canada daily. Emirates also cements its position as the largest Middle Eastern carrier between Canada and the Middle East.

Featured image by Emirates

What do you think of Emirates starting flights to Canada? Let me know in the comments section below.

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