Air Canada Reveals New 8-Hour Airbus A321XLR Route To Europe: See Map Now

James lives and breathes route development. Educated in Air Transport Management at Loughborough University and Cranfield University, James has a PhD in Airline Strategy and Economics. James was Market Opportunity Analyst at London Luton Airport and Chief Analyst at anna.aero. He taught airline strategy and economics to undergraduate and postgraduate students for five years and has worked closely with multiple carriers on route and market intelligence projects. He is based near London, UK.

On October 14, Air Canada unexpectedly announced another transatlantic route to Europe. Revealed a considerable 11 months ahead of the launch, the Star Alliance member will fly from Montreal to Seville. It'll be the first time that North America has had flights to the European city.

Seville is the capital of the ever-popular Andalusia, which is an autonomous community in southern Spain and the nation's tourist hotspot. Not only is the city a popular place to visit, but it also has the region's largest metro population, even exceeding Malaga's volume. Air Canada does not fly to Malaga, which is already on the map of Air Transat and United Airlines. It has sought out a place with far less competition.

Air Canada From Montreal To Seville

On September 8, Canada's largest airline will lift off from Montréal-Trudeau International Airport (YUL) to Seville Airport (SVQ), making history in the process. In late 2025, the airline mentioned the possibility of beginning service to Bilbao, Ibiza, and SVQ. SVQ has now been announced, joining Barcelona, Madrid, Palma De Mallorca Airport (PMI), and Tenerife South in Air Canada's network.

The brand-new route to SVQ will cover 3,008 nautical miles (5,571 km) each way. It'll initially be served three times weekly using the 182-seat Airbus A321XLR, rising to four flights a week from October 1. After a pause in early January 2028, flights will return on February 19 and operate through early June. It is the kind of thin route for which the XLR was designed.

No service is expected in the peak summer, when the temperature in SVQ is usually extremely high. Clearly, this could impede aircraft performance, especially with a relatively heavy cabin configuration of 182 seats, assuming enough of them were filled.

The heat could necessitate a payload restriction, reducing the economic performance of the route. This was the reason given by Air Canada for removing the XLR from YUL-PMI and using the Boeing 787 instead. While that route covers 9% more distance than YUL-SVQ, SVQ is significantly hotter.

Air Canada Now Plans 20 A321XLR Routes To Europe In 2027

From January 2027 onward, the Star Alliance member has scheduled 20 A321XLR routes to Europe. 12 will be from YUL, along with six from Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ). The remaining two routes are from both Halifax-Stanfield International Airport (YHZ) and Ottawa Macdonald-Cartier International Airport (YOW). Over one in two transatlantic XLR flights will be from YUL.

The table reflects what is known as of October 15 and will certainly change. Some of the links will have very limited flights, such as Amsterdam, with XLR service from Canada on April 5, 7, and 10 only. The XLR gives rise to multiple new or returning destinations, including Basel, Nantes, Oslo, Shannon, Seville, and Tenerife South Airport (TFS). Flights from YYZ to Tenerife South begin on October 25, 2026, followed by those from YUL a few days later.

US & Canada Will Have Flights To Record 11 Spanish Destinations

When all airlines are included, 11 places in Spain will now have nonstop service from the US or Canada or both next year. They are Barcelona, Bilbao (flights began in 2025; United Airlines), Gran Canaria (new in 2026; Air Transat), Ibiza (new for 2027; United), Madrid, Malaga, Palma, Santiago de Compostela (new in 2026; Air Canada), SVQ (new for 2027; Air Canada), TFS (resumes in 2026; Air Canada), and Valencia (flights resumed in 2025; see below).

TFS had US service until May 2025, when United pulled out. Between then and September 2026, no services from the US/Canada existed, but that will change with Air Canada's debut this month. Valencia already has flights from Canada with Air Transat (they began in 2025), with United's arrival in 2027 providing the first US operation since Delta Air Lines pulled out in 2012.