Air Canada Rouge Airbus A319 Heads To Panama After 2 Years
In mid-October, Air Canada announced it would resume flight services between Toronto ad Panama City after a two-and-a-half-year absence. With the return of the Canadian carrier, there are now five North American carriers offering flight services from the region to Panama City. Operating the route will be the flag carrier's low-cost subsidiary, Air Canada Rouge. The low-cost carrier will be the only Canadian carrier operating out of Panama City.
Source: Charotte Seet /Simply Flying
Air Canada Rouge made its long-anticipated comeback
to the capital city on November 4th, as flight AC 1874 took off from Toronto
Pearson International Airport at approximately 10:10, nearly two hours behind
schedule. The flight then made the four-and-a-half-hour journey before touching
down at Tocumen International Airport at approximately 13:43.
The flight officially marked the return of regular
flight operations, and the inaugural comeback was operated with the low-cost
carrier's Airbus A319-100, registered as C-GSJB. Upon arrival at the airport,
the Airbus narrowbody was greeted with the traditional water cannon salute
provided by the airport's fire-fighting services.
And after disembarking, passengers were warmly
greeted and welcomed by Panamanians wearing their local costumes and passing
out the Panamanian flags. Celebrating the return of the Canadian carrier was
Raffoul Arab, General Manager of Tocumen International Airport, as he said:
"The benefits of the return of Air Canada to
Panama City will be significant not only from the point of view of
connectivity, but this important decision constitutes an additional means to
promote tourism, trade, investment and cultural exchange between the two
countries."
After a short while on the ground, the return
flight, AC1875, departed from Tocumen International Airport at approximately
14:59, almost an hour behind schedule. Following the five-and-a-half-hour
flight path, the aircraft finally landed back home in Toronto-Pearson at
approximately 21:19.
With the return of regular flight operations, Air
Canada Rouge will initially offer two weekly flight services on Friday and
Sunday. The route will experience a frequency upgrade from December 18th, when
a third weekly flight service is added on Wednesday. From Toronto, AC 1874 will
be scheduled to take-off at 08:30 before landing at 13:05
And then from Panama City, AC 1875 is scheduled to
take-off at 14:05 before touching down at 20:35. As the Airbus A319-100 is
configured for 136 passengers in two cabin classes, the low-cost carrier will
initially be offering approximately 272 weekly seats to Panama City and will
subsequently provide about 408 weekly seats.
The comeback to Panama and subsequent frequency
upgrade comes as Air Canada acknowledges the significant market demand between
Canada and Panama City. From January to September this year, nearly 97,000
passengers were transported between the two cities, and with the winter season
approaching in North America, passengers would certainly seek out vacation fun
during the summer season in Panama City.
Additionally, the Star Alliance member airline realized that no Canadian airline was operating at Tocumen International Airport, so the opportunity to return could not get any more golden with the lack of local competition. And even regarding foreign competition, Air Canada is not up against a massive fight as Copa Airlines was the only carrier offering non-stop services from Panama City to Toronto and Montreal.