Emirates Expands Toronto Service and Launches Dubai-Montreal Route

Emirates has officially launched its Dubai–Montreal route after considerable anticipation. It was made possible by the relaxation of the stringent bilateral air service agreement between Canada and the UAE, which regulates market access. As a result, Emirates has also increased Toronto, which was previously the only route from Dubai, to daily service. Air Canada will launch Vancouver-Dubai in place of partner Emirates.

The first 6,611-mile (10,640-km) link between the UAE and Montreal was launched by Emirates on 5th July. Adnan Kazim, the carrier’s chief commercial officer, told Simple Flying in Canada that Montreal was “always a top priority” and “ticks all the boxes.”

There are now flights from the UAE to Montreal for the first time. Strangely, there wasn’t much advance time for filling a big plane because the route wasn’t disclosed until about two months before it started. However, the fact that it was the busiest time of year for travel in both directions helped.

Utilises 777 Aircraft with First-Class Amenities
Three-class, 354-seat Boeing 777-300ER flights to Montreal are regularly scheduled. A6-EGI, which is shown in the picture above on a stand in Canada, was utilised for the first rotation. It was given to Emirates in November 2011 and has an approximate age of 11.7 years.

The following schedule, with all timings local, applies to the route. It’s one of only three North American landings at 06:30 in Dubai, which is interesting. 18:30 to 19:45 is the busiest arrival bank in the area.

• EK243, 02:30–08:00 (13 hours, 30 minutes block time), Dubai–Montreal
• EK244 travels from Montreal to Dubai in 12 hours and 10 minutes.

The P2P market must expand.
Booking data shows that there were 22,000 roundtrip passengers travelling between Montreal and Dubai in 2019. Less than half as much travelled from Wroclaw to Seoul. It will be crucial for Emirates to rapidly expand this market.

It will also profit from travellers using Montreal as a hub for connections with Air Canada to certain Canadian and American cities, which will be crucial during the shoulder season.

However, the majority of passengers from Montreal will travel via Emirates’ sizable hub. The top 25 target markets by passenger count are displayed on the map below.

More than 445,000 people travelled on the 25 in total. Naturally, Beirut was the biggest with 75,000 people. However, compared to connecting in Europe, it definitely involves more retracing, even though Emirates offers transit periods of 1–2 hours and appears to be offering competitive prices. Delhi is the largest market that doesn’t require retracing, with 42,000 passengers.

25 Canada flights each week
On 28th October Air Canada will launch service between Vancouver and Dubai, offering 25 flights per week from Canada. Be aware that WestJet had reserved spots for Calgary in Dubai, but that has not happened.

• Toronto: two flights every day, one each by Air Canada (777-300ER) and Emirates (A380).
• Every day in Montreal, Emirates 777-300ER
• Vancouver: Air Canada (787-9) four times a week