Air Canada is Canada's largest domestic and international full-service airline and offers many great value airfares on flights to 159 destinations throughout the world.

Its flight routes cover the US, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Australia, the Caribbean, Mexico and South America.

Air Canada's largest international gateway is London Heathrow, serving customers with 100 non-stop flights per week from cities across Canada.

It is the largest provider of scheduled passenger services in the domestic market, the transborder market and each of the Canada-Europe, Canada-Pacific, Canada-Caribbean/Central America and Canada-South America flight markets.

Through its commercial agreements with other airlines, it operates cheap flights to 11 other destinations as well, bringing it up to a total of 170 direct destinations spread across five continents.

In April 2007, the airline will introduce a new daily service from London Heathrow airport to Edmonton in Alberta, the only service between the two cities currently on the market.

Business passengers will be able to take advantage of Air Canada's multi-trip London Pass as an airfare option on this route, combining six pre-paid one-way trips between London and cities in Canada.

In addition, the airline will introduce non-stop flights three times weekly between London Heathrow and the city of St Johns in Newfoundland and Labrador, from April.

Air Canada's headquarters are in Montreal in Canada, with primary hubs also located in Toronto, Vancouver and Calgary.

In spring 2007, it will be opening brand new airport facilities at its Pearson International Airport hub in Toronto, which will offer more passengers a world-class travel experience. The new facilities are designed to provide a more streamlined process to move passengers smoothly between Canada and US customs and immigration.

Two new Maple Leaf Lounges will also be opened at the facility for eligible customers, featuring bars and bistros, business and entertainment centres, showers, spaces for relaxation and striking contemporary design.

The airline received recognition for the high quality of its business class service when it was rated as the Best Business Class to Canada in a survey of readers of the US magazine Business Traveler in 2006.

It was recently named Best Airline in North America and Best Airline in Canada by readers of the US travel magazine Global Traveler in a January 2007 survey.

Meanwhile, passengers will soon be able to take advantage of a new enhanced entertainment system on board Air Canada flights with the announcement of an agreement with XM Canada to supply a new range of audio music channels in English and French to aircraft.

Air Canada has been ranked as the world's safest airline by air safety consultants in a survey of more than 500 airlines.

Air Canada's modern fleet includes two Airbus A340-500 aircraft, ten Airbus A340-300 aeroplanes, 51 Airbus 320s and 44 Boeing 767 aeroplanes.

A new innovation means that passengers can take advantage of the option of electronic ticketing and web check-in on most North American and international routes, saving precious time before the flight.

For passengers who don't mind paying a little bit extra for their airfare, the Executive First premium class service offers first class comfort at business class prices, with a personalised airport concierge service reserved for Executive First customers at many airports.

The airline continues to expand its online services, simplified fare products and range of multi-trip flight products, many of which represent exceptional value on airfares.

To find out more about Air Canada airfares and to get the very cheapest prices on flights, make sure you book your tickets through Major Travel.

Air Canada can trace its roots back to Trans Canada Airlines (TCA), which began service in 1937 with flights between Vancouver and Seattle.

In 1964, the airline had expanded to become the country's national airline and changed its name to Air Canada, becoming privatized in 1989.

Due to its founding membership of Star Alliance, the largest airline alliance in the world, Air Canada passengers can take advantage of flights to a total of 795 destinations, as well as enjoying the use of airport programmes and the reciprocal use of frequent flier programmes.