Cheap Flights on Air Canada. Book online Air Canada fares.
Air Canada Travel/Flight Information
Cheap Flights on Air Canada. Book online Air Canada fares.
Air Canada, with its distinctive red maple leaf logo, is the Canadian national flag carrier and the biggest airline in this vast country.The airline, which currently offers cheap flights to around 240 destinations worldwide, started small. It grew out of Trans-Canada Airlines, a company created by the Canadian government in 1936 to link the Atlantic coast of the country with its Pacific seaboard.
Using government funds, the airline purchased three aircraft, including a Boeing bi-plane and drafted in experienced executives from US carriers United Airlines and American Airlines to help get the venture off the ground.
Passenger flights started in 1937, when one Lockheed Electra began shuttling people and cargo between Vancouver and Seattle - a distance of 119 miles.
The airline soon grew however, expanding to become a major competitor to its private rival Canadian Pacific Airlines. In fact, such was its success that the rival carrier attempted to merge the companies in 1942, a move rejected by the government.
Trans-Canada Airlines continued to expand and was renamed Air Canada in 1965.
As the airline grew, swallowing up smaller operations such as Air Nova, so did its debts. The decision was taken to privatize the company in the1980s and so in 1988 Air Canada shares were sold on the stock market for the first time.
Under private ownership, Air Canada has continued to grow and is now one of the world's most prestigious national carriers. In 2001, the company bought Canadian Airlines, making it the world's 12th largest carrier.
Air Canada is famous for a number of firsts. In the 1930s the airline pioneered the use of oxygen masks for passengers and crew in the cabins, which at the time were unpressurized.
In the late 1950s it began testing early versions of the flight recording device which became known as the back box - now an essential part of all commercial aircraft.
Air Canada also introduced the world's first entirely non-smoking flights across all its services more than 20 years ago, in 1987. These days there are very few airlines that allow smoking on board.
But the airline, like the country it comes from, has never stood still. In May 2008, Air Canada pledged to make pricing more transparent for travellers to make passengers aware of exactly what they were paying for when they fly.
Environmentally-conscious travellers can have the option of offsetting the effects of their flight and since May 2007 Air Canada has offset 8,796 tonnes of carbon dioxide and helped to plant 1,759 trees.
Other initiatives aimed at reducing its carbon footprint include removing weight from the aircraft and employing flight management systems for more fuel-efficient approaches and take-offs.
The carrier is also using hybrid technology and less polluting fuels for its ground support vehicles.
Air Canada continues to be one of the world's most recognisable airlines. It's position at the forefront of aviation technology and responsible flying means it continues to be an excellent ambassador for the country it proudly represents to this day - Canada.
If you want the very cheapest airfares that Air Canada can offer, be sure to book through Major Travel.
Additional Air Canada Travel/Flights Images:
Cheap Flights on Air Canada. Book online Air Canada fares.
Last updated: 21st August 2008
