Air Canada changes YYT to London winter schedule

Twice weekly flight will start in Halifax and stop in St. John’s before heading overseas

Air Canada is once again making changes to its St. John’s to London Heathrow flight.

Starting in October, the service will change from a three times weekly direct flight from St. John’s aboard a 120-seat Airbus 319 to a twice weekly flight aboard a 211-seat Boeing 767 that will depart Halifax, stop in St. John’s to take on passengers and then head across the pond.

“We informed the Airport Authority and the government at the end of June that, in response to changing market demand, we had made adjustments to our London service from St. John’s for the winter season,” spokesperson Isabelle Arthur explained in an email to The Telegram.

Business-class passengers on the new winter flight will have lie-flat beds.

The airline has been tinkering with the route for more than a decade.

It started in 2006, when the airline originally cancelled it briefly, only to put it back when a competing airline came on the scene. After the competition dropped out of the market in 2007, so too did Air Canada.

In 2010, a direct flight was reinstated, but only for the late May to September season, meaning passengers looking to get overseas were forced to fly to Halifax or Toronto in search of a connection to Europe.

It stayed that way until 2014, when Air Canada reinstated the year-round direct service.

The summer schedule of daily flights from both St. John’s and Halifax will remain unchanged and resume in May 2018.