As the unstoppable tide of time washes the world ever closer to the 2026 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games, Air Canada is gearing up for the sporting spectacle. Among the most notable ways that the Canadian flag carrier will be supporting its country’s most decorated winter athletes is through a special livery on one of its Airbus A330-300 twinjets, which it revealed yesterday when naming its Air Canada Athlete Ambassadors.

The Montréal-headquartered Star Alliance founding member serves as the official airline of its country’s Olympic and Paralympic teams, and it is expecting to transport close to 800 athletes and delegates to and from the 2026 Winter Games in Italy. Let’s take a closer look at this livery, and why it matters.

Flying The Flag

In a statement released yesterday, Air Canada revealed its striking Winter Games-themed Airbus A330-300 special livery to the wider aviation world. Its tail design is immediately striking, with the red maple leaf motif having been replaced by a gold alternative that hints at the kind of medals that Canada’s esteemed winter athletes will be hoping to take home next year. The fuselage also features large photographs of eight athletes.

These, Air Canada explains, are not just any sportspeople, but, rather, its official Team Air Canada Athlete Ambassadors​​​​​​. Four are from French-speaking Québec, and four are from English-speaking Ontario and British Columbia, and, correspondingly, each side of the fuselage is in one of Canada’s two official languages, with the shared motto of « Fly the flag / Haut le drapeau. » Andy Shibata, the VP of Brand at Air Canada, said that:

« This special livery is more than a design – it’s a tribute to the strength, resilience, and heart of the athletes representing Team Canada. We are honoured to support our athletes on their journey. »

An Apt First Flight

Air Canada is doing more than just deploying a specially liveried Airbus A330 in order to support its elite athletes at the upcoming Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games. Indeed, it has also devised an « employee-driven Going for Gold program » that « further supports Team Canada in ensuring a seamless travel experience for Canada’s top athletes. » It expects to transport more than 750 athletes and delegates to and from the 2026 iteration.

Among the perks of the carrier’s partnership with the Canadian Olympic Committee and Paralympic Committee are « care & share packages for athletes departing Canada, including amenity kits and memorabilia for added comfort in-flight. » The airline also plans to provide « complimentary 35K Aeroplan status and 10,000 Aeroplan points for all Team Canada athletes through the Podium Program » in order to further boost the relationship.

Tracking data made available by Flightradar24 suggests that the aircraft involved (C-GEGC) was likely repainted in Toronto (YYZ) between November 23 and 27, as this was its most recent period of extended downtime. Rather aptly, after being ferried to Montréal (YUL), its first scheduled flight with the new livery, which departed yesterday evening, took it to Milan (MXP), which will be the host city for the 2026 Winter Olympics and Paralympics.

The Aircraft In Question

As previously mentioned, the aircraft that Air Canada has chosen to wear its latest Winter Olympics-themed special livery is an Airbus A330-300 that bears the registration C-GEGC. According to present fleet data made available by ch-aviation, this widebody twinjet is currently aged around 16.7 years old, having entered service with Air Canada’s fellow Star Alliance member Singapore Airlines back in April of 2009. It first flew in March that year.

After just over eight years at the Singaporean carrier under the registration 9V-STE, the jet moved on to TAP Air Portugal as CS-TOV in May of 2017, before transferring to Air Canada (and completing a hat-trick of Star Alliance users) in May 2019. The Canadian flag carrier favors a three-class layout for the jet, with aeroLOPA showing that this setup consists of 241 economy seats, 24 premium economy recliners, and 32 business class flatbeds.