The entry into service of Air Canada’s Airbus A321XLRs is fast approaching. In the latest development, the Star Alliance member revealed that the variant will fly to London Heathrow for the first time. It currently expects to do so from Toronto. However, a couple of months ago, Halifax-Heathrow XLR flights were filed, only to be removed.

This article was researched and written on January 23. This day is significant for another reason. It is when IndiGo, India’s largest carrier, inaugurated its first long-haul XLR flight, which is from Mumbai to Athens. The next day, it’ll take off from Delhi to the Greek capital.

Air Canada’s XLRs To Heathrow

In an intriguing development, Air Canada has filed a time-limited summer XLR service from Toronto to Heathrow, at which it is one of the largest non-UK operators. Be forewarned: it reflects what is currently scheduled and bookable as of January 23, and is extremely likely to change. It was first identified by Aeroroutes.

Air Canada’s XLRs are now down to operate this route between August 31 and September 7 only, based on departures from North America. The schedule is shown below. The 182-seater will temporarily replace the Canadian flag carrier’s 297-seat A330-300s. Substantially fewer business and economy seats will be available on the affected flights, along with no premium economy cabin.

For now, at least, it’ll be Air Canada’s sole XLR route from Toronto, as all other known links are from currently Montreal—more on that later in the article. And it’ll be Heathrow’s longest XLR service. Aer Lingus is the only other airline to fly the variant to the UK’s busiest airport, in-between operating long-haul services from Dublin and Shannon.

The XLR’s Heathrow Schedule Is Likely To Change

In late September, Mark Galardo, Air Canada’s Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer, said that the XLR would be deployed between Toronto and Heathrow. And, subject to change, it will be, albeit on a temporary basis and probably not on the flights the airline wants it to be on.

« We are missing the Toronto-Heathrow day tripper. This aircraft [the XLR] will help us restore that day tripper, and that’s why we were pushing for Toronto [rather than just Montreal]. But we’re going to have to wait a year, as we can ramp up our pilot training and get ready for a suitable and qualified Toronto base. »

According to Cirium Diio data, Air Canada had daytime flights to the UK’s busiest airport for many years. They were, of course, operated by widebodies, especially the 767-300ER, but also, at times, the A330-300, A340-300, 777-200LR, 777-300ER, 787-8, and 787-9.

Non-red-eye service to Heathrow last existed in early 2020, when AC868 mainly departed from Toronto at 8:40 am and got to the UK at 8:35 pm, local time. Using the much lower-capacity XLR to restore this service in the future would be a sensible and lower-risk move, although it is unclear which airline currently uses the former Heathrow slots. Daytime flights from North America to Europe are rare. Among other requirements, they need very strong local traffic and fewer timezone changes, so this route is well suited to it.

Why Start With Montreal?

When writing, Air Canada currently plans ten XLR routes, nine of which will operate from Montreal. It’ll fly from the Quebec city to Berlin, Calgary, Dublin, Edinburgh, Nantes, Palma de Mallorca, Porto, Toulouse, and Vancouver.

But why start with Montreal? As Galardo stated, « It is purely an operational reason. In Montreal today, we don’t have an A320 mainline pilot base. Starting with Montreal presents less risk in terms of training footprint and wrapping up. But our full, full intention is to have a large base of operations in Toronto. »

The new, albeit currently time-limited, Toronto-Heathrow service suggests Toronto-based A320 family-trained pilots with the special training to fly over long stretches of water will be available by then. The airline has been contacted for comment.