Air Canada looks to Montreal-Beirut route

The Montreal-Beirut route is an elusive prize that Air Canada very much wants to win. Fueled by the lobbying of Montreal’s large Lebanese expatriate and immigrant population, Air Canada has been pursuing the regulatory requirements to begin operating the route, Air Canada CEO Calin Rovinescu said. “We started the regulatory process in 2003,” Rovinescu said. However, geopolitical events intervened, and the carrier itself did not have the right equipment to make the route viable. “We are now at the stage where it looks like we can put the pin in it,” he said. Part of the challenge of operating the route is ensuring right-level security screenings in Beirut, Rovinescu added. Air Canada is working with its Star Alliance partner Lufthansa, which operates in Beirut, to learn how to address these concerns. The route would not be viable without the advent of the Boeing 787, he said. The aircraft is the right size and offers operating costs that make the route feasible. Air Canada’s network has been “transformed” by the 787, he said. Several routes, including Montreal–Algiers, Algeria; Vancouver–Melbourne, Australia; and Vancouver–Taipei, Taiwan, would not have made commercial sense without the aircraft, Rovinescu said.<br/>