Air Canada’s Mark Galardo says the Airbus A321XLR is a game changer offering a wide-body experience on narrow-body jets
It’s “a game changer” was the descriptor that Mark Galardo used to explain the importance of the impending addition of the Airbus A321XLR to Air Canada’s fleet in 2026. The A321XLR is the first narrow-body in Air Canada’s fleet that will feature lie-flat seats in the Business Class cabin, bringing a wide-body experience on a narrow-body jet.
It will accommodate 182 passengers in a configuration of 14 Signature Class seats and 168 Economy Class seats; and will also mark the beginning of the next era in Air Canada’s cabin interiors with the introduction of a new design standard for our onboard experience.
But for Galardo, Air Canada’s Executive Vice President & Chief Commercial Officer, and President Cargo, “it’s important …. to understand what this aircraft is all about.”
“Imagine today every flight that we launch to Europe or Asia has to be on a big wide-bodied aircraft – an airplane between 250 and 450 seats – so, you can only fly that airplane to destinations where you have the demand to fill up an airplane of that size,” he told Travel Courier.
And he continued: “With the A321XLR, basically you’re taking a single aisle, smaller airplane, you’re extending its range by an additional two to three hours and now you have a smaller airplane that allows you to open unique and smaller destinations all over Europe and Africa from Montreal and Toronto and a variety of cities all over Canada.”
“You don’t have the burden of filling a 250-seat airplane. You have the burden of filling a much smaller airplane and now you can go into routes like Palma de Mallorca, Toulouse, Edinburgh [all routes that the A321XLR will be operating in 2026] and a bunch of other cities with much lower economic risk,” he explained.
“In a nutshell, this aircraft is going to allow Air Canada to grow. It’s going to allow us to enter a new era of growth and it’s going to allow us to add a lot more cities to our network and really position us as a global airline,” he said.
Continued expansion in summer 2026 schedule
And just a day after it announced the addition of the Airbus A321XLR to its fleet, Air Canada rolled out the details of its international network for Summer 2026 — featuring new destinations in Europe and Asia. New routes that begin in 2026 include Montreal to Palma de Mallorca, Spain (announced as the first route to be operated aboard the Airbus A321XLR); and Montreal to Catania in Sicily, Italy.
From Toronto, Air Canada will re-establish non-stop flights to Shanghai and Budapest, along with increasing flights to Prague. And the carrier’s seasonal Vancouver-Bangkok route will now become year-round, — a move that strengthens Air Canada’s position as the only North American carrier offering direct, non-stop service to the Thai capital.
Galardo said that the carrier’s “continued international expansion reflects our bold ambitions, and leverages our network reach and scale to capitalize on global travel demand driven by leisure travel trends, growing demand for services to Asia, and cargo development opportunities.”
Asked by Travel Courier what those “ambitions” were, Galardo responded: “Our ambition is to become a leading global international airline. We want to be in the same arena as the British Airways, KLMs, Lufthansas of the world – the Big Brands — and [today’s announcement] reflects that ambition of us becoming a true global international airline that competes on the world stage.”
That ambition goes back to when Calin Rovinescu was Air Canada’s president, with Galardo explaining that: “Our business model is really focused on international long haul and today is the next evolution of that same story that Calin Rovinescu described to you. We’re taking that story and we’re building further upon it and really positioning Air Canada as a leading global airline and also positioning the country in the international arena.”
As for capitalizing on global travel demand, Galardo said that: “Demand to and from Canada to global international markets – Europe, Africa, Asia, even South America – continues to grow at a fairly strong pace and we see that all the way through the next year based on the booking samples that we have, [and] based on the market data that we have. We continue to expect that international demand to and from Canada will continue to grow and I project that it will continue to grow in the years to come.”
But there’s more, with Galardo telling TC that: “We want more than our fair share of the traffic, international traffic, destined to the US, but having them transit through our Canadian hubs and that’s a growing part of our business strategy.”
And he said that the airline’s Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal hubs “give us very interesting prospects to grow our global network and each of those hubs have amazing geography when you look at where they’re positioned on the US international market.”
Air Canada & Me: A big ‘thanks’ to travel advisors
New aircraft. New summer schedule. And a new rewards program for travel advisors to thank them for their support and taking care of their customers and Air Canada’s customers each and every day.
Air Canada & Me – the airline’s first-ever travel agent incentive program designed for Canadian travel agents – is a free program that rewards individual travel agents for choosing to book their customers on AC Connex – the carrier’s next generation direct booking platform, using Aeroplan points as a key driver of the program.
“Travel agents play a remarkable role in supporting the travel experience, uniting people day-in and day-out through their knowledge, expertise, and unwavering dedication. With their trust and dedication, together, we unlock countless possibilities for our shared customers from coast-to-coast across North America and around the world,” Galardo said.
And he added: “Offering this program to travel agents reflects our commitment to travel professionals and our deep appreciation for the incredible work that they do every day.”
Air Canada & Me is designed for all travel agents, regardless of their affiliations (IATA, TIDS), and open to Canadian travel agents who are Aeroplan members – they can join the incentive program for free.
To join, click here. And for those who are not an Aeroplan member, that’s no problem, as agents can also join for free in minutes at: www.aircanada.com/Aeroplan.
