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Air Canada’s low cost airline, Rouge, takes off
Air Canada announced the birth of its new low cost carrier at a press conference in Toronto on Tuesday.
Rouge, the low fare option the airline is calling a "leisure carrier," will launch with a network that initially focuses on flights from Montreal and Toronto to Europe and the Caribbean, but that may expand to include Asia and other destinations in the future.
The airline begins flying July 1 with a fleet featuring two Boeing 767s and two Airbus A318s taken from Air Canada’s main fleet. Rouge will expand to 50 aircraft when Air Canada begins to collect its Boeing 767 Dreamliners next year.
"The creation of this carrier is to assist us in serving many destinations that our existing model does not work on a competitive basis," Ben Smith, Air Canada’s chief commercial officer, said at the launch press conference.
The new carrier will keep its costs low by reconfiguring cabins to include denser seats (don’t expect a lot of leg room) and also by paying crew at a lower rate than at normal mainline Air Canada pay scales.
Rouge is Air Canada’s third attempt at a low cost alternative. Two other spin offs, Tango and Zip were launched but were shuttered in 2003 and 2004 respectively.
Gretchen Kelly
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