Air Canada Launches New Montreal–Copenhagen Route

The route announcements from Air Canada seem to be never-ending these days. This time, Air Canada has announced a new route from Montreal to Copenhagen, which will commence next summer.

The new Montreal–Copenhagen route from Air Canada is bookable with Aeroplan points, so let’s take a look at the possibilities.

Air Canada’s New Montreal–Copenhagen Route

Beginning June 1, 2023, Air Canada will fly direct from Montreal to Copenhagen five times weekly.

From Wednesday to Sunday, the flight will operate eastbound from Montreal to Copenhagen. Westbound, the schedule is offset by one day from Thursday through Monday.

The planned schedule is as follows: 

• AC826 Montreal (YUL) to Copenhagen (CPH), departing 5:55pm and arriving 6:45am the next day
• AC827 Copenhagen (CPH) to Montreal (YUL), departing 1:15pm and arriving 3:00pm

This represents Air Canada’s second route serving Denmark’s capital of Copenhagen, with the new Montreal service complementing the five-times weekly service from Toronto.

Air Canada will operate the route with the Boeing 787-8 (788) Dreamliner. This aircraft features its Signature Class cabin, complete with lie-flat pods and direct aisle access from every seat.

Booking Air Canada’s New Montreal–Copenhagen Flight

Aeroplan is the program of choice for booking these flights, given that Aeroplan members have access to every available seat on Air Canada flights.

Flights to Copenhagen from Montreal fall within the first distance band on Aeroplan’s North America–Atlantic zone chart.

Thus, a direct flight at the lower end of the dynamic spectrum would theoretically cost just 60,000 Aeroplan points in business class. 

With just under 400 miles before reaching the next distance band, adding a connection to nearby destinations would keep the price level.

Air Canada has already gone ahead and loaded these flights into their search engine, so we can get a sense of the dynamic pricing at launch.

Unfortunately, in business class, the Montreal–Copenhagen direction appears to have no “saver” availability at the lower level. All bookings are currently pricing at the dynamic level of 192,000 points one-way.

In economy class, prices are still quite expensive at around 63,000 points one-way in Economy (Standard), and around 90,000 points in Economy (Latitude).

There’s a smattering of eUpgrade space available across the board, so those with Aeroplan Elite Status hoping to use the “Latitude Attitude” strategy to upgrade into business class can do so, although it doesn’t really represent a great deal.

However, in the opposite direction from Copenhagen to Montreal, there’s more favourable Economy (Latitude) pricing at around 60,000 points. Furthermore, there’s eUpgrade space available on almost every day.

Meanwhile, direct bookings in business class in the westbound direction prices over 100,000 points each day, so the “Latitude Attitude” would definitely be the best way to book this new route in comfort.

If paying with cash, round-trip tickets in economy class hover around $1,250–1,400, premium economy is around $2,500–3,000, and business class is around $4,500–5,000.

Another Useful Option for Reaching the Nordics

The new Montreal–Copenhagen flight will be operated by a Boeing 787-8 (788), which features 20 Signature Class “pods” spread across five rows in a 1-2-1 reverse herringbone configuration.

All of Air Canada’s Dreamliners have a 1-2-1 reverse herringbone configuration, in which window seats face towards the window and middle seats face inward toward the centre. 

Solo travellers will want to book single window seats, while couples can choose to sit together in the middle seats. Note that the middle divider does not come down at all, so some couples may prefer two window seats instead.

Some Canadians love to air grievances about Air Canada’s food and drink offerings, but in actuality, it’s pretty good the vast majority of the time.

For those in Montreal, the new direct flight with Air Canada adds another option for travelling conveniently to the Scandinavia region.

Meanwhile, if you’re based elsewhere in Canada and may need to connect anyway, you might be better served on fellow Star Alliance member SAS, which recently launched services to Toronto on the Airbus A321LR.

I’d give a slight edge to SAS over Air Canada, at least in terms of soft product. The hard product on SAS’s single-aisle Airbus A321LR remains to be tested.

Conclusion

Air Canada has announced a new flight from Montreal to Copenhagen, beginning in June 2023. This route will be flown five times weekly.

For Aeroplan redemptions, the new route is pricing out as quite expensive in business class in both directions. Economy (Latitude) is very reasonable in the Copenhagen–Montreal direction, with ample eUpgrade space available.

The new Montreal–Copenhagen flight makes the Scandinavia region accessible for more Canadians, with a number of onward connecting options available on SAS from Copenhagen.