Air Canada has revealed its big summer 2027 international expansion, and after spending far too much time dissecting its wonderfully cryptic teaser video, I managed to get all five new destinations corrections.

Earlier this week, Air Canada released a 46-second video packed with clues to five new destinations and invited us to figure them out before today’s announcement.

I dutifully played along, studying everything from Norwegian license plates to Swiss water bottles, dragons, airport codes, and even what appeared to be a Japanese bullet train on a coffee cup.

My final five predictions were:

Oslo (OSL)
Basel (BSL)
Dubrovnik (DBV)
Shannon (SNN)
Guangzhou (CAN), changed temporarily Guatemala City (GUA), then quickly back to Guangzhou (CAN) when it was pointed out that AC already flies to Guatemala City

Air Canada’s actual five new destinations?

Guangzhou (CAN)
Oslo (OSL)
Shannon (SNN)
Basel (BSL)
Dubrovnik (DBV)

Five out of five…and Guatemala City wasn’t wrong too!

Air Canada Adds Five New International Destinations And Seven New Routes

Air Canada announced what it calls the most extensive intercontinental expansion in its history, adding five new international destinations and seven new routes for summer 2027.

The headline additions are:

Vancouver (YVR) – Guangzhou (CAN), year-round, 3x weekly, Boeing 787
Toronto (YYZ) – Oslo (OSL), 4x weekly seasonal, Airbus A321XLR
Toronto (YYZ) – Shannon (SNN), 3x weekly seasonal, Airbus A321XLR
Toronto (YYZ) – Nice (NCE), 2x weekly seasonal, Airbus A330-300
Montréal (YUL) – Basel (BSL), 4x weekly seasonal, Airbus A321XLR
Montréal (YUL) – Dubrovnik (DBV), 3x weekly seasonal, Boeing 787

Air Canada will also restore its Toronto-London Heathrow “Daytripper” flight. Meanwhile, Toronto-Shanghai will increase to daily service, Toronto-Guatemala City will become year-round after launching this December, and Montréal-Tenerife, Montréal-Lima, and Montréal-Guatemala City will also be extended to year-round operation.

So there is a lot here beyond the five mystery destinations.

Another Chinese Gateway With Vancouver – Guangzhou On 787

Air Canada will launch year-round Vancouver-Guangzhou service on May 4, 2027, operating three times weekly with a Boeing 787 Dreamliner. Guangzhou is the capital of Guangdong province and sits at the heart of the Pearl River Delta, one of the most important manufacturing and commercial regions in the world.

Air Canada says it will become the only North American carrier serving Guangzhou and will operate up to 24 weekly flights between Canada and mainland China across Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou.

Considering how constrained North America-China capacity has remained in recent years, Air Canada is taking advantage.

The schedule will be:

Flight
Route
Departure
Arrival
Days

AC77
Vancouver – Guangzhou
12:35 am
5:00 am +1
Tuesday, Thursday, Sunday

AC76
Guangzhou – Vancouver
9:45 am
6:30 am
Monday, Wednesday, Friday

Service begins May 4, 2027 from Vancouver and May 5 from Guangzhou and will operate year-round.

The A321XLR Is Already Opening New European Markets

The other fascinating part of this announcement is how quickly the Airbus A321XLR is changing Air Canada’s network.

Three of the new routes will use it:

Toronto – Oslo
Toronto – Shannon
Montréal – Basel

These are markets where Air Canada can offer lie-flat Signature Class seats without committing a 787 or A330 to a relatively thin route.

Oslo launches June 2, 2027, with four weekly flights. Shannon begins June 10 with three weekly flights, while Basel begins June 16 with four weekly flights.

The Toronto – Oslo schedule will be:

Flight
Route
Departure
Arrival
Days

AC940
Toronto – Oslo
9:30 pm
11:15 am +1
Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Sunday

AC941
Oslo – Toronto
12:30 pm
2:40 pm
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday

Toronto – Oslo will operate from June 2 through October 10, 2027, with the return operating from June 3 through October 11.

The Toronto – Shannon schedule will be:

Flight
Route
Departure
Arrival
Days

AC968
Toronto – Shannon
9:30 pm
9:05 am +1
Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday

AC969
Shannon – Toronto
10:20 am
12:35 pm
Wednesday, Friday, Sunday

Toronto – Shannon will operate from June 10 through October 2, 2027, with the return operating from June 11 through October 3.

The Montréal – Basel schedule will be:

Flight
Route
Departure
Arrival
Days

AC966
Montréal – Basel
8:30 pm
10:10 am +1
Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday

AC967
Basel – Montréal
12:15 pm
2:40 pm
Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, Sunday

Montréal – Basel will operate from June 16 through October 23, 2027, with the return operating from June 17 through October 24.

I was particularly pleased to see Basel. As I mentioned in my predictions, Basel is one of the largest unserved European airports I regularly find myself wishing had more North American service. Air Canada already serves Zürich and Geneva, and adding Basel gives it nonstop service to all three major Swiss gateways.

I’m also amused that after United passed on Scandinavia yet again, Air Canada will now launch Toronto-Oslo and become the only North American airline flying nonstop to Norway. I hope the flight does well and we will eventually see joint venture partner United add service to all three Scandinavian cpaitals.

Dubrovnik Gets A 787, Shannon Was Hidden In Plain Sight

I was less certain whether the dragon clue pointed toward Ljubljana or Dubrovnik, but ultimately chose Dubrovnik because of the Game of Thrones connection and the Croatian checkerboard imagery.

That turned out to be correct.

Air Canada will fly Montréal-Dubrovnik three times weekly beginning May 11, 2027. And unlike Oslo, Shannon, and Basel, Dubrovnik will get a Boeing 787 Dreamliner rather than an A321XLR.

The schedule will be:

Flight
Route
Departure
Arrival
Days

AC950
Montréal – Dubrovnik
6:15 pm
8:30 am +1
Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday

AC951
Dubrovnik – Montréal
10:45 am
1:45 pm
Wednesday, Friday, Sunday

Montréal – Dubrovnik will operate from May 11 through October 23, 2027, with the return operating from May 12 through October 24.

One of my favorite clues turned out to be exactly what we thought it was.

A flight attendant named “Clare” appeared in the teaser.

Shannon Airport is in County Clare.

Clever.

Air Canada will operate Toronto-Shannon three times weekly from June 10 through early October using the A321XLR. It will be Air Canada’s second destination in Ireland after Dublin and the only nonstop service between Canada and Shannon.

And Nice Gets Another Air Canada Route

Nice was not one of the five new destinations because Air Canada already serves Nice from Montréal, but Toronto-Nice is nevertheless a new route.

It will operate twice weekly on an Airbus A330-300 beginning June 16.

The schedule will be:

Flight
Route
Departure
Arrival
Days

AC964
Toronto – Nice
7:30 pm
9:40 am +1
Wednesday, Saturday

AC965
Nice – Toronto
11:10 am
2:30 pm
Wednesday, Saturday

Toronto – Nice will operate from June 16 through October 23, 2027.

Combined with Montréal-Nice, Air Canada says it will offer daily service to the French Riviera during the summer.

No objection from me. Nice is one of those places where summer demand seems nearly limitless, even if I increasingly prefer Europe outside peak summer.

This Will Be A Huge Summer For Air Canada

Air Canada says it will operate more than 125 international routes in summer 2027, offering as many as 169,000 seats per week from Canada to more than 85 international destinations across the Atlantic, Pacific, Mexico, Caribbean, Central America, and South America.

That represents more than an 8% increase in available seat miles compared to summer 2026 and Air Canada is looking toward further expansion.

Mark Galardo, Air Canada’s Chief Commercial Officer, says additional aircraft are arriving shortly and specifically promised further network announcements along with details concerning the airline’s first Boeing 787-10 operations.

So perhaps the route guessing games are not over yet…

CONCLUSION

Air Canada’s cryptic teaser turned out to point toward Guangzhou, Oslo, Shannon, Basel, and Dubrovnik.

I guessed all five correctly, but more importantly, this is an impressive expansion. The A321XLR is already allowing Air Canada to experiment with thinner European markets like Oslo, Shannon, and Basel, while widebody growth is enabling new flying to Guangzhou and Dubrovnik.

image: Air Canada

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