Summary
- Air Canada will begin flying from Montreal to Porto next summer.
- It will become the carrier’s longest narrowbody and Boeing 737 MAX-operated service.
- When all airlines are considered, 34 other Canadian narrowbody routes will cover the same or greater distance next summer.
Air Canada
recently added three routes to its summer 2025 European network. There’s Toronto to Prague (last served by Rouge in October 2019), Montreal to Naples (an airport pair not previously served by any airline), and Montreal to Porto (which will compete directly with Air Transat’s Airbus A321LRs). Only the latter addition, Montreal-Porto, will be on Air Canada’s narrowbodies. Portugal’s second most populous city was served by Rouge from Toronto until October 2019.
Air Canada’s longest narrowbody route
At 2,780 nautical miles (5,149 km) on a Great Circle basis, Montreal-Porto will become the Star Alliance member’s longest narrowbody-operated route, although any future addition could change it. It will be on the carrier’s two-class, 169-seat Boeing 737 MAX 8. It will cover more distance than flydubai’s new longest European MAX-operated service.
Photo: Air Canada
The route will take off from Canada on June 4 and operate four times weekly. It is scheduled as follows, with all times local. Its maximum block time back to North America, with headwinds, is 7h 20m.
- Montreal to Porto: AC928, 21:55-09:45+1 (6h 50m block)
- Porto to Montreal: AC929, 12:15-14:35 (7h 20m)
Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Simple Flying
The airline’s five longest MAX routes
As of August 29, and certainly subject to change, Montreal to Porto will be Air Canada’s longest MAX route and longest narrowbody service. It will cover about 12% more distance than Halifax to London Heathrow, which is currently number one. Moreover, Porto also has the highest block time. Occasionally, what ranks first by distance does not top the table by time.
|
Nautical miles (km) |
Max. block time |
Route (anytime August 2024-July 2025) |
Comments about Air Canada’s operation |
Route only on narrowbodies? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
2,780 (5,149) |
7h 20m |
Montreal to Porto |
Summer-only 737 MAX 8 (year-round) |
Yes |
|
2,483 (4,599) |
7h 00m |
Halifax to London Heathrow |
Year-round 737 MAX 8 (daily) |
Yes |
|
2,434 (4,508) |
6h 57m |
Vancouver to Miami |
Year-round 737 MAX 8 (six weekly in the winter, three in summer) |
Yes |
|
2,417 (4,477) |
6h 50m |
Vancouver to Cancun |
Year-round 737 MAX 8 (double daily in winter, twice weekly in summer) |
Yes |
|
2,398 (4,441) |
6h 22m |
Vancouver to Halifax |
Summer-only 737 MAX 8 (up to double daily) |
Yes |
Image: GCMap
It’s not Canada’s longest narrowbody route…
While subject to change, analysis of preliminary schedules for June-July 2025 shows that airlines plan 34 non-stop narrowbody routes of the same or longer distance as Montreal to Porto.
This finding is based on examining what the carriers have submitted to Cirium as of August 29. The map below shows the routes, and Air Transat, Icelandair, SAS, Sunwing, TAP Air Portugal, and WestJet will operate them.
Image: GCMap
Unsurprisingly, most of the routes—some 24—will be operated by Air Transat’s A321LRs. Links include the leisure carrier’s new Montreal-Marrakech service, 3,112 nautical miles (5,763 km) apart, which started in June 2024 and became the Moroccan city’s first transatlantic hop. In addition to LRs, the route currently sees the airline’s A330-200s.
Canada’s longest non-stop narrowbody service, at least for now, is Air Transat’s Montreal-Lima, at 3,443 nautical miles (6,376 km) each way. However, things aren’t necessarily quite this straightforward.
In summer 2024, the route stops in the Caribbean, whether Montego Bay or Punta Cana, to refuel, increasing the block time to Peru to 10h 15m. However, the carrier’s website shows it’ll be 8h 25m next summer, suggesting it’ll be non-stop—but that could change. If it is one-stop again, Canada’s longest non-stop narrowbody service will be SAS’s A321LRs from Stockholm to Toronto—unless something else materializes.