Air Canada is putting its largest twin-engine jet on more of its summer 2027 flights to Venice. According to schedule filings reported by AeroRoutes on 16 October, the airline has expanded its planned Boeing 777-300ER operation on both its Montreal–Venice and Toronto–Venice routes, replacing the Airbus A330-300 on additional dates next summer.
AeroRoutes describes the 777-300ER on these flights as a 400-seat aircraft, which makes the change a sizeable capacity increase on two seasonal routes that Air Canada otherwise flies with the smaller A330-300.
Montreal–Venice: three weekly flights
On the Montreal route, the 777-300ER now operates three times a week from 10 June to 3 July 2027, and again from 26 August 2027. Previously, the larger aircraft was only due to take over from 7 September 2027, so the filing adds an early-summer block and brings the late-season switch forward by about a week and a half.
The schedule listed by AeroRoutes is:
- AC818 departs Montreal at 19:25 and arrives in Venice at 09:10 the next morning, on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.
- AC819 departs Venice at 12:20 and arrives in Montreal at 15:05 the same day, on the same days.
Toronto–Venice: four weekly flights
On the Toronto Pearson route, the 777-300ER operates four times a week from 9 June to 5 July 2027 and again from 27 August 2027. The previous plan had the type starting on 6 September 2027.
- AC816 departs Toronto at 19:15 and arrives in Venice at 09:30 the next morning.
- AC817 departs Venice at 12:20 and arrives in Toronto at 15:45 the same day.
The Toronto flights run on the four days of the week when the Montreal service does not, so between them the two routes give Venice a daily Air Canada departure to Canada on most of the dates covered by the filing. AeroRoutes did not list the aircraft for the peak weeks between early July and late August in this update.
Why the bigger jet matters
The 777-300ER is Air Canada's highest-capacity aircraft and is normally associated with its busiest long-haul routes. Moving it onto Venice for parts of the season suggests the airline sees enough demand at the start and the end of the summer to fill a much larger cabin on a leisure-heavy transatlantic market. Late August and early September are typically busy for European city and cruise travel, and Venice is one of Italy's main gateways for both.
The evening departures from Canada and morning arrivals in Venice follow the standard pattern for eastbound transatlantic flying, giving passengers a full day on arrival. The midday departures from Venice reach Montreal and Toronto in mid-afternoon, which leaves time for onward connections across Air Canada's domestic and North American network at both hubs.
For travellers, the main practical effect is more seats and, on the 777-300ER, a different cabin layout from the A330-300, so anyone already booked on these dates may see a seat reassignment once the swap is processed. The change surfaced through schedule filings rather than a formal Air Canada announcement, and filings can still be revised before next summer.
Part of a wider summer 2027 build-up
The Venice upgrade is one of several transatlantic changes Air Canada has filed for 2027. Earlier this week the airline confirmed it will add a new nonstop between Montreal and Seville on the Airbus A321XLR from September 2027, extending its single-aisle long-haul flying into southern Spain. Taken together, the moves show the carrier using its widebody and long-range narrowbody fleets to match aircraft size to each European market's seasonal demand.
For now, the filing affects only the summer 2027 season, when Air Canada's Montreal and Toronto flights to Venice Marco Polo are at their busiest.
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