Air Canada to shift more routes out of Montreal, Toronto to Rouge this summer

MONTREAL – Air Canada (TSX:AC.A) will shift several additional southern destinations to its new Rouge service this summer.

The announcement affects service between Toronto or Montreal and five Caribbean islands as well as the Mexican coastal resort of Cancun and Tampa, Fla.

The Montreal-based company has been expanding its Rouge service since it was launched last summer as a lower-cost carrier with separate work and pay scales from the main Air Canada airline.

By the end of March, Air Canada Rouge will operate of four Boeing 767s and 13 Airbus A319 passenger jets transferred from the main fleet.

Air Canada announced this month that it planned to hire hundreds of additional flight attendants this year as it prepares to launch Rouge this spring out of Calgary and Vancouver and expand its fleet.

The new Rouge destinations announced Monday are all out of Montreal or Toronto and include the Caribbean islands of Cuba, Dominican Republic, Bahamas, Barbados and Haiti.