Air Canada Boeing 777
An Air Canada Boeing 777 taxis at Sydney airport after being given the all clear to resume its journey to Vancouver July 28, 2011. Reuters/Tim Wimborne

Air Canada has deployed its subsidiary Rouge to service some domestic routes effective spring of 2015. These include the routes Toronto-Kelowna, B.C., Toronto-Sydney, N.S. as well as the seasonal route between Calgary and Halifax.

Offering economy and premium class seating, Rouge will start servicing the Calgary and Halifax route starting May 1. Flights will start initially at six times per week, increasing to up to 10 weekly flights during the peak summer period. Daily flights to Sydney will likewise start on May 1. The Toronto-Kelowna route, meantime, will start June 1, with up to daily service flights during the peak summer period.

Authorities at the Nanaimo Airport are excited over Rouge's daily non-stop service to Calgary. In a statement, the Nanaimo Airport Commission said the facility has seen passenger numbers climb more than 70 percent since 2008. The commission said the airport enjoyed an average of 33.3 percent growth per month in the first six months of 2014. Year to date growth in 2014 is at nearly 20 percent.

It expects Air Canada Rouge's entry to help the facility achieve record numbers again in 2015. The new daily flights to Nanaimo Airport arrive at 1:15pm and depart for Calgary at 1:45 p.m. Air Canada will operate a Q400 on this route.

Apart from the domestic routes, Air Canada will return to Mexico City from Montreal by operating new Rouge summer service, also effective in May. Flights to Varadero, Cuba from Calgary and Montreal, as well as the Montreal to Martinique route will now be serviced by Rouge.

Air Canada Rouge has been offering service to 68 leisure destinations in the United States, Caribbean, Mexico and Europe since it was launched in July 2013. It uses the Boeing 737 and 767 aircraft. It is set to start flying to Japan next year.

Moreover, Air Canada likewise announced new daily non-stop service using Jazz-operated turboprops for Calgary-Terrace, B.C., Calgary-Nanaimo, B.C, and Vancouver-Comox, B.C. routes. It also said it will be adding daily flights between Toronto and Austin, Tex.

"We look forward to returning to Austin, Texas from Toronto and to Mexico City from Montreal. All of Air Canada's new services are designed to connect conveniently our Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto and Montreal hubs, offering customers more choices and easy connections to and from our extensive North American, European, Asian, and South American network," Benjamin Smith, President, Passenger Airlines, said in a statement.