Next summer, Air Canada has plans to launch a new route from Montreal (YUL) to Madrid (MAD). The five-times weekly service will commence on June 5, 2024 as part of the airline’s summer timetable.
This new route complements the sole existing service by Air Canada from Toronto (YYZ) to Madrid (MAD), as well as existing routes to Barcelona (BCN) from Montreal (YUL) and Toronto (YYZ).
Air Canada’s New Montreal–Madrid Route
Air Canada’s latest new route is for service between Montreal (YUL) and Madrid (MAD). The flights are set to commence on June 5, 2024, and have been confirmed for the summer timetable; however, whether or not the service will run into the winter months is yet to be confirmed.
The eastbound flight from Montreal is scheduled to run just over seven hours, while the westbound flight to Montreal clocks in at just over eight hours.
Flights are scheduled to depart from Montreal on Sundays, Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, while flights departing Madrid are scheduled to depart on Sundays, Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays, and Fridays.
The flight times are as follows:
- AC 834 Montreal (YUL) to Madrid (MAD), departing at 8:30pm and arriving at 9:40am the next day
- AC 835 Madrid (MAD) to Montreal (YUL), departing at 1:15pm and arriving at 3:20pm
With relatively accommodating arrival times in both directions, passengers arriving in Montreal or Madrid should have plenty of options to connect onwards to another flight if they wish to do so.
The route will be served by Air Canada’s retrofitted Airbus A330-300. The three-cabin aircraft offers business class, premium economy, and economy cabins.
The flights are already loaded and bookable through Air Canada’s sales channels, including the Air Canada website and the Aeroplan search engine.
Booking Air Canada’s New Montreal–Madrid Route
If you wish to redeem points for a flight on this new route, the first place to look is Aeroplan. Air Canada’s own loyalty program lets you book every available seat using points, with the caveat being that it uses dynamic pricing, which can be quite costly.
According to Great Circle Mapper, the flight between Montreal (YUL) and Madrid (MAD) measures just shy of 3,500 miles.
To get an idea of how much the flight might cost in points, we’d then reference the first distance band on the “Between North America and Atlantic zones” section of the Aeroplan Flight Reward Chart.
In theory, you should expect to pay at least 35,000–60,000 Aeroplan points for economy, 50,000–80,000 Aeroplan points for premium economy, or 60,000–160,000 Aeroplan points for a one-way business class ticket.
In practice, since Aeroplan uses a dynamic pricing model for Air Canada flights, you can expect to pay more than the lower end of the published range, especially when it comes to business class.
For example, even at the end of the current schedule, business class pricing is already skewed above the published upper end of the dynamic spectrum for eastbound flights from Montreal to Madrid. On the other hand, the points required for an economy class ticket are in line with the award chart.
For westbound flights departing from Madrid, the dynamic pricing is quite a bit more reasonable, with a few dates at the lower end of the dynamic spectrum.
If you happen to have Aeroplan Elite Status, and therefore access to eUpgrades, you’ll want to keep an eye out for eUpgrade availability on this route. Doing so can be a way to secure a seat in business class without being subject to astronomical pricing.
For example, you can book an Economy (Latitude) fare from Montreal to Madrid at a cost of around 75,000 Aeroplan points. Then, if you wait until July 1, 2023 to choose your Select Benefits and hold off until the eUpgrades have been deposited into your account, you can apply them to instantly confirm an upgrade to business class.
Recall that Select Benefits selected after July 1, 2023 will be valid until January 16, 2025, thus making them valid for flights throughout 2024. eUpgrades that are deposited into your account prior to July 1, 2023 will have an expiry date of January 16, 2024, which is well before the start of this new route.
The good news is that there’s a plentiful amount of eUpgrade availability in both directions.
Conclusion
Starting June 5, 2024, Air Canada plans to fly from Montreal to Madrid five times per week. The route will come as the second direct flight operated by Air Canada that links Canada with the capital of Spain.
Passengers are able to book seats on the route already, either using Aeroplan points or cash.
While the dynamic pricing model for Air Canada flights has skewed eastbound business class flights from Montreal quite high, you can still get a good price on flights originating from Madrid or by using eUpgrades.
