Air Canada has taken delivery of its first A220-300, designed, built and delivered from the Mirabel programme facilities in Canada. The first aircraft out of an order of 45 will enter service in January, making Air Canada the first airline to operate the A220-300 in North America.

In December, Air Canada will be the first Canadian airline to take delivery of this Canadian-designed and developed aircraft when it receives the first of its 45 A220s on order.

Air Canada will face a competition probe before the airline can complete its proposed acquisition of Air Transat. Air Transat shareholders overwhelmingly voted last week in favour of the C$720 million deal, which valued the carrier at C$18-a-share.

Air Canada and Transat have concluded a definitive arrangement agreement that provides for flag-carrier’s acquisition of all issued and outstanding shares in the private carrier. The value of the all-cash transaction is approximately $520 million.

Air Canada has announced the introduction of new seasonal Montreal-Bordeaux service between June 15th and September 15th next year. Flights will operate four days a week with Boeing 737 MAX 8 and are timed to optimise connectivity to Air Canada’s North American network.

Air Canada has announced Alipay and WeChat Pay are now payment choices available when booking on the carrier’s North American and Hong Kong websites.