Air Canada Rouge
Air Canada Rouge (Rouge meaning 'red' in French) is a subsidiary of Air Canada focused on operating lower-cost flights for leisure travellers. It is fully integrated into the Air Canada mainline and Air Canada Express networks; flights are sold with AC flight numbers but are listed as "operated by Air Canada Rouge" (similar to regional flights operated under the Air Canada Express banner).
Key facts
History
The airline was launched in December 2012 and began services on July 1, 2013. The first destination was Kingston, Jamaica, from Toronto, as part of the Air Canada Leisure Group to compete more efficiently with Air Transat, Sunwing, and WestJet in the leisure and vacation travel market, largely operating routes to Europe, the Caribbean, and the United States.
At the time of the launch, it had a fleet of four aircraft, two Airbus A319s and two Boeing 767s transferred from the parent company. Its fleet expanded to 28 aircraft within 18 months and was expected to reach 16 Boeing 767s, 20 Airbus A319s and five Airbus A321s by mid 2016. By early September 2016, the airline had expanded its Boeing 767 fleet to 19 aircraft.
On March 24, 2014, Air Canada announced plans for Air Canada Rouge to expand into Western Canada beginning in Spring 2014, to serve predominantly leisure markets from Vancouver and Calgary to Los Angeles, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Palm Springs, Honolulu, Maui and Anchorage. A seasonal service from Vancouver to Osaka/Kansai started in May 2015. In December 2015, new routes were announced including Toronto to Miami, Fort Myers, Charlottetown, and Deer Lake. Year-round routes include Toronto and Montreal to Fort Lauderdale; Montreal to Miami; Vancouver to San Diego and Mexico City; and Calgary to Phoenix.
In May 2020, amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, Air Canada announced the retirements of 79 aircraft among its mainline and Rouge fleets. This included Boeing 767, Embraer 190, and Airbus A319 aircraft. Air Canada Rouge was significantly affected, as the airline lost all 25 767s, and 2 A319s, leaving it with only 18 A320/A321, and 20 Airbus A319 aircraft in their fleet. This means the airline will no longer be able to reach some of its destinations in Europe, such as Budapest or Zagreb. Plans were in the works to continue to fly to some European destinations that are in range of these narrowbody aircraft. As of February 2021, the airline removed most of its Central and Eastern European destinations from their schedule, including Warsaw and Bucharest due to a lack of suitable aircraft.
Air Canada Rouge service was suspended from February 9, 2021 to September 7, 2021 to adhere to new travel rules by the government aimed at reducing non-essential travel.
On December 17, 2024, Air Canada announced that it would transfer its Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft to Rouge's fleet to replace the Airbus fleet, and it would create a Rouge hub at Vancouver International Airport. Air Canada Rouge's Airbus A320 and A321 fleet will transfer to the mainline fleet as part of the transition.
Its airports
Its main hubs
Airports that list it on their own website
These airports include this airline in the carrier list on their official website.
Other airports in its network
Route network according to OpenFlights (open route database). It may not reflect recent schedule changes.
Data from Wikidata (CC0) · summary from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).
Cite
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This page was last updated on October 15, 2026
APA
Vuelopedia. (2026, October 15). Air Canada Rouge. Retrieved October 17, 2026, from https://vuelopedia.org/en/airline/air-canada-rouge
MLA
“Air Canada Rouge.” Vuelopedia, Fundación Poderia, 15 Oct. 2026, vuelopedia.org/en/airline/air-canada-rouge. Accessed 17 Oct. 2026.
Chicago
Vuelopedia. “Air Canada Rouge.” Fundación Poderia. Last modified October 15, 2026. https://vuelopedia.org/en/airline/air-canada-rouge.
Harvard
Vuelopedia (2026) Air Canada Rouge. Available at: https://vuelopedia.org/en/airline/air-canada-rouge (Accessed: 17 October 2026).
BibTeX
@misc{vuelopedia_en_airline_air_canada_rouge,
author = {{Vuelopedia}},
title = {{Air Canada Rouge}},
publisher = {Fundación Poderia},
year = {2026},
date = {2026-10-15},
url = {https://vuelopedia.org/en/airline/air-canada-rouge},
howpublished = {\url{https://vuelopedia.org/en/airline/air-canada-rouge}},
urldate = {2026-10-17},
note = {Accessed 2026-10-17}
}Wikipedia
{{cite web |url=https://vuelopedia.org/en/airline/air-canada-rouge |title=Air Canada Rouge |website=Vuelopedia |publisher=Fundación Poderia |date=2026-10-15 |access-date=2026-10-17 |language=en}}Types it operates · 64 aircraft · 5 models
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