Air Canada is about to get a lot more flexible across the Atlantic. Schedule data picked up by Cirium Diio and AeroRoutes shows the carrier's new Airbus A321XLR — a long-range narrowbody with 182 seats — will appear on around 20 transatlantic routes in 2027, with 11 of them getting the type for the first time.
The headline addition is Seville. From September 8, 2027, Air Canada will fly from Montréal three to four times weekly to the southern Spanish city, and it will be the only airline linking North America with Seville nonstop. The route runs only in winter, which is exactly what the XLR is good at: thin, seasonal markets that don't justify a widebody.
Other new cities on the 2027 list include Oslo (from Toronto, four weekly from June 2), Shannon (from Toronto, three weekly from June 10), Edinburgh (from Montréal, four weekly from June 11), Basel (from Montréal, four weekly from June 16) and Stockholm Arlanda (from Toronto, from September 30). Basel, Oslo, Seville and Shannon are either brand-new cities for Air Canada or returning ones — and aside from Shannon, which a 737 MAX 8 could handle, most of them probably only happen because of the XLR's low trip costs.
Some existing routes will swap down to the XLR for part of the year. Madrid gets daily XLR service from Montréal between March 28 and June 15 in the shoulder season — replacing a planned four-to-five-times-weekly Airbus A330-300, a 39% capacity cut that should push up load factors and fares — before a 255-seat 787-8 takes over on June 16. Dublin from Montréal is similar: three to four weekly on the XLR from May 2 before bigger aircraft return. Amsterdam, oddly, gets the XLR on just three dates in April.
The most interesting move for travellers, though, is London. From March 28, 2027, flight AC862 will restore a daytime departure from Toronto Pearson to Heathrow — leaving at 8:30 AM and landing at 9:00 PM local time. Air Canada ran a daytime Heathrow service for years until 2020, always on widebodies. It'll be handy both for point-to-point passengers and anyone connecting from overnight arrivals into Toronto. With XLR routes from Ottawa (starting December 16, 2026) and Halifax (December 17, 2026) also headed to Heathrow, London will be by far the busiest European destination for the type in 2027.
Why it matters: smaller aircraft on long routes usually mean more city pairs and better timings rather than a different onboard product — Air Canada's XLRs still offer lie-flat business class in a narrow cabin. If you're in eastern Canada or connecting through Montréal or Toronto, 2027 brings first-ever nonstops to Seville, plus easier access to Basel, Oslo, Shannon and Edinburgh. Book the odd-date Amsterdam flights at your own risk. Schedules are still shifting, so expect the list to evolve before summer 2027.
