Where Air Canada Is Flying Its High-Capacity 450-Seat Boeing 777s This Summer
ID 145302516 © Tom Samworth | Dreamstime.com
Air Canada is deploying its densest-configured Boeing 777-300ERs—each with a whopping 450 seats—on a targeted list of long-haul and domestic routes during the peak June to September 2025 travel season. These jets, unmatched in capacity among North American carriers, are being used to address surging demand on lower-yield leisure and VFR (visiting friends and relatives) routes, primarily out of Montreal.
Air Canada’s High-Density 777-300ER: A North American Outlier
With seven of its 19 Boeing 777-300ERs configured with 450 seats, Air Canada operates the highest-capacity scheduled aircraft in North America. These aircraft are outfitted with:
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28 lie-flat business class seats
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24 premium economy recliners
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398 economy class seats
This means that only 6% of seats are in business class, reflecting their intended use on high-volume, price-sensitive routes where seat-mile cost is king. However, this configuration comes at a trade-off: passengers face a bathroom-to-seat ratio of 1:70 in economy/premium economy, potentially leading to in-flight congestion issues.
Routes Getting The 450-Seaters: A Montreal-Centric Focus
Between June and September 2025, Air Canada is almost exclusively operating these aircraft from Montreal-Trudeau International Airport (YUL)—a notable shift from prior years, when Toronto was a key 450-seater base.
Here’s where the high-capacity 777s are scheduled to fly:
| Route | Frequency |
|---|---|
| Montreal – Paris (CDG) | 2x daily |
| Montreal – Rome (FCO) | Daily |
| Montreal – Athens (ATH) | Daily |
| Montreal – Tokyo Narita (NRT) | Daily |
| Montreal – Brussels (BRU) | Daily from June 2 (except June 7) |
| Montreal – Vancouver (YVR) | Daily |
| Montreal – Barcelona (BCN) | One-off (June 1) |
| Montreal – London Heathrow | One-off (June 7) |
| Toronto – Montreal (YYZ-YUL) | One-off (June 1 positioning) |
Air Canada will position one of its 450-seaters from Toronto to Montreal on June 1 (AC414), and later operate the aircraft onward to Barcelona as AC822.
What’s Changed From Last Year? A Major Shift From Toronto
In summer 2024, Air Canada operated its 450-seat jets from Toronto to major European destinations, including Athens, Barcelona, Munich, Paris, and Rome. In 2025, Toronto sees just one flight—the ferry to Montreal—indicating a clear strategic pivot.
Montreal is now the hub of high-density flying, with major frequency increases, particularly to Paris-CDG, which will now be operated twice daily with 450-seat 777s. Last summer, only 15 of the Montreal–CDG rotations used these aircraft, with the rest using smaller-configured widebodies.
The change appears driven by a strategy to:
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Boost yields out of Toronto by using aircraft with more premium seats
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Leverage Montreal for more cost-efficient, high-volume flying to leisure-heavy international markets
Comparing North America’s Densest Jets
No other major North American carrier operates widebodies with as many seats as Air Canada’s 450-seaters:
| Aircraft | Seats | Airline |
|---|---|---|
| 777-300ER | 450 | Air Canada |
| A330-300 | 363 | Air Transat |
| 777-200 (non-ER) | 364 | United Airlines |
| A350-900 (ex-LATAM) | 339 | Delta Air Lines |
| 787-9 | 320 | WestJet |
Charter operators like Atlas Air do fly 747-400s with up to 453 seats, but these are not used for scheduled service and are mostly inactive.
Bottom Line
Air Canada’s high-density 450-seat Boeing 777-300ERs are being focused almost entirely on its Montreal operations for summer 2025, a shift from past years when Toronto also played a role. These jets are now flying high-demand leisure and VFR routes to Europe and Asia, as well as key domestic services to Vancouver.
With unmatched capacity among scheduled North American carriers, these aircraft allow Air Canada to maximize margins during peak season, even as premium demand shifts to other parts of the network. Passengers, however, may want to brace for long lines at the lavatory.
