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Toronto, 19 May 2009 (as per press release in Montreal and Palma de Mallorca, Spain, May 19, 2009)- Air Canada and fellow Star Alliance partner Spanair today announced they have entered a codeshare agreement that expands their networks between popular business and leisure destinations in Canada and Spain. This follows the re-introduction May 1, 2009 by Air Canada of non-stop flights between Toronto and Madrid, the only scheduled service between Canada and Spain. “By working more closely and developing our relationship with our Star Alliance partner Spanair, Air Canada now offers customers easier access to some of the most popular destinations in Spain for business travellers and vacationers, together with the full range of Star Alliance benefits,” said Marcel Forget, Vice President of Network Planning at Air Canada. "Our agreement with Air Canada strengthens the Star Alliance offering from Spain, directly connecting several destinations in Spain to and from points in Canada and provides a unique travel experience to our customers," said Sergio Allard, Chief Commercial Officer at Spanair. Customers of both airlines benefit from simplified bookings, seamless connections on a single ticket, baggage check-through to final destination, and other Star Alliance benefits such as reciprocal travel reward redemption and accumulation that counts towards top tier status. Under the codeshare agreement, Air Canada’s network has expanded to serve six destinations in Spain on codeshare flights designated by the AC code that are operated by Spanair between Madrid and: Barcelona, Palma de Mallorca, Malaga, Alicante, Bilbao and Valencia. Spanair customers in turn, benefit from an expanded network including non-stop codeshare service designated by the JK code between Madrid and Toronto, operated by Air Canada, with convenient connections in Toronto to and from: Montreal, Calgary and Vancouver. Both carriers thus offer services between popular destinations in Canada and Spain, each one using its own code throughout the entire itinerary. The new codeshare flights are now available for purchase. Between Toronto and Madrid, Air Canada operates non-stop service with 211-seat Boeing 767-300ER aircraft. Air Canada’s new in-flight product features lie-flat beds in its international business class cabin, Executive First, and digital quality seatback entertainment on demand for all customers – on international as well as shorter North American flights, in both economy and business class.
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