Air Canada has taken delivery of its first Airbus A220-300, designed, built and delivered from the Mirabel A220 program facilities in Canada.

The first aircraft out of an order of 45 will enter service in January 2020, making Air Canada the first airline to operate the A220-300 in North America.

The A220 will enable the Montreal-based airline to comfortably fly passengers on various routes in Canada and to the United States, offering a dual-class cabin that comfortably seats 137 passengers; 12 in business class and 125 in economy class.

Being the only aircraft purpose-built for this specific small single-aisle market segment, the A220 will enable Air Canada to open new routes that were previously not feasible. Together, the performance, economics and comfort features of the A220 will allow Air Canada to fly Montreal to Seattle as well as Toronto to San Jose, as of Spring 2020.

The first Air Canada A220 will be unveiled to the public and media during a ceremony at the airline’s headquarters in Montreal on January 15, 2020.

Air Canada’s two-class cabin on the A220 will have a total of 137 seats: 12 in a 2×2 configuration in Business Class and 125 in a 3×2 layout for Economy passengers. Every seat on the A220 features a Panasonic eX1 in-flight entertainment system with content available in 15 languages and featuring more than 1,000 hours of high-quality entertainment, including access to Bell Media’s premium entertainment service, Crave, and Canadian-based multi-platform audio service, Stingray. (CNW Group/Air Canada)

By the end of November 2019, the A220 had accumulated 530 orders. Around 100 A220s are currently in service with 6 operators worldwide.

Previously Air Canada announced the first two new routes to be operated with the Airbus A220-300, will be the only nonstop service between Montreal and Seattle/Tacoma and between Toronto and San Jose, California, both beginning in the spring of 2020.