Air Canada Pulls the 787 From 11 Transatlantic Routes, Bringing in A321XLRs on Several

MONTREAL, Nov. 8, 2026 — Air Canada will take the Boeing 787 off 11 routes to Europe and North Africa “in the coming months,” with the Airbus A321XLR taking over some or all frequencies on six of them and 777s or A330s on others. This is separate from the 737 MAX 8 move to Rouge we reported Nov. 7.

Routes losing the 787

From	To
Calgary (YYC)	London Heathrow
Ottawa (YOW)	London Heathrow
Montreal (YUL)	Toulouse, Porto, Copenhagen, Paris, Edinburgh, Casablanca, Berlin
Toronto (YYZ)	Zurich, Venice

Where the 787s are going

December 2026: Toronto–Barcelona and new Vancouver–Sapporo.
May 2027: Vancouver–Guangzhou, new Montreal–Dubrovnik, plus Montreal–Tel Aviv and Toronto–Prague.
June 2027: Toronto–Stockholm.
Vancouver–Singapore nonstop ends in January 2027.

Fleet details

Air Canada has five A321XLRs in service and 25 more on order (30 in total); the first arrived in April 2026. They are based in Montreal and Toronto.
New XLR destinations include Basel, Oslo, Shannon and, from September 2027, seasonal Seville.
The first 787-10 is expected before the end of 2026 (14 firm orders, 12 options).
Exact start dates for each 787-to-XLR swap: TBA.

What it means for non-revs

On the six routes getting XLRs, a widebody is being replaced, at least on some frequencies, by a single-aisle jet with a much smaller business cabin. Expect fewer open seats, and far fewer in J.
Which six routes and which dates are not yet confirmed, so check the aircraft type on any of the 11 routes before you list.
The freed 787s add widebody seats on Barcelona, Sapporo, Guangzhou, Prague, Tel Aviv and Stockholm, which could make those markets easier once they start.
Interline and ZED travellers on AC’s Europe flights face the same squeeze.