Air Canada is Official Airline to Nine Canadian Symphony Orchestras Coast to Coast with Addition of Symphony Nova Scotia and the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra

Introduces industry-leading pre-boarding for customers with carry-on instruments and discount policy for additional seat  

MONTREAL, Sept. 25, 2015 /CNW Telbec/ - Air Canada today announced it has added Symphony Nova Scotia and the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra to its roster of Canadian symphony orchestras it supports from coast to coast. The airline also announced today new industry-leading policies offering special care for carry-on musical instruments, the latest in a series of measures designed to ease its customers' travel experience.

"We are delighted to announce our partnership with Symphony Nova Scotia and the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, making Air Canada the Official Airline of nine of the country's leading symphony orchestras coast to coast," said Craig Landry, Air Canada's Vice President, Marketing who is speaking at today's Symphony Nova Scotia's Symphony Week concert at Halifax's Stanfield International Airport. "As a proud Canadian brand, we believe in supporting these pre-eminent arts organizations to help enrich and engage audiences across this country. Through our role as Official Airline, we are honoured to help promote the best of Canadian orchestra performances worldwide by supporting international tours with our global reach."

In addition to Symphony Nova Scotia and the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, Air Canada is proud to be Official Airline to: Orchestre Symphonique de Montreal, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, National Arts Centre Orchestra, Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, as well as supporting the new generation of talent at the National Youth Orchestra of Canada. 

"We are also pleased to introduce industry-leading enhancements for all our customers travelling with carry-on instruments, including pre-boarding benefits and a generous discount when purchasing an additional seat for their instrument," concluded Mr. Landry.

Effective today, customers may purchase a seat at a 50 per cent discount off any published fare, including the lowest Tango fares, to accommodate their musical instrument. More information about this industry-leading initiative is here.

Also effective today, all customers travelling with instruments as carry-on on Air Canada, Air Canada Express and Air Canada rouge flights have the opportunity to pre-board ahead of general boarding to ensure their instruments may be conveniently and securely stowed close by.

These initiatives follow other recent enhancements by Air Canada such as Boarding by Zone and Bringing the Right Carry On Baggage Onboard introduced to provide customers with a smoother and more efficient travel experience.

About Air Canada 

Air Canada is Canada's largest domestic and international airline serving more than 190 destinations on five continents. Canada's flag carrier is among the 20 largest airlines in the world and in 2014 served more than 38 million customers. Air Canada provides scheduled passenger service directly to 64 Canadian cities, 52 destinations in the United States and 78 cities in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Australia, the Caribbean, Mexico, Central America and South America. Air Canada is a founding member of Star Alliance, the world's most comprehensive air transportation network serving 1,321 airports in 193 countries. Air Canada is the only international network carrier in North America to receive a Four-Star ranking according to independent U.K. research firm Skytrax. For more information, please visit: aircanada.com follow @AirCanada on Twitter and join Air Canada on Facebook.

SOURCE Air Canada

Isabelle Arthur (Montréal), 514 422-5788, [email protected]; Peter Fitzpatrick (Toronto), 416 263-5576, [email protected]; Angela Mah (Vancouver), 604 270-5741, [email protected]; Internet: aircanada.com