Air Canada will open a nonstop Toronto–Nice route for summer 2027, adding a second Canadian gateway to the French Riviera alongside Montreal. The service will operate twice weekly with an Airbus A330-300 from June 16 to October 23, 2027. The announcement is part of a much broader Air Canada expansion that also includes Basel-Mulhouse, Oslo, Shannon and Dubrovnik.
Toronto–Nice starts in June 2027
Flights AC964 and AC965 are scheduled on Wednesdays and Saturdays between June 16 and October 23, 2027, using an Airbus A330-300.
The route connects Nice directly with Toronto-Pearson, one of Air Canada’s largest hubs. That matters beyond the local Toronto market: passengers from the French Riviera gain one-stop access to a broad network across Canada and the United States, while Canadian travellers receive another nonstop entry point into southern France.
Nice already has an Air Canada link to Montreal, so the new route creates a two-gateway Canadian strategy for the Côte d’Azur rather than replacing an existing service.
Basel-Mulhouse–Montreal is the other major French-market addition
Air Canada’s 2027 programme also includes a nonstop Montreal–EuroAirport Basel-Mulhouse service beginning in June.
The airport is often marketed commercially as Basel, but its infrastructure is physically located in Saint-Louis, Haut-Rhin, France, under a binational French-Swiss operating arrangement.
That makes Montreal–Basel-Mulhouse another new Air Canada route serving a French airport in 2027, and gives north-eastern France and the Basel metropolitan area direct access to Air Canada’s Montreal hub.
Oslo and Shannon will use the A321XLR
Air Canada also plans to launch Toronto–Oslo four times weekly and Toronto–Shannon three times weekly, both with the Airbus A321XLR.
The choice illustrates a broader change in transatlantic strategy: not every new European route requires a Boeing 787 or Airbus A330. The A321XLR allows an airline to serve thinner long-haul markets with less capacity and potentially lower trip costs.
The A321XLR is becoming a genuine transatlantic tool
Air Canada received its first A321XLR in April 2026 and plans a fleet of 30 aircraft.
The type is not simply a replacement for older narrowbodies. It is being used as a network-development tool, including on thinner transatlantic services.
Air Canada also plans a daytime Toronto–London Heathrow frequency with the A321XLR, while maintaining a premium product that includes lie-flat Signature Class seating.
Toronto is being strengthened as a global hub
The European expansion sits inside a broader plan for Toronto-Pearson.
Air Canada also intends to increase Toronto–Shanghai to daily service and make Guatemala City year-round, while future Boeing 787-10 deliveries are expected to support further long-haul growth, with part of that fleet based in Toronto.
The strategy therefore combines two complementary aircraft types: the 787-10 for larger long-haul markets and the A321XLR for thinner or more seasonal routes.
Why Nice gets an A330 rather than an A321XLR
The use of the A330-300 is itself revealing.
Nice has strong summer tourism, premium leisure demand, a large international resident base and significant long-haul appeal. Air Canada appears to expect enough seasonal volume to justify a widebody rather than testing the market with a smaller XLR.
That differentiates Nice from new destinations such as Oslo and Shannon, where the narrower aircraft is central to the economics.
Nice and Basel-Mulhouse broaden Air Canada’s French footprint
For the French market, the 2027 programme is not just another Paris-centred expansion.
Toronto–Nice and Montreal–Basel-Mulhouse add two regional gateways, while the existing Montreal–Nice route remains in place.
This reflects a broader transatlantic trend in which airlines increasingly target high-value regional markets directly rather than routing every passenger through the largest hubs.
A new generation of transatlantic routes
For decades, opening a long-haul route often meant committing a large widebody and a large number of seats. New-generation long-range narrowbodies change that equation.
Air Canada’s 2027 schedule shows both approaches at once: the A330-300 on a proven, high-demand Riviera market, and A321XLRs on thinner European routes.
The key development is therefore not only that Nice gains Toronto. It is that Air Canada is building a more flexible European network in which regional French airports can play a larger role.
Main sources
Air Canada 2027 network announcements; Airbus A321XLR programme information; Air Canada fleet and hub strategy disclosures.
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