The first of Air Canada's new Airbus A319 fleet made a debut appearance in Toronto today before taking passengers on its inaugural flight from Toronto to Boston on January 1st, 1997. The A319 itself is a smaller, sister ship to the A320 offering 112 seats in a mixed business and hospitality configuration. We have built a fleet with a high degree of commonality.
Commonality means that the similarity between the aircraft types results in lower costs.
The commonality between the A319 and A320 extends to engines, spare parts and flight simulators, resulting in economies of scale and a lower capital cost for the aircraft introduction. With the A319 and the completion of our fleet renewal program, Air Canada will have one of the youngest and most advanced fleets of aircraft in the world with an average age of 5.5 years. The 35 Airbus A319s will replace DC-9s.