My final flight on this trip was on Air Canada’s smallest Airbus 300 series aircraft; the Airbus 319. Air Canada only has a few of these Airbus 319’s in the fleet, so it marked a special occassion to have flown them. Despite the smaller size, Air Canada has maintained the same size of business class for this size of cabin. Let’s take a look at what a short haul business class flight looks like on a smaller Air Canada narrowbody jet.

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This post is one chapter on a winter work trip within Canada. This trip was enhanced through Marriott Bonvoy Elite Status, Air Canada Aeroplan Hertz Gold Plus Rewards. For parts of the trip, please see this index.

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Review: Air Canada Business Class A319-1, Edmonton International Airport – Vancouver International Airport

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I tend to almost exclusively fly with Air Canada within Canada for business travel. Westjet doesn’t easily compare, with no real frequent flier program and travellers that generally seem to be infrequent and less organized.

Today’s flight was on the rare Air Canada Airbus 319 series aircraft. While there are over one thousand three hundred Airbus 319’s operating globally at the time of this report, it’s pretty rare to fly one within the Air Canada fleet. There are only 5 Airbus 319 series versions within Air Canada’s portfolio.

I’ve also previously had the opportunity to fly the Airbus 319 with larger fleet operators of American Airlines, British Airways, Etihad Airlines, LAN Peru and United Airlines on short haul regional and international flights. I’ve also had the opportunity to fly with them on smaller boutique regional airlines such as Air Namibia. Be sure to check out those reviews if you want to see how other manufacturers operate their smaller jets.

Connecting through Edmonton International Airport:

Getting back to the report, I arrived into Edmonton International Airport on an Air Canada Business Class Montreal – Edmonton flight. I ended up taking a connection instead of a non stop Montreal – Vancouver route, in order to save my company a little bit of money.

After a visit to the Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge – Edmonton, it was time for me to locate my departing gate.

Air Canada
Business Class
YEG – YVR (Edmonton International Airport – Vancouver International Airport)
AC 241 – Business Class (P)

12:30 PM – 1:36 PM
Dec 7, 2023
Booked: Airbus 319-1
Flown: Airbus 319-1

Boarding Air Canada Business Class:

Air Canada Business Class tickets get you Priority Zone 1 boarding. Today’s flight happened to be parked next to a plane headed off on a trans – continental flight to Toronto. As a result, the boarding area was quite congested.

I ended up locating my departure gate at Gate 52. I found myself in Zone 1 about three back from the front of the line. During the boarding process, Air Canada would end up organizing to load several elderly people numbering into the dozens. This added a little time to the process.

On Board Air Canada Business Class:

Air Canada has been flying the Airbus 319-1 series since the year 1995, with various deliveries until 2001. The Air Canada Business Class cabin on the Airbus 319-1, much like their Airbus 320-2 series represents their oldest business class cabin. At the time of this report, there are only 5 remaining in the Air Canada fleet. This makes the opportunity to fly on an Air Canada Airbus 319 a unique and rare experience.

Despite the Airbus 319 being a rare experience, the aircraft interiors are quite dated. The last upgrade took place in 2005 as part of the Air Canada XM project, which added personal video back screens and glacier blue chairs. Since then, a lot has happened in the technology and space areas (like the introduction of smartphones), and the cabin appears somewhat antiquated by modern standards. Thankfully, work on a new cabin is in progress, and by the end of 2025, most aircraft should have undergone the modification.

For today’s flight, I entered the Air Canada Business Class A319-1 series cabin. The narrow body cabin is set up with four rows of business class in a 2 – 2 configuration. There were four rows of business class. There are no seats in position 1A and 1C, with a crew coat closet taking up this space. As a result, the cabin has fourteen seats available.

Each seat has a dated seatback monitor that offers some entertainment value. Dependent on your window shade, the screen can get washed out a bit with ambient light.

I found my way to my assigned Seat 3F, which was on the shady side of the flight. I’ve taken to sitting on the opposite side of the sun if I can manage it, as it makes for a less bright flight.

As with my other flights, I did find that the video screen and entertainment system, which has been around since 2005, has well past it’s peak performance. The screen was very slow to react, and often took several seconds in order to register commands.

When you think that a modern smartphone’s lifecycle is about three years, an audio / video entertainment system that’s been around for almost 18 years, the age of the system really stands out.

In terms of seat comfort, the space was about “as expected” for a domestic first / business class seat. The seat offered a reasonable amount of shoulder room. Showing it’s age, the seat didn’t offered many places to store digital devices such as cell phones or computers. I would end up storing these in the bulkhead wall pocket in front of me.

Pre Departure Services:

While most United States carriers offer an open bar pre-departure beverage, Air Canada simply offers a small bottle of Naya Water which was waiting on the seat. A complimentary pair of headphones was also resting on the console for use with the in flight entertainment system.

Additionally, I was joined by a seat mate who ended up in the cabin on e-upgrades. At least, that is what I gathered from overhearing the conversation based on the in seat phone call to their partner.

Typically, the pre-departure portion is when Air Canada passes out in flight menus. However, on this one hour and twenty five minute flight, a standard snack is served. As a result, there were no printed menus provided.

Departing Edmonton International Airport:

I had a straightforward departure from the Edmonton International Airport. With no departure delays, it was an immediate departure out of Edmonton under sunny skies on snowy grounds.

The Meal: A Snack

Todays flight was marked at one hour and twenty five minutes gate to gate. Once we leveled off at cruising altitude, a light snack was served.

A small chilled cheese plate was served. I ended up with a Ginger Ale, which was served without an offer of ice cubes.

Shortly after the cheese plate was served, staff came around with a snack basket. The snack basket contained Miss Vickies chips and Lindor Dark Chocolate Bars. While the snack basket occasionally runs out in terms of quantity, for this particular flight, there was more than enough to go around.

It was a fairly quick flight back to Vancouver. While the snack didn’t substitute for a complete meal replacement, it was something to keep you going and pass the time over the hour and a half duration of this particular flight.

Arriving to Vancouver International Airport:

With a mid day arrival into Vancouver, we approached on runway 16R. Without any delays, we landed pretty quickly.

We parked at Gate 31, which was located really close to the Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge – Vancouver. I disembarked and was home by the late afternoon after collecting my car at Park n Fly.

The Bottom Line: Air Canada Business Class A319-1

The Air Canada Business Class on the Airbus 319-1 has more of a novelty factor as being one of the few Air Canada Airbus 319 series aircraft. With only five left in the fleet, flying one is a different and unique experience.

The short haul flight between Edmonton and Vancouver doesn’t offer a whole lot. While you will get a more comfortable seat, and a small snack plate, there isn’t much else that is offered between these two cities. The main benefit are the priority services. which can compliment a journey quite nicely.

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If you’ve flown Air Canada Business Class between Alberta and British Columbia, have you enjoyed the snack basket or cheese plate on your travels ?

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