Air Canada Rouge (Rouge meaning 'red' in French) is a subsidiary of Air Canada focused on operating lower-cost flights for leisure travellers. It is fully integrated into the Air Canada mainline and Air Canada Express networks; flights are sold with AC flight numbers but are listed as "operated by Air Canada Rouge" (similar to regional flights operated under the Air Canada Express banner).
History
The airline was launched in December 2012 and began services on July 1, 2013. The first destination was Kingston, Jamaica, from Toronto, as part of the Air Canada Leisure Group to compete more efficiently with Air Transat, Sunwing, and WestJet in the leisure and vacation travel market, largely operating routes to Europe, the Caribbean, and the United States.
At the time of the launch, it had a fleet of four aircraft, two Airbus A319s and two Boeing 767s transferred from the parent company. Its fleet expanded to 28 aircraft within 18 months and was expected to reach 16 Boeing 767s, 20 Airbus A319s and five Airbus A321s by mid 2016.[5]