Air Canada and Flydubai Partnership Launches Aeroplan Award Benefits

Air Canada’s partnership with low-cost Middle Eastern airline Flydubai, including loyalty program award benefits, is now live.

The partnership means that Air Canada passengers have access to 9 new destinations in Flydubai’s route network.

“Air Canada is very pleased to partner with Flydubai, further expanding our connectivity to the Middle East and the Indian subcontinent, a growing source of immigration and travel to Canada,” said Mark Galardo, Executive Vice President of Revenue and Network Planning at Air Canada. “Together we look forward to bringing together our networks and building a better experience for our customers.”

Let’s take a look at what Air Canada and Flydubai’s codeshare means for passengers.

Air Canada and Flydubai Codeshare Partnership: The Details

The partnership was announced in May 2023, just months after the Canadian flag carrier began a codeshare relationship with Emirates, also based in Dubai.

The agreement with Flydubai gives Air Canada permission to use its own flight numbers on 9 Flydubai routes, permitting easy onward connections from Air Canada’s nonstop flights to Dubai (DXB) from Toronto (YYZ) and Vancouver (YVR).

This news should be particularly exciting for adventurous travelers as these destinations include off-the-beaten-track destinations across the Middle East, East Africa, and Southern Asia like Colombo, Sri Lanka (CMB); Dammam, Saudi Arabia (DMM); Jeddah, Saudi Arabia (JED); Karachi, Pakistan (KHI); Manama, Bahrain (BAH); Medina, Saudi Arabia (MED); and Muscat, Oman (MCT).

An interline agreement between the 2 carriers will also bring Air Canada customers the ability to connect seamlessly to a further 60 destinations served by Flydubai — more than 30 of which aren’t served by any other Air Canada partner.

“We are very pleased to be adding Air Canada to our list of partners and to offer their passengers a seamless travel experience on the Flydubai network,” said Hamad Obaidalla, Chief Commercial Officer at Flydubai. “We look forward to growing this partnership that offers passengers the benefits and the convenience of connecting via the Dubai aviation hub and we look forward to welcoming them on board soon.”

Aeroplan Members Can Now Book Flydubai Awards

Air Canada Aeroplan members can now redeem points on Flydubai flights using the distance-based rates on the Emirates/Flydubai award chart:

Flydubai award reservations can be booked on aircanada.com or via the call center, and there are no carrier-imposed surcharges. However, while availability for awards is high, due to dynamic pricing, so are the redemption costs.

Final Thoughts

Air Canada’s latest move to add Flydubai as a partner takes its connectivity with the Middle East and beyond to the next level.

We’re eager to learn more about this partnership and will be sure to update you when we do.