Wayne Risher

wayne.risher@commercialappeal.com

A Memphis-to-Toronto nonstop flight will return starting May 1 after an absence of five years, Air Canada announced Wednesday.

It will be Memphis International Airport's first daily international passenger flight in five years.

Air Canada previously operated the flight from 2010 to 2012.

It will use a 50-seat Bombardier CRJ200 regional jet to serve the route and give the Memphis airport 34 destinations by 10 carriers.

Flights will arrive in Memphis at 3:20 p.m. and depart for Toronto at 3:50 p.m.

"We are thrilled to welcome back Air Canada, and are excited to return daily international service to our passengers," Memphis-Shelby County Airport Authority chairman Pace Cooper said in a release. "This route is more than a connection between Memphis and Toronto. It opens up many, many international connections for Memphis travelers as well," Cooper said.

While FedEx Express has its global cargo airline hub at Memphis, since 2012 the airport has had only seasonal passenger flights outside the United States, such as to Cancun, Mexico.

Cooper said, "We’re constantly awed at the Memphis airport’s broad array of direct international flights taken by the mighty FedEx, but this puts a dose of international traffic into our regular daily robust passenger activity, and does so while expanding our reach to a whole new carrier, whose international reach is enormous."

Lisa Pierce, senior director, USA sales and market development for Air Canada, said "We are delighted to bring the Maple Leaf to Memphis next year. Our new service will offer more travel options for local residents, both to visit Canada or to connect conveniently to our international network."

Airport senior manager of air service research and development Will Livsey said Air Canada and its Star Alliance partners reach 46 destinations outside North America from Toronto: two in Africa; eight in Asia; four in Central America; 25 in Europe including Rome, Paris, London and Frankfurt; two in the Middle East; and five in South America.

The Air Canada Toronto flight offers Memphis 41 new one-stop connections to international destinations including Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Taipei, Taiwan and Istanbul, Turkey.

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