Air Canada (AC) has opened its first premium lounge at Québec City Jean Lesage International Airport (YQB), introducing a dedicated lounge experience to the terminal for the first time, the airline said on June 16.
The 97-seat Air Canada Café, operated in partnership with Plaza Premium, is the carrier’s seventh such café and part of a multi-year global lounge modernisation programme, as Canada’s flag carrier deepens its investment in the Québec market against competition from rivals for premium domestic travellers.
The 3,616-square-foot (336-square-metre) space offers a self-service station with hot and cold dishes, a build-your-own power bowl bar, local cheeses and a full bar serving Lavazza coffee, cocktails featuring la Distillerie du Fjord and beers from local brewery La Souche. Menu highlights include breakfast pancakes with maple butter and pumpkin seed spread sourced from the Mi’gmaq Nation of Gespeg.
“Travellers love Québec City for its food, charm and character,” said Jacqueline Harkness, managing director of product and services at Air Canada. “With this new Air Canada Café, we’ve created a space that feels like a love letter to the city.”
The lounge reflects the airline’s “Glowing Hearted” design philosophy and is anchored by two works from Québécois and Canadian artists, Flow by abstract artist Antonietta Grassi and 1982 by visual artist and novelist Douglas Coupland.
The space offers productivity-style seating, with power and USB-C ports at every seat.
Access is available to eligible domestic customers, including Aeroplan Elite members at 50K and above, Star Alliance Gold members, Aeroplan premium co-brand cardholders and Business Class customers departing on Air Canada and Star Alliance flights from the airport.
The opening follows a new Air Canada Café and refreshed domestic Maple Leaf Lounge at Montréal-Trudeau. The airline added more than 500 lounge seats worldwide last year.
“The opening of the brand-new Air Canada Café is fully in line with our commitment to offering an ever more welcoming and distinctive experience to travellers who choose to fly from our airport,” said Stéphane Poirier, president and chief executive of Québec City Jean Lesage International Airport.
Air Canada provides scheduled service to more than 180 airports across six continents.