The first low-cost scheduled transatlantic flight between Wales and Canada took off on Monday from Cardiff International Airport, at full capacity.

Zoom Airlines` inaugural flight from Cardiff to Toronto departed, launching a service that will revolutionise transatlantic travel for the whole of Wales and the West of England. Zoom is the only airline offering direct flights to Canada from Cardiff International Airport this summer.

At the pre-departure launch, Zoom announced new plans to double the number of Canadian destinations out of Wales for summer 2006 to cope with the outstanding level of demand received on the Toronto service, with the introduction of a weekly Cardiff to Vancouver flight. Vancouver is a vibrant city and has been a very popular destination serviced by Zoom since it started flying in 2004 from Gatwick and Glasgow and has also been added to Manchester`s service offering this summer.

Zoom Airlines operates services from five UK Airports to eight cities in Canada, offering the lowest scheduled airfares across the Atlantic with prices starting from