* Premium passengers want to avoid heat and crowds in Europe

and Japan, executive says

* Air Canada ( ACDVF ) adding flights to European destinations

expecting autumn and spring to be big contributors

* Trend began two or three years ago but has accelerated,

executive says

By Allison Lampert

MONTREAL, Aug 14 (Reuters) - Air Canada's ( ACDVF ) revenue

for September and October is likely to break records for the two

months as more premium travelers avoid the heat and summer

crowds in Europe and Japan, a senior executive said.

Large North American airlines have increasingly built their

business in recent years around premium ​travelers, corporate

accounts ⁠and loyalty program members, betting those customers

are slower to pull back when fares rise.

Increased demand for corporate flying in autumn combined

with shifting travel patterns among premium leisure passengers

are lifting executives' expectations for seasons once considered

slower than peak travel months like July and August.

"We anticipate that September and October will probably be

the strongest September and October from a revenue perspective

that the company's ever had," Air Canada ( ACDVF ) Chief Commercial

Officer Mark Galardo said in an interview on Thursday.

"We've seen tremendous growth in demand for people traveling

business class to go to Italy, Spain, France, the Mediterranean

in general, Japan," he added. "And typically, these customers

avoid the summer peak."

U.S. carriers like Delta Air Lines ( DAL ) and United

Airlines have also reported seeing shifting travel

patterns drive more demand in autumn, particularly for lucrative

European destinations.

Record heat, droughts and wildfires have affected large

parts of Europe this summer, and the lack of widespread

air-conditioning in some destinations has made them less

attractive for tourists. Japan has also had very hot days with

temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit).

Galardo said the shift among premium travellers to flying

more in spring and autumn, which began two or three years ago,

had accelerated, and was even showing up a little in November.

PREMIUM STORY

Air Canada ( ACDVF ), however, has not seen a similar change in the

travel pattern of budget passengers.

"That shift to the fall season is really a story of

premium," Galardo said.

The change has already led Air Canada ( ACDVF ) to add flights to

European leisure destinations like Sicily and Mallorca and there

will be more to come as the carrier takes delivery of new

aircraft next year, Galardo said.

"We're expecting that the fall and spring seasons will be

significant contributors to these new routes," he said.

It has led Air Canada ( ACDVF ) to work on a maintenance strategy that

would allow the carrier to better balance the seasonality, such

as by bringing some planes in the shop in the summer to free

them up for September.