Air Canada is noting an uptick in traffic to and from Asia, with the airline planning to increase services from December onwards, with increases going through the summer season.
There’s a raft of service improvements from the airline’s hubs in Vancouver, Montreal and Toronto. So let us dive into the list:
From Toronto:
- Toronto – Tokyo Narita – Daily flights upgauged to Boeing 777-300ER aircraft for full summer season
- Toronto – Tokyo Haneda – Daily flights upgauged to Boeing 777-300ER aircraft for the full winter season. Operates with a Boeing 787-9 at all other times
- Toronto – Seoul Incheon – Daily flights operate with Boeing 787-9 year-round
From Montreal:
- Montreal – Tokyo Narita – Daily flights upgauged to Boeing 777-300ER aircraft for full summer season
From Vancouver
- Vancouver – Hong Kong – 11 weekly flights from 13th December – 29th February 2024 to support holiday and Lunar New Year travel, 10 weekly flights operating from 1st March to 26th October 2024
- Vancouver – Bangkok – Winter seasonal service, from 1st December to 5th May 2024, with the 4 weekly flights increased to daily from 8th January to 28th February 2024
- Vancouver – Shanghai – 4 weekly flights 1st December – 30th March 2024. The service is upgauged to Boeing 777-300ER aircraft for holiday and Lunar New Year travel, 4 weekly flights operate with Boeing 787-9 all other times
- Vancouver – Singapore – 4 weekly flights launching 3rd April 2024
- Vancouver – Osaka – Seasonal flights begin earlier on 1st May 2024, operating three times weekly. This increases to four weekly flights commencing 17th June 2024
- Vancouver-Tokyo Narita – Daily flights upgauged to Boeing 777-300ER aircraft until 30th April 2024. Boeing 787-9 operates all other times
- Vancouver-Seoul – Daily flights upgauged to Boeing 777-300ER aircraft for full summer. Boeing 787-9 operates at all other times
In Quotes
Mark Galardo, Executive Vice President, Revenue and Network Planning, at Air Canada, said:
“Air Canada’s Asia services continue to reflect strong demand and we are boosting capacity to this geographic area as we deploy our international diversification strategy. This winter we are pleased to offer up to 57 flights per week between Canada and Asia, and up to 64 flights per week next summer. Air Canada will have up to double daily flights to Hong Kong and larger aircraft operating to Shanghai during the December holiday and Lunar New Year travel periods. Capacity to Japan increases by 96% this winter compared to last year. Next spring, seasonal Osaka flights resume earlier and larger aircraft will operate to Narita and Seoul,”
“Our upcoming launch of our new route to Singapore and increased capacity on our successful Bangkok route underscores our continued commitment to investing in fast-growing markets in Southeast Asia. With the investments we have made at our global hub airports linking Air Canada’s extensive North American network to our international flights, travelling between North America and Asia is convenient and compelling for leisure and business travellers alike. We look forward to welcoming customers onboard our flights,”
Lots of choice – especially at key travel periods
It seems that Air Canada is confident to go all in on its Asia network and deliver extra capacity, with a mixture of service increases (especially out of its Pacific hub in Vancouver) to upgauging capacity on other routes during peak periods, shifting its fleet to support the growth as needed.
In doing so, it provides something important – providing passengers with more choice when travelling, especially during the peak periods when a particular service may be busier than normal.
We’ll have to see if the demand is as insatiable as Air Canada hopes.
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