Direct air route links between Vancouver and two of the largest population centres in Mainland China will be reestablished by Air Canada beginning late this fall and winter.
Air Canada announced today it will be restarting its non-stop, direct route between Vancouver International Airport (YVR) and Beijing Capital International Airport (PEK).
The Canadian carrier’s service to Beijing will restart in the new year, flying daily starting on January 15, 2025. Flights will depart YVR at 11:40 am and arrive in PEK at 5 pm the next day, while return flights will leave PEK at 6:55 pm and land at YVR at 2:05 pm.
Furthermore, Air Canada will also increase the frequency of its non-stop, direct route between YVR and Shanghai Pudong International Airport (PVG) from the existing frequency of four weekly flights to a daily flight. Flights depart YVR at 11:15 am and land at PVG at 4 pm the next day, while return flights leave PVG at 5:50 pm and land at 12:10 pm on the same day. This increased frequency serving PVG begins on December 7, 2024.
Both services use the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.
“We are resuming our non-stop services between Canada and Beijing and increasing our flights between Canada and Shanghai, reflecting the importance of these markets in Air Canada’s global network,” said Mark Galardo, executive vice president of revenue and network planning at Air Canada, in a statement.
“With the investments we have made at our YVR hub 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 our customers onboard our flights.”
This represents a notable return of a segment of YVR’s significant pre-pandemic route capacity serving Mainland Chinese destinations.
Over the past five years, travel demand between Canada and Mainland China has been depressed due to not only the pandemic but also political tensions, the trade war, and the worsening economic crisis in Mainland China emerging out of the pandemic.
During a Greater Vancouver Board of Trade event today, Tamara Vrooman, the president and CEO of the Vancouver Airport Authority, said there are currently eight non-stop, direct flights per week from Vancouver to Mainland Chinese destinations.
Air Canada’s announcement today about its strategic decision to restart its Beijing route and ramp up its Shanghai route serving Vancouver will more than double the number of non-stop, direct weekly flights to Mainland Chinese destinations to 18.
However, this is still well below the pre-pandemic 2019 high of 60 non-stop, direct flights per week to Mainland China from YVR, served by over half a dozen different airlines, which was the highest of any airport in North America.
YVR’s pre-pandemic passenger volume growth was driven by the expansion of Mainland Chinese services.
“That strategy really delivered well for us. We built a product around that. We built a commercial offering, but then change happened,” said Vrooman.
“But it’s not going to go back to being the sole thing that drives our growth. And we recognize that, so we’ve been diversifying.”
Over the past two years, YVR has seen the launch of 13 brand new non-stop, direct flight routes serving fresh destinations, including Dubai and Singapore.
Such services to new markets, coupled with continued strong global aviation demand, have pushed up YVR’s total passenger volumes, reaching 24.9 million in 2023 — the third best-performing year ever for Canada’s second busiest airport.
For 2024, YVR is on track to exceed 2023’s tally and at least come close to exceeding the all-time record of 26.38 million passengers in 2019. As of the first eight months of 2024, YVR has already recorded 17.75 million passengers.