Air Canada Expands Shanghai And Beijing Flight Service

Air Canada has announced a significant expansion of its services to China this winter. From December, the Star Alliance carrier will increase the frequency of its existing service between Vancouver International Airport (YVR) and Shanghai Pudong International Airport (PVG).

In addition, starting on January 15th, 2025, Air Canada will fly direct between Vancouver International Airport (YVR) and Beijing Capital International Airport (PEK) on a daily basis.

The flight schedules

Air Canada’s services from Vancouver to both Shanghai and Beijing will operate as per the following schedules:

Vancouver – Shanghai

Vancouver – Beijing

Both services will be operated by Air Canada’s Boeing 787-9s, of which the carrier has a total of 31 in its fleet, according to the latest data from ch-aviation. Between them, the aircraft have an average age of 7.4 years old. Each of the airline’s 787-9s is equipped to carry up to 298 passengers – 30 in business class, 21 in premium economy, and 247 in economy class. Air Canada also has another 787-9 on order, awaiting delivery from Boeing.

Air Canada is currently the only airline to operate between Vancouver and Shanghai. On its route to Beijing, the carrier will face direct competition from Air China, which operates services via Shenyang Taoxian International Airport (SHE). Mark Galardo, the airline’s Executive Vice President of Revenue and Network, celebrated the announcement, saying,

“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. With the investments we have made at our YVR hub linking Air Canada’s extensive North American network to our international flights, traveling between North America and Asia is convenient and compelling for leisure and business travelers alike. We look forward to welcoming our customers onboard our flights.”

Bucking the trend

In the summer of 2019, Air Canada operated an average of 35 flights per week between Canada and China. However, services were suspended as a result of the pandemic, and have been slow to restart. International travel to and from China has been slower to rebound from the pandemic than in other countries, and ongoing Russian airspace restrictions affecting non-Chinese carriers have also impacted operations.

Air Canada’s expansion in China has bucked the recent trend of Western carriers drastically reducing their operations in the country. This is primarily due to the additional expense of not being able to fly through Russian airspace, which adds significantly to journey times, making routes less profitable.

Virgin Atlantic and LOT Polish Airlines are among the airlines that have recently cut services to China. For example, Virgin Atlantic recently operated its last flight between London Heathrow Airport (LHR) and Shanghai Pudong Airport (PVG). Earlier this year, the Australian flag carrier Qantas also dropped its only direct services to China, ending its connection between Sydney and Shanghai.