Air Canada boosts international services from Vancouver

Air Canada is ramping up its Vancouver hub in 2018 with new non-stop services to Paris and Zurich as it also boosts flights to Melbourne, London and Delhi. The new European routes will begin in June, 2018, when the airline will also boost its seasonal flights to Melbourne to a year-round Boeing 787 Dreamliner service. Air Canada’s international 787-9s feature 30 business class, 21 premium economy and 247 economy seats. Melbourne is Air Canada’s third Australian destination and the three-cabin Dreamliners will also operate the Zurich and Paris services.  It already flies to Sydney and started  daily service to Brisbane earlier this year. The Star Alliance member will increase Vancouver-Dehli flights, which resume October 14, to up to five times weekly for the 2017-18 season. Getting a boost to twice daily flights for summer, 2018 is  the Vancouver- London Heathrow service. The launch of the Paris and Zurich flights will give Vancouver a significant international boost and  means Air Canada will operate non-stop services to five European destinations from the hub. “The operating economics of the Dreamliners together with the Vancouver Airport Authority's efforts to maintain airport operating costs among the lowest in Canada have enabled us to expand our network here to connect our already extensive British Columbia, Western Canada and U.S. routes to even more international destinations, and position YVR as a preferred option to travel through," Air Canada passenger airlines president Benjamin Smith said in the announcement. Smith said the decision to upgrade the Melbourne seasonal service would provide convenience for both business and leisure travellers with “competitive elapsed travel times and seamless connections offered by the in-transit preclearance facilities at our YVR hub”. The new routes are timed to connect with Air Canada’s North American network. The Zurich flights will also connect to and from destinations in Europe, Africa and India with Star Alliance partner Swiss International Air Lines.  The Australian flights are timed to connect with flights operated by codeshare partner Virgin Australia.