New flights from Vancouver to Nagoya and Taipei

Two additional major trans-Pacific direct flight routes will be added to Vancouver International Airport beginning late spring 2017.

Vancouver International Airport (YVR) announced today that Air Canada will begin operating frequent services from YVR to Nagoya, Japan and Taipei, Taiwan just in time for next summer’s peak travel season.

The seasonal route to Nagoya’s Chubu Centrair International Airport will commence on June 1, 2017 as a three times weekly service, eventually increasing to four times weekly in August and September. The flight will utilize an Air Canada Rouge Boeing 767-300 ER aircraft with Premium Rouge and economy class cabins.

This will be followed by the introduction of a year-round daily service from YVR to Taipei’s Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport beginning on June 8 using one of the airline’s new Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft. The new route to Taiwan is expected to receive government approvals.

Both routes further establish YVR as a major hub in North America for flights to and from Asia.

See also

• Major expansion eyed for Vancouver International Airport
• Canada has the world's most expensive international flights: study

“Air Canada will be the only carrier to offer non-stop service from Canada to Taiwan and to Nagoya, our fourth airport in Japan,” said Benjamin Smith, president of Passenger Airlines for Air Canada, in a statement.

“Travellers from across Canada and the US flying to Asia with us will enjoy seamless connections through in-transit preclearance facilities and competitive elapsed travel times, which firmly reinforces Air Canada and YVR as a preferred trans-Pacific option for travel,” said Benjamin Smith, President, Passenger Airlines at Air Canada.”

While the route to Nagoya will be a first for YVR, two other airlines – China Airlines and EVA Air – already operate direct flights to Taiwan’s capital city region of seven million people. Nagoya, located east of Kyoto and west of Tokyo, has a regional population of nine million people.

Nagoya Tower with the skyline of Nagoya, Japan.

Image: Nagoya / Shutterstock

Air Canada has been responsible for much of YVR’s passenger growth this year after it introduced new frequent and direct flights to Brisbane, Dublin, San Jose, Chicago, and San Diego. Next month, the airline will begin operating a three times weekly service to New Delhi, which will be the first direct service from Vancouver to India.

In February, the airline will also be introducing a new daily direct service to Dallas, Texas.

Over 21 million passengers are expected to go through YVR by the end of this year, a total that will be one million more passengers than 2015. At this rate, YVR is expected to hit 25 million passengers by 2020.

With the forecast of record-pacing passenger growth from new airline routes and a strong local tourism industry, YVR has proposed plans for a major terminal expansion over the coming few years.

New and improved major YVR routes 2015/2016/2017

• March 15, 2015: Manila, Philippines and New York City, U.S.A. – Philippine Airlines adds four weekly flights to its route from Manila to NYC, with a stop in Vancouver.
• March 29, 2015: Paris, France – Air France begins three times weekly non-stop flight service, with five times weekly schedules during the summer months.
• May 1, 2015: Osaka, Japan – Air Canada Rouge begins five times weekly service to Kansai International Airport.
• June 26, 2015: Kungming, China – China Eastern Airlines begins three times weekly flight service via Shanghai.
• December 9, 2015: Mexico City, Mexico – Aeromexico to begin daily non-stop flight service.
• January 1, 2016: Orlando International Airport – WestJet to begin twice weekly non-stop seasonal flight service.
• January 20, 2016: Orlando-Sanford International Airport – National Airlines to begin two times weekly seasonal flight service.
• February 15, 2016: Cancun, Mexico – Air Canada to begin weekly, non-stop seasonal service.
• May 1, 2016: London Heathrow Airport – British Airways to use an AirBus A380 superjumbo jet for its existing daily non-stop London Heathrow Airport service. The A380 will only be used during the summer months.
• May 6, 2016: London Gatwick Airport – WestJet to begin six times weekly non-stop flight service.
• May 9, 2016: Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport – Air Canada to begin twice daily, non-stop service to San Jose.
• June 1, 2016: Brisbane, Australia – Air Canada to begin daily non-stop flight service.
• June 2, 2016: San Diego International Airport – Air Canada to begin daily, non-stop seasonal service.
• June 4, 2016: Chicago O’Hare International Airport – Air Canada to begin daily, non-stop service.
• June 10, 2016: Dublin Airport – Air Canada to begin seasonal non-stop flight service.
• June 29, 2016: London, Ontario – WestJet to begin four times weekly non-stop seasonal flight service.
• June 29, 2016: Halifax, Nova Scotia – WestJet to begin four times weekly non-stop seasonal flight service.
• June 30, 2016: Hamilton, Ontario – WestJet to begin three times weekly non-stop seasonal flight service.
• July 25, 2016: Xiamen, China – Xiamen Airlines to begin three times weekly non-stop flight service.
• October 20, 2016: Delhi, India – Air Canada to begin three times weekly non-stop flight service.
• December 1, 2016: Mexico City, Mexico – Aeromexico increases weekly flights from 14 to 20.
• December 30, 2016: Hangzhou, China via Qingdao, China – Beijing Capital Airlines to begin three times weekly service.
• February 5, 2017: Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas – Air Canada to begin daily service.
• March 28, 2017: Hong Kong, China – Cathay Pacific increases weekly flights from 14 to 17.
• June 1, 2017: Nagoya, Japan – Air Canada to begin seasonal three times weekly service.
• June 8, 2017: Taipei, Taiwan – Air Canada to begin daily service.