Air Canada to relaunch multiple routes from Vancouver to Hawaii in September

May 12 2021, 6:45 pm

Non-stop, direct flight routes from Vancouver to the Hawaiian islands will resume in the middle of September.

Air Canada has indicated today it is confident that leisure air travel to the sun destination can safely resume later this year. The company is targeting a September re-launch as populations in Hawaii and Canada are expected to be sufficiently vaccinated, sending coronavirus case numbers plunging.

The flag carrier will resume flights from Vancouver International Airport (YVR) to Maui’s Kahului Airport (OGG) on September 10, with flights departing YVR at 6 pm and arrive at 9:03 pm. For return trips, the flights will leave OGG at 10:40 pm and arrive at 7 am the next day.

The route from YVR to Honolulu’s Daniel K. Inouye International Airport (HNL) will resume on September 4. Flights will leave YVR at 2:05 pm and arrive at 5:30 pm, while return flights will leave HNL at 9:55 pm and arrive at 6:55 am the next day.

Both routes serving Maui and Honolulu will use the Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft in peak winter, with frequencies on each route ramping up to daily. The departure and arrival times will vary in peak winter.

On December 19, Air Canada will restart its route from YVR to Kona International Airport (KOA). Flying on Thursdays, Fridays, and Sundays, the flights to KOA will take off from YVR at 4:50 pm and land at 8:18 pm. Return flights will leave KOA at 9:35 pm and arrive at 6:38 am the next day. The YVR-KOA service will use a Boeing 737 aircraft.

“We are seeing strong demand in the sun markets this winter with people inĀ Canada and around the world looking ahead to holiday travel,” saidĀ Mark Galardo, senior vice-president of network planning and revenue management at Air Canada, in a statement.

The resumption of flights to Hawaii from Vancouver in September and Calgary in December will be tied to Air Canada’s domestic connections.

The airline is also adding new non-stop flights to Hawaii from Toronto and Montreal to improve the convenience for more Canadians and establish new connection opportunities for passengers flying from Europe.

“We are very happy that Air Canada is launching additional options to fly to Hawai’i. We are looking forward to welcoming back our Canadian friends,” said Lorenzo Campos with Hawai’i Tourism Canada.

“We would like to say a big mahalo to our trusted partner Air Canada for the continuous support in sharing the aloha spirit and always embracing the Hawaiian value of mālama.”

Air Canada states it has a new refund policy of offering passengers options of refunds, an Air Canada Travel Voucher or equivalent value in Aeroplan Points, with a 65% bonus should the airline cancel or reschedule a flight by more than three hours.

Compared to the US mainland’s alarming coronavirus case and death totals, Hawaii is one of the lesser hit states, with 33,723 confirmed coronavirus cases and 485 deaths to date. According to local media reports, as of this week, about 41% of Hawaiians are now fully vaccinated, and 58% of the adult population has received at least one dose of the vaccine. Hawaii currently ranks third for the number of adults who received at least one shot.

Airlines are gradually planning the restart of global air travel with an end to the pandemic in sight. This month, Turkish Airlines launched its new non-stop route from YVR to Istanbul, and low-cost carrier JetBlue recently announced its plans to run frequent new routes from Vancouver to New York City and Boston starting in Summer 2022.

Kenneth ChanKenneth Chan

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