Hong Kong Airlines considering reinstating Vancouver route

Aircraft of Hong Kong Airlines, Cathay Pacific, and United Airlines at Hong Kong International Airport. (Wangkun Jia/Shutterstock)

There could be even more capacity and options to fly between Hong Kong and Vancouver within the foreseeable future.

Hong Kong Airlines has indicated that it is considering reinstating its direct non-stop flight route between Hong Kong International Airport (HKG) and Vancouver International Airport (YVR).

As well, it is looking to launch brand new routes to Toronto and Seattle and reinstate its route to Los Angeles.

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“This includes actively exploring a return to the North American market, with routes to Vancouver, Toronto, Los Angeles and Seattle under consideration, to provide passengers with more international and diverse travel options,” said Hong Kong Airlines chairman Jeff Sun in a release on Thursday, announcing the airline’s first Australian route reinstatement scheduled to begin in January 2025.

Hong Kong Airlines previously operated frequent flights between HKG and YVR from June 2017 to February 2020. The airline also leveraged Jackie Chan’s star power to promote the route; he boarded the inaugural flight to Vancouver and participated in the Canada Day 150 celebrations at Canada Place.

The cancellation of the airline’s international routes occurred before the pandemic’s impact became apparent. In December 2019, the airline announced it would cease operations on its Vancouver and Los Angeles routes in February 2020 due to mounting financial issues, well before the pandemic’s global onset in mid-March 2020.

The airline’s financial troubles began long before the pandemic, affected by the 2019/2020 Hong Kong pro-democracy protests and the US-China trade war, which severely impacted travel demand to Hong Kong.

The vast majority of Hong Kong Airlines’ routes from before 2020 remain canceled, and the airline has been downgraded to a regional carrier

The route between HKG and YVR is one of YVR’s highest capacity non-US international routes, with frequent flight services operated by Air Canada and especially Hong Kong flag carrier Cathay Pacific. Vancouver is one of Cathay Pacific’s key international markets, and this is also made apparent by the existence of Cathay Pacific’s luxurious large lounge within the YVR terminal.

Since Hong Kong and Mainland China began easing strict pandemic-related health measures in 2022, YVR has experienced a steady rebound in Asia Pacific passenger volumes. While the recovery has been strong to date, the numbers are still below pre-pandemic levels.

In June 2024, YVR saw nearly 320,000 passengers from Asia Pacific routes, down from 401,000 in June 2019. Much of this gap is attributed to Mainland Chinese carriers not yet reinstating their routes to Vancouver.

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