7 new flight routes added to Vancouver International Airport this month

Jun 6 2016, 11:32 pm

Vancouver International Airport’s (YVR) glowing outlook continues with the addition of seven new flight routes serving destinations in Canada, United States, Ireland, and Australia this month.

In a strategic move that further strengthens YVR as the secondary hub for Air Canada and Canada’s primary hub to the Asia-Pacific, the airline is launching new routes to San Diego, Chicago, Dublin, and Brisbane. The flights to Chicago, San Diego, and Brisbane are daily, non-stop services while the Dublin route will be a three times weekly, non-stop service. Apart from the Dublin service, all of Air Canada’s new routes saw their inaugural flights earlier this month.

Of special note, the 14-hour, long-haul flight between Vancouver Brisbane uses the new Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner and is the first non-stop flight from Canada to Australia’s Gold Coast.

At the start of the month, Air Canada doubled its the frequencies to its existing service to London, U.K.’s Heathrow to twice daily, providing competition to WestJet’s recently launched new six times weekly flight service to Gatwick Airport in the British capital.

WestJet is also starting three new frequent, seasonal domestic routes to Halifax, Nova Scotia and  Hamilton and London in Ontario at the end of the month.

Last month during YVR’s Annual Public Meeting for 2016, Vancouver Airport Authority CEO Craig Richmond said the airport is set to see a record 21 million passengers by the end of the year. YVR has a goal of reaching 25 million passengers by 2020.

New and improved major YVR routes 2015/2016

  • 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.
Kenneth ChanKenneth Chan

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