Air Canada to launch new direct flights from Vancouver to major Mainland China city | Daily Hive

Air Canada Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner. (Markus Mainka/Shutterstock)

Next spring, Vancouver International Airport (YVR) will take another step towards restoring its pre-pandemic flight capacity to Mainland China.

Air Canada announced this month that it will launch a year-round, direct, non-stop service between YVR and Guangzhou, the capital and largest city of Guangdong province.

Located near Hong Kong, Shenzhen, and Macau, Guangzhou is a major centre for manufacturing and high-tech industries.

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The route will be brand new for Canada’s flag carrier and will supplement China Southern Airlines’ existing service between YVR and Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport (CAN). China Southern Airlines first launched its YVR route in 2011 — among the first of a wave of new routes by Mainland Chinese carriers in the 2010s — and operates it year-round, with up to five roundtrips per week.

Air Canada’s service will begin on May 4, 2027, with three roundtrips per week using the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. Flights will depart YVR at 12:35 a.m. on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays, arriving in Guangzhou at 5 a.m. the following day.

Return flights will leave CAN at 9:45 a.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, arriving at Vancouver at 6:30 a.m. on the same day. Depending on the direction of travel and wind conditions, flights will take approximately 12 to 14 hours.

Guangzhou’s airport is among China’s busiest, offering connections across the mainland and elsewhere in Asia.

“As Canada’s Pacific gateway to Asia and beyond, YVR connects our economy to global markets,” said Tamara Vrooman, president and CEO of Vancouver International Airport, in a statement.

“Air Canada’s new non-stop service to Guangzhou further strengthens opportunities for our region, building on YVR’s role as a key Trans-Pacific hub and the growing demand for travel and trade between Canada, China, and Asia Pacific more broadly.”

Guangzhou. (NGCHIYUI/Shutterstock)

In Summer 2025, YVR told Daily Hive Urbanized that a resurgence in passenger traffic to Mainland China was helping drive the airport’s passenger growth. YVR went on to finish 2025 with an all-time historic record of 26.9 million passengers, supported in part by growth in its Asia Pacific market, including Mainland China.

A sizeable share of the renewed demand from Mainland China involved passengers connecting through Hong Kong International Airport (HKG). Served by three airlines, Vancouver-Hong Kong is one of YVR’s highest-capacity overseas routes.

In addition to Hong Kong, Air Canada already operates year-round, direct, non-stop services linking YVR with Beijing and Shanghai. With Guangzhou added to its network, the airline will offer up to 24 weekly flights from YVR to its three Mainland China destinations.

That total does not include services operated by a handful of other Mainland Chinese carriers, which connect YVR with destinations such as Shenzhen, Chengdu, and Xiamen.

Air Canada has designated YVR as its Trans-Pacific hub and has significantly expanded its network from Vancouver over the past decade and beyond, reinforcing the role of Canada’s second busiest airport as the country’s main gateway across the Pacific.

However, Air Canada will end its year-round, direct, non-stop service between YVR and Singapore in January 2027, citing factors such as demand and fuel costs.

YVR previously noted that a significant share of passengers on the Singapore route connected to other destinations in Southeast Asia, particularly Vietnam. According to the airport, this connecting traffic alone was enough to support a direct, non-stop route to Vietnam.

Last week, the federal governments of Canada and Vietnam signed a new bilateral agreement enabling direct, non-stop passenger and air cargo services between the two countries. Air Canada subsequently announced that it is aiming to launch a route to Ho Chi Minh City in 2027. The airline has not confirmed the Canadian departure city, but the service is expected to operate from Vancouver International Airport.

In December 2026, Air Canada will launch a new seasonal, direct, non-stop service between YVR and Sapporo, Japan.

According to YVR’s latest finalized monthly statistics, over the course of July 2026, the airport saw 2.7 million passengers, representing a 2.6 per cent increase from the same month in 2025. This includes 431,000 million Asia Pacific passengers, which saw a significant year-over-year growth of 10.6 per cent for the month — by far the strongest gains of any market at the airport.

If the trend continues, YVR is on pace to end 2026 with a new all-time historic annual record for passenger volumes. Over the first seven months of 2026, it recorded a cumulative total of 16.1 million passengers, representing a 3.7 per cent increase over the same period in 2025. This includes 2.94 million Asia Pacific passengers, representing a 14 per cent jump this year to date. Following a sluggish restart emerging out of the pandemic, the Asia Pacific market is now leading YVR’s growth by a wide margin.

YVR Airport new flights 2025-2027

Jan. 18, 2025: Hong Kong (HKG) — Hong Kong Airlines, 2x weekly
April 2, 2025: Manila, Philippines (MNL) — Air Canada, 4x weekly
May 1, 2025: Nashville, Tennessee (BNA) — Air Canada, 4x weekly (seasonal)
June 3, 2025: Tampa, Florida (TPA) — Air Canada, 2x weekly
June 4, 2025: Raleigh, North Carolina (RDU) — Air Canada, 3x weekly (seasonal)
May 11, 2025: Austin, Texas (AUS) — WestJet, 3x weekly (seasonal)
July 1, 2025: Halifax, Nova Scotia (YHZ) — WestJet, 4x weekly (seasonal)
Oct. 27, 2025: Mexico City, Mexico (MEX) — Flair Airlines, 3x weekly
Dec. 12, 2025: Liberia, Costa Rica (LIR) — WestJet, daily (seasonal)
Feb. 2, 2026: Phoenix, Arizona (PHX) — Porter Airlines, daily (seasonal)
April 15, 2026: Montreal, Quebec (YUL) – Flair Airlines, daily (seasonal)
June 1, 2026: Tokyo, Japan (Narita; NRT) — All Nippon Airways, daily (seasonal)
Oct. 3, 2026: Guanajuato, Mexico (BJX) – Flair Airlines, 1x weekly
Nov. 21, 2026: Los Angeles, California (LAX) — Delta Airlines, 2x daily
Dec. 3, 2026: Monterrey, Mexico (MTY) – Air Canada, 3x weekly (seasonal)
Dec. 7, 2026: Puerto Escondido, Mexico (PXM) – Air Canada, 4x weekly (seasonal)
Dec. 13, 2026: Liberia, Costa Rica (LIR) – , Air Canada, 4x weekly (seasonal)
Dec. 15, 2026: Mazatlán, Mexico (MZT) – Air Canada, daily (seasonal)
Dec. 17, 2026: Sapporo, Japan (CTS) — Air Canada, 3x weekly (seasonal)
May 4, 2027: Guangzhou, China (CAN) — Air Canada, 3x weekly

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