Air Canada is ending its Vancouver route to the world's best airport in Asia | Daily Hive

Air Canada is permanently ending its Vancouver route to the world's best airport in Asia

Jewel complex at Singapore Changi Airport. (Kenneth Chan)

Air Canada is ending its direct, non-stop flights between Vancouver International Airport (YVR) and Singapore Changi Airport (SIN), less than three years after launching the route.

Responding to an inquiry from Daily Hive Urbanized, Canada’s flag carrier confirmed this service will be permanently suspended effective Jan. 26, 2027, after failing to achieve the financial performance needed to keep operating.

As a result, this also amounts to the end of Canada’s only direct, non-stop service to the island city state.

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“Despite significant efforts and resources invested in the Vancouver-Singapore route for close to three years by Air Canada and other partners, the route regrettably did not meet the business targets that would enable this service to remain sustainable,” Air Canada told Daily Hive Urbanized last week.

The airline pointed to a combination of demand, the current fuel costs (especially since the U.S.-led war in Iran began), and the 12,818-km-long flying distance, which is YVR’s longest route. The trip from Vancouver to Singapore is about 17 hours, while the return trip is slightly shorter at approximately 14 hours, due to wind direction.

Air Canada explained that the substantial fuel requirements of such lengthy journeys make these flights less efficient, adding to the challenge of making the service financially viable.

The airline said its decision to keep the route operating until the new year — well after the busy Christmas holiday travel season — was intended to limit the impact on customers.

“We selected an end date far enough into the future to protect the majority of our customers,” stated the airline.

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

The route first launched on April 3, 2024, as Canada’s only direct, non-stop connection to Singapore. It began with four weekly flights in each direction using the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner.

Air Canada’s service attempted to provide a permanent replacement for Singapore Airlines’ short-lived, pandemic-time route. The launch of Air Canada’s service came about half a year after Singapore Airlines’ discontinuation of its route between YVR and SIN.

Singapore Airlines announced its decision in February 2023 to withdraw its YVR route in October 2023, which first launched in December 2021 — flying three times weekly. Although it no longer flies to YVR, it still has a presence in the Pacific Northwest; Singapore Airlines first launched its direct, non-stop service to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport in 2019.

Singapore Airlines previously served YVR up until 2009, when the route was cancelled due to the impact of the 2008 global financial crisis. At the time, they operated a three-times weekly service between Vancouver and Singapore, with a connection in Seoul.

Beyond serving travellers heading to Singapore itself, given that SIN is one of the world’s busiest and most connected airport hubs, it also offered transfer connections to destinations across Southeast Asia, India, and Australia.

Changi Airport is also a destination of its own. It has notably been ranked as the world’s best airport by Skytrax’s prestigious annual World Airport Awards, winning the title 14 times overall as of 2026. SIN’s global reputation was further solidified in 2019, when it opened the Jewel — a vast shopping and entertainment complex beneath a massive glass dome, centred on the 40-metre Rain Vortex, the world’s tallest indoor waterfall. Surrounded by a terraced indoor forest and walking trails, the waterfall forms the centrepiece of a complex featuring hundreds of shops and restaurants, gardens, and family attractions, making the airport a destination in its own right. An airport people mover train system also runs through the dome.

For contrast, YVR was named by Skytrax as the world’s 10th best airport in 2026, and it has won the title of North America’s best airport for 15 years, including in 2026.

Jewel complex at Singapore Changi Airport. (Kenneth Chan)

Air Canada is reallocating its Singapore service resources to launch brand-new Vancouver routes to Asia

However, Air Canada’s decision to end its Vancouver-Singapore service comes as the airline prepares to launch other major direct, non-stop routes between YVR and Asia. Resources currently assigned to the Singapore route will essentially remain at YVR and be redirected to other Asian destinations.

Last month, the airline announced a new permanent year-round route between YVR and Guangzhou in Mainland China, beginning May 4, 2027. Flights are scheduled three times per week using the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner. Guangzhou will become Air Canada’s third permanent, year-round destination between Vancouver and Mainland China, joining its other routes to Beijing and Shanghai.

There is also a likely new service to Vietnam following an expanded air transport agreement announced by the Government of Canada last month.

The agreement with Vietnam’s government opens the door to direct, non-stop flights between the two countries, allowing each country’s airlines up to 14 weekly passenger flights and seven weekly cargo-only flights.

Right after that agreement announcement, Air Canada publicly confirmed that it intends to launch a new route to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam’s largest city and commercial centre, in 2027, although the service still depends on final government approvals and preparations. Its announcement did not identify the Canadian airport or provide a specific launch date or flight schedule. However, given YVR’s role as Air Canada’s Trans-Pacific hub, Vancouver is highly likely to serve as the Canadian gateway for the first direct, non-stop route to Vietnam. As well, in recent years, officials with Vancouver International Airport have been strongly lobbying governments to enable such a route.

“As a result, Air Canada has made the difficult but necessary decision to redeploy its fleet to other markets where demand and other economic factors are better aligned,” continued Air Canada in explaining its rationale to end its Vancouver-Singapore route.

Speaking at the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade in April 2026, Vancouver International Airport president and CEO Tamara Vrooman said approximately 58,000 passengers travelled from YVR to Vietnam in 2025 by connecting through Singapore alone, despite the lack of direct, non-stop service. She asserted that such existing passenger demand through Singapore was already sufficient to support a standalone direct, non-stop route reaching Vietnam, along with the additional cargo capacity it would provide.

Both Air Canada and Singapore Airlines are members of Star Alliance. Code share agreements will allow Air Canada to continue selling flights to Singapore — via connections at other airports — operated by its partner airlines. The airline highlighted Singapore Airlines connections through Tokyo Narita International Airport, Seoul Incheon International Airport, and Hong Kong International Airport, along with London Heathrow Airport, Frankfurt Airport, and Brussels Airport. Its ANA partnership also provides connections through Tokyo Narita Airport and Tokyo Haneda Airport.

Air Canada’s Boeing 787 Dreamliner. (Michael Derrer Fuchs/Shutterstock)

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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