Continues Strategic International Expansion from YVR to London Gatwick, Frankfurt and Nagoya

VANCOUVER, June 8, 2017 /CNW/ - Air Canada today inaugurated daily, year-round flights from Vancouver to Taipei, Taiwan, the carrier's tenth destination in Asia with the departure of AC011 following a gate celebration at YVR.

"Air Canada is very pleased to return to Taipei, an important and significant economic centre, as part of our ongoing global expansion," said Benjamin Smith, President, Passenger Airlines at Air Canada.  "Our Taipei flights are operated with our state-of-the-art Boeing 787 Dreamliners featuring our industry-leading international services. The strategic addition of these daily year-round flights strengthens our YVR trans-Pacific hub which combined with our extensive North American network, provides convenient options and a competitive elapsed travel time between North America and Taiwan."

Later tonight, the carrier will also begin seasonal, three times weekly service to London Gatwick operated by Air Canada Rouge with Boeing 767-300ER aircraft - the fourth European destination served from Air Canada's YVR hub.

All routes are timed to optimize connectivity at Air Canada's YVR hub to and from its extensive network from across North America. All flights provide for Aeroplan accumulation and redemption and, for eligible customers, priority check-in, Maple Leaf Lounge access, priority boarding and other benefits.

So far in 2017, Air Canada has launched new non-stop international flights from Vancouver to: Taipei, London Gatwick, Frankfurt, Nagoya; Toronto to: Berlin, with Toronto to Reykjavik, Mumbai, and Montreal to Marseille, Tel Aviv, Reykjavik and Algiers to begin by July 1; and Vancouver-Melbourne to launch in December.

Vancouver-Taipei flights

Vancouver-London Gatwick flights

About Air Canada

Air Canada is Canada's largest domestic and international airline serving more than 200 airports on six continents.  Canada's flag carrier is among the 20 largest airlines in the world and in 2016 served close to 45 million customers.  Air Canada provides scheduled passenger service directly to 64 airports in Canada, 57 in the United States and 95 in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, Australia, the Caribbean, Mexico, Central America and South America. Air Canada is a founding member of Star Alliance, the world's most comprehensive air transportation network serving 1,300 airports in 191 countries.  Air Canada is the only international network carrier in North America to receive a Four-Star ranking according to independent U.K. research firm Skytrax.  For more information, please visit: www.aircanada.com, follow @AirCanada on Twitter and join Air Canada on Facebook.

SOURCE Air Canada