• Melbourne service increases to four times weekly, year-round
• Summer seasonal service to Zurich increases to five weekly flights

VANCOUVER, Oct. 11, 2018 /CNW Telbec/ - Air Canada announced today enhancements to four international routes from Vancouver, including increasing service to Delhi with daily flights on a year-round basis starting June 2, 2019. 

In addition, Air Canada is increasing its non-stop Melbourne service to four times weekly year-round, and summer seasonal service to Zurich will increase to five flights a week. YVR-Osaka (Kansai) flights will be five times weekly from June to October next summer.

All flights will be operated with Air Canada's flagship Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft. 

"We are pleased to increase our capacity to these important markets as we continue to strategically broaden our international network from our Vancouver hub. Customers have responded positively to our increasing service to Delhi and this flight will now operate daily on a year-round basis to meet demand. The addition of a fourth weekly flight to Melbourne, Australia's second largest city, year-round will provide further convenience to business and leisure travellers between North America and Australia, offering seamless connections thanks to the in-transit preclearance facilities at YVR. With Dreamliner service to Osaka and increased frequencies to Zurich, we are further strengthening our convenient network to European and Asian markets from YVR, reflecting demand between Canada and these destinations in the busy summer travel season," said Mark Galardo, Vice President, Network Planning at Air Canada.  

"As B.C. expands its trade network into India, this daily, direct service between Vancouver to Delhi will help drive trade and partnerships, and expand the technology sectors in both of our countries," said Bruce Ralston, Minister of Jobs, Trade and Technology. "It will attract more people from India to our province and will open doors for Canadians to visit India for business and for tourism. We're excited for Air Canada and our partners at YVR as we continue to grow and diversify B.C.'s economy."

"It's fantastic to see Air Canada continuing to build out its hub and global network from YVR—especially with the incredible Dreamliner. Since the beginning of 2017 alone, Air Canada has launched five international destinations and four new U.S. destinations at YVR," said Craig Richmond, President and CEO, Vancouver Airport Authority. "The increased flights to Delhi, Melbourne and Zurich speaks to the continued strength of YVR's market and our goal to connect B.C. proudly to the world."

Connectivity:

All routes are timed to optimize connectivity at Air Canada's Vancouver hub to and from the airline's extensive network across North America. All Australia flights are timed to connect to and from Adelaide, Canberra, Perth and to Tasmania with codeshare partner Virgin Australia. Additionally, Air Canada's Vancouver-Zurich flights will connect to and from destinations in Europe and Africa.

Other benefits:

Air Canada's Boeing 787 Dreamliner features three cabins of service with high-definition individual on-demand entertainment offering a wide range of movies, short films, TV programs and audio selections at every seat throughout the aircraft.

All flights provide for Aeroplan accumulation and redemption, Star Alliance reciprocal benefits and, for eligible customers, priority check-in, access to Air Canada's Maple Leaf Lounges, priority boarding and other benefits.

Schedule details:

Vancouver expansion in 2018:

To date this year, Air Canada launched new services from its Vancouver hub to: Melbourne (extended to year-round), Paris (summer seasonal), Zurich (summer seasonal), Sacramento (year-round) and will launch new services to Lihue, Hawaii (seasonal) beginning Dec. 15, 2018.  This summer, Air Canada operated an average of 185 daily flights representing up to 23,500 available seats departing YVR every day.

About Air Canada

Air Canada is Canada's largest domestic and international airline serving more than 220 airports on six continents.  Canada's flag carrier is among the 20 largest airlines in the world and in 2017 served more than 48 million customers.  Air Canada provides scheduled passenger service directly to 64 airports in Canada, 59 in the United States and 98 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 1,317 airports in 193 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, which also named Air Canada the 2018 Best Airline in North America.  For more information, please visit: aircanada.com/media, follow @AirCanada on Twitter and join Air Canada on Facebook.

Internet: aircanada.com

SOURCE Air Canada