YVR to be Home to the First Non-Stop Service to Melbourne in Canada

On May 3, Air Canada announced the introduction of a seasonal four-times weekly service between Vancouver International Airport (YVR) and Melbourne Airport (MEL), marking the first ever direct, non-stop flight from Canada to this Australian city. Air Canada Rouge will also start twice-weekly service between YVR and Orlando International Airport (MCO). Both seasonal routes will launch in December and are timed to optimize connectivity to Air Canada's extensive network across North America and internationally from YVR.

"This is another exciting first for YVR – direct service to Melbourne! We are thrilled that we will soon be able to offer Canadians direct access to this dynamic city and further options for passengers looking to escape the winter to go to Orlando," said Craig Richmond, president and CEO, Vancouver Airport Authority. "We are pleased that Air Canada chose YVR as the airport to launch the Melbourne service and feel confident this route will be a success, hopefully leading to year-round service based upon the substantial increase we have seen of Australian visitors to YVR in the last two years."

The YVR-MEL route will be operated on an Air Canada Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft with seat capacity for 298 passengers, and will run from Dec. 1, to Feb. 4, 2017.  The YVR-MCO route will launch Dec. 20, to April 8, and is operated by Air Canada Rouge on a Boeing 767-300 ER aircraft with 282 seats. Together these two new seasonal routes will contribute $2.5 million in wages, $1.4 million in taxes and $4.4 million in Gross Domestic Product.

"Air Canada is continuing its strategic, global expansion with a diverse range of exciting new non-stop routes this winter including new routes to Australia and the United States from YVR," said Benjamin Smith, president, passenger airlines at Air Canada. "Vancouver-Melbourne is our third route to Australia, in addition to year-round service to Sydney and Brisbane. Our seasonal Melbourne service will provide additional options for business travellers between North America and Australia as well as Australians seeking a Canadian winter vacation experience. The addition of Vancouver-Orlando offers a new choice for travellers looking to escape the Canadian winter, and we also look forward to welcoming Florida residents onboard for convenient access to some of the best skiing in North America."

In addition to these new services, Air Canada introduced service to Dallas in February and are increasing service to Los Angeles and San Jose to six and three times daily respectively, both on May 1, 2017. They will also launch the following new routes out of YVR this summer: Denver, Taipei, Nagoya, Frankfurt, London Gatwick and Boston.