YVR & Sea Island Developments Discussion II

[Johnny Aussie]

2025 was a huge year for cargo at YVR.

Stats Canada has released 2025 Cargo stats

YVR over 330,000 tonnes. Over 180,000 tonnes of that was international

And again, a solid second largest tonnage of all airports

Just over 68% of YYZ’s total which is pretty good considering its dominance

https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=2310025401

[VancityAvgeek33]

I wonder what’s gonna be yvr’s next air Canada route - just saw there yvr vid and wondered if we’re gonna finally get Vietnam or smt else? Maybe Nagoya again?!

[trofirhen]

Originally Posted by VancityAvgeek33

I wonder what’s gonna be yvr’s next air Canada route - just saw there yvr vid and wondered if we’re gonna finally get Vietnam or smt else? Maybe Nagoya again?!

Good suggestions, but what about Osaka year-round?

[ninjakafi_81]

Originally Posted by VancityAvgeek33

I wonder what’s gonna be yvr’s next air Canada route - just saw there yvr vid and wondered if we’re gonna finally get Vietnam or smt else? Maybe Nagoya again?!

I hope they launch multiple new long haul routes at once instead of the launching 1 new route per year.

That said, I would probably place bets on Vietnam and to more secondary cities in existing markets like; Fukuoka, Busan, Christchurch, etc. Maybe they’ll take a shot at Fiji or Bali although the latter is having some anti foreigner sentiment at the moment. Lastly although it’s not TPAC destination but maybe Colombia.

[nname]

Originally Posted by trofirhen

Good suggestions, but what about Osaka year-round?

What about DUB year-round? It's inching closer to a year-round route as well with season extension almost every year.

From initial S27 schedule, YVR-DUB is set to resume on March 30, instead of the usual early May start date.

And since they are already updating the summer schedule, I guess there will be no winter KIX or any new route.

As for the new CTS, my bet is they will be reducing PEK to 5x weekly from mid-Dec to mid-Jan:
- The flights on days 46 matches the PEK departure, so they will probably move the PEK flight to CTS
- The flight on day 1 will rotate with the extra 3x weekly SYD, which happens to have an off-day on Monday

From mid-Jan to late-Feb, the extra 789 flight will probably undergoing maintenance so they will likely just send an extra 788 from YYZ base to do only the CTS flight. PEK would return to daily from this point.

For March, the CTS will rotate with KIX with 3/4 weekly each.

For April when CTS season ends, KIX will rotate with the new DUB extension with 4/3 weekly each.

This pretty much confirm the CTS season will end by the end of March as scheduled, unless they're sending some XLR to the route (which is probably easier to fly during the summer vs winter).

[Johnny Aussie]

Originally Posted by nname

What about DUB year-round? It's inching closer to a year-round route as well with season extension almost every year.

From initial S27 schedule, YVR-DUB is set to resume on March 30, instead of the usual early May start date.

And since they are already updating the summer schedule, I guess there will be no winter KIX or any new route.

As for the new CTS, my bet is they will be reducing PEK to 5x weekly from mid-Dec to mid-Jan:
- The flights on days 46 matches the PEK departure, so they will probably move the PEK flight to CTS
- The flight on day 1 will rotate with the extra 3x weekly SYD, which happens to have an off-day on Monday

From mid-Jan to late-Feb, the extra 789 flight will probably undergoing maintenance so they will likely just send an extra 788 from YYZ base to do only the CTS flight. PEK would return to daily from this point.

For March, the CTS will rotate with KIX with 3/4 weekly each.

For April when CTS season ends, KIX will rotate with the new DUB extension with 4/3 weekly each.

This pretty much confirm the CTS season will end by the end of March as scheduled, unless they're sending some XLR to the route (which is probably easier to fly during the summer vs winter).

So complicated :p

Appreciate your efforts and patience to all this

Japan is still hugely popular (from downunder as well)

I’m still amazed at how subdued China is… no end in sight for the increases from Australia to China. Yes I know there are reasons and differences in markets but there is no question Canada-China is still suppressed. Way below what it should be

Imagine what the APAC numbers will be once that really takes off again

[Calfan12]

Beijing Capital Airlines in October 2026 plans to resume service to Canada, as the airline opened reservations for Hangzhou – Qingdao – Vancouver route as of Friday 14AUG26. Airbus A330-300 aircraft to serve this route once a week from 02OCT26, switching to -200 from 16OCT26.

JD471 HGH0835 – 1020TAO1220 – 0840YVR 333 5
JD472 YVR1040 – 1540+1TAO1740+1 – 1925+1HGH 333 5

https://www.aeroroutes.com/eng/260815-jdoct26yvr

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by Calfan12

Beijing Capital Airlines in October 2026 plans to resume service to Canada, as the airline opened reservations for Hangzhou – Qingdao – Vancouver route as of Friday 14AUG26. Airbus A330-300 aircraft to serve this route once a week from 02OCT26, switching to -200 from 16OCT26.

JD471 HGH0835 – 1020TAO1220 – 0840YVR 333 5
JD472 YVR1040 – 1540+1TAO1740+1 – 1925+1HGH 333 5

https://www.aeroroutes.com/eng/260815-jdoct26yvr

Once a week? Why bother.

[nname]

Originally Posted by whatnext

Once a week? Why bother.

JD was heavily penalized by the Chinese side for first to pull out service when COVID started. So it gets the lowest priority on the allocation of frequency when they becomes available. Some even said Chinese cancelled the right for them to operate to Canada in favor of other airlines.

This shows two things:

1. JD still have the right to operate to YVR and is awarded 1x weekly from October.

2. Looks like the next set of bilateral increase between Canada and China will be from Oct 2026, expect other airlines to also increase service starting from October. If JD got a single weekly, that means other 6 airlines must've gotten at least 1x weekly, if not more.

And to answer your question - if they don't start the weekly service, there will be no chance of them getting the 2nd weekly later on.

[EDIT] Actually words is that the Chinese side got 6x additional weekly for 2026. Not sure if JD actually getting anything, or it's just HU moving the SZX flight over. We'll see over the next few days, but CA/MU/CZ will definitely increase the frequency for at least one of their route by the end of 2026. The next set of increase will likely come in 2027.

[Johnny Aussie]

Baby steps

If Beijing Capital starts, YVR will hit 29 longhaul foreign carriers. Including NA airlines there will be 36 foreign carriers at YVR

[ninjakafi_81]

Interesting informations coming from last Wednesday Air Canada's Q2_2026_Townhall. Only available to employees I believe.

Some quotes from Mark Galardo:

Quote:

They should start to tease us next week haha !!

Quoting this from the Canadian Airport thread, I wonder what new routes we could see for Summer 2027.

[LeftCoaster]

Probably will look something like this

Air Canada is proud to announce major service increases from our 3 hubs to the following destinations:

Montreal to Kinshasa: New Daily
Montreal to Chișinău: New Daily
Montreal to Caracas New 5xPW
Montreal to Yerevan: New Daily
Toronto to Lagos: New Daily
Toronto to North Macedonia: New Double Daily
Toronto to Tromsø: New Daily
Toronto to Sandwich Islands: New Daily
Toronto to Ushuaia: New Daily
Toronto to Ulanbataar: New Double Daily
Vancouver to Dublin: increase from 3xPW to 4xPW

[ninjakafi_81]

Originally Posted by LeftCoaster

Probably will look something like this

Honestly I wouldn’t be surprised if were something like this. I can’t think of time when AC announced multiple long haul routes out of YVR at the same time.

[thenoflyzone]

Originally Posted by LeftCoaster

Probably will look something like this

Lol.....

In all seriousness, hopefully the time is ripe for YVR-FCO/ATH.

[nname]

Originally Posted by ninjakafi_81

Honestly I wouldn’t be surprised if were something like this. I can’t think of time when AC announced multiple long haul routes out of YVR at the same time.

Nah.. there will be new route as mentioned. At the very minimum there would be something like 1x weekly to YYF. Or maybe a new bus service to YXX and YWS?

I think the last time was the lunch of YVR-CDG and YVR-ZRH. Both no longer running.

But then most of the recent long-haul launches from YVR gets the treatment of a separate PR rather than grouped with all the seasonal new routes. For instance, CTS, BKK, SIN, MNL launch all got a dedicated PR ahead of the seasonal change PR. The launch of YVR-DXB was also one of them although AC already served it from YYZ, and the route no longer exist as well.

[hehehe]

I don't really understand some of the repeated frustrations with AC here. BKK/MNL/CTS/KIX/DUB are all awesome (as are the numerous foreign carrier additions). I mean YVR probably won't be getting super niche Euro destinations that YYZ or YUL might get in the future, which is fine.

[ninjakafi_81]

Originally Posted by thenoflyzone

Lol.....

In all seriousness, hopefully the time is ripe for YVR-FCO/ATH.

Considering AC will be launching the new routes for Summer 2027, those destinations plus Spain makes the most sense. Although I’m not sure what the demand is but I think YVR can sustain 3/4x weekly.

On a side note down in Seattle, Alaska just announced flights to Athens.

[trofirhen]

Originally Posted by thenoflyzone

Lol.....

In all seriousness, hopefully the time is ripe for YVR-FCO/ATH.

Originally Posted by ninjakafi_81

Considering AC will be launching the new routes for Summer 2027, those destinations plus Spain makes the most sense. Although I’m not sure what the demand is but I think YVR can sustain 3/4x weekly.

On a side note down in Seattle, Alaska just announced flights to Athens.

At present, Seattle is beating out YVR in the Mideast and the Mediterranean. // Conversely, YVR has greater Pacific coverage. /// It'd be great to get YVR into Southern Europe,too. /// ME3? Yes,No

[LeftCoaster]

Id' say it's pretty clear that given the ME3 are not interested in YVR at this point.

I thought it was the Iran war that kept any announcements at bay, but they have since announced new routes and YVR ain't it, so it seems for now they are not looking our way.

Not sure why given the reduction in YVR-DEL flying overall with the growth in South Asian population, but I'm sure they've got the figures that tell them it's not worth it. Definitely the lack of travel to IKA isn't helping the ME3 interest in YVR, since that'd be a big driver pre-war.

[teriyaki]

Took a little stroll through the Domestic Terminal.

Don't know if these were ever shared since the two new AC Cafe's were completed construction at YVR.