Last week, the Canadian government removed restrictions on the number of weekly flights that Chinese airlines could operate in Canada, allowing carriers on both sides of the Pacific to boost services between the two countries.
As confirmed by CAAC News, the official news arm of the Civil Aviation Administration of China, representatives of both China and Canada have agreed to remove the caps on the number of flights permitted between the two countries, which have been in place since 2022.
According to CAAC News, boosting the number of commercial flights between China and Canada will help increase tourism and economic trade.
Photo: Air China, Boeing 747-8. Hat Trick on Unsplash
During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, China quickly shut its borders to foreign visitors and suspended the vast majority of inbound flights. Canada then imposed a cap on Chinese-operated flights in February 2022, limiting Chinese airlines to just six weekly roundtrips combined.
Prior to the pandemic, Chinese carriers collectively operated an average of 76 nonstop services to Canada each week, while Canadian flag carrier Air Canada flew to China up to 35 times per week, according to data from Cirium. However, flights between China and Canada are currently around 90 percent lower than 2019 levels.
“China’s position on growing China-Canada relations is consistent and clear,” said Lin Jian, a spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, during a news conference on Wednesday. “We value this step by the Canadian side and hope that Canada will continue to create sound conditions for the normal exchange of personnel between China and Canada.”
Following the decision to ease restrictions, Air Canada has confirmed that it will increase its flights to China.
Photo: Courtesy of Air Canada
Canada’s national airline currently operates four weekly flights between Vancouver International Airport (YVR) and Shanghai Pudong International Airport (PVG), but this will increase to a daily service from December 7th. Meanwhile, the airline will resume daily flights between Vancouver and Beijing Capital International Airport (PEK) on January 15, 2025.
“We are resuming our nonstop services between Canada and Beijing and increasing our flights between Canada and Shanghai, reflecting the importance of these markets in Air Canada’s global network,” said Mark Galardo, Executive Vice President of Revenue and Network Planning at Air Canada.
“With the investments we have made at our YVR hub linking Air Canada’s extensive North American network to our international flights, traveling between North America and Asia is convenient and compelling for leisure and business travelers alike. We look forward to welcoming our customers onboard our flights.”
Canada’s lifting of restrictions on Chinese flights comes as the U.S. continues to impose limits on Chinese carriers and vice versa, although limits have been eased gradually over the last two years.
Currently, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) permits Chinese airlines to operate 50 roundtrip flights per week, with the same number of U.S.-operated services allowed in China, but capacity between the U.S. and China remains around 70 percent lower than in 2019.
