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With Australia now open to vaccinated travelers and with New Zealand set to welcome vaccinated travelers from over 60 countries in early May, Air Canada has chosen this moment to announce that it’s going to increase its services to the Southern Pacific starting from this northern hemisphere summer.
The “strategic expansion” of its South Pacific network that Air Canada has now announced will see the carrier resume services to Brisbane this summer and Auckland this winter as well as seeing it return to offering a daily service to Sydney from the beginning of May. More specifically, this is what flyers can expect:
Sydney
From 1 May 2022, Air Canada will once again offer a daily service between Vancouver and Sydney on the following schedule (subject to change):
AC33 YVR 22:25 – 06:55+2 days SYD (Daily)
AC34 SYD 09:20 – 07:00 YVR (Daily)
Right now, this route is being operated by an Air Canada Boeing 777 but as of 1 April, it will be taken over by a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner.
Brisbane
Air Canada will return to Brisbane from 1 July with a 4x/week service from Vancouver on the following schedule (subject to change):
AC35 YVR 22:55 – 06:35+2 days BNE (Mon, Wed, Fri & Sun)
AC36 BNE 10:15 – 06:50 YVR (Tue, Wed, Fri & Sun)
According to the current schedules, this route will be operated by an Air Canada Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner.
Auckland
Air Canada may have now announced that it’s returning to Auckland but the airline isn’t in a hurry to get back to New Zealand as the Vancouver – Auckland service is not due to restart until the northern hemisphere winter (southern hemisphere summer).
This is what the schedule looks like from 10 November 2022 (subject to change):
AC39 YVR 22:45 – 10:05+2 days AKL (Tue, Thu & Sat)
AC40 AKL 14:30 – 06:30 YVR (Mon, Thus & Sat)
As things stand, this route is set to be operated by an Air Canada 787-8 Dreamliner but as we’re still a long way off from the route’s relaunch date, it’s possible that this may change.
The aircraft
The Air Canada 787-9 Dreamliners offer a 3-cabin configuration with the following seating options:
- Business Class – 30 seats
- Premium Economy – 21 seats
- Economy Class – 247 seats
The Business Class seats are set out in a 1-2-1 reverse herringbone pattern and offer up to 80″ of pitch.
The Air Canada 787-8 Dreamliners also offer a 3-cabin configuration with the following seating options:
- Business Class – 20 seats
- Premium Economy – 21 seats
- Economy Class – 214 seats
The Business Class seats in the -8 variant are the same as the seats in the larger -9 variant so the main difference between the two aircraft is the size of the Business and Economy Class cabins.
Business Class awards
At the time of writing, I can see a few Business Class award seats available on the Vancouver – Brisbane sector across multiple months (most availability appears to be for departures on a Monday) and very limited availability (November onwards) in the opposite direction.
On the Vancouver – Auckland route, there’s currently some very limited outbound award availability in late November and then nothing more. Coming home, there’s also limited Business Class award availability in November, but no availability past the 28th.
On the route to/from Sydney, there doesn’t appear to be any Business Class award availability in either direction at any point between now and February 2023.
Bottom line
Air Canada has confirmed that it will begin to offer a daily service between Vancouver and Sydney from 1 May and that it will be returning to Brisbane with a 4x/week service from Vancouver in July. The airline has also said that it plans to restart its route between Vancouver and Aukland later this year but not until the southern hemisphere summer (November).
