Air Canada maps out first Boeing 787 routes: Tokyo, Tel Aviv
By David Flynn, December 6 2013
Air Canada has chosen Tokyo and Tel Aviv as the international launch routes for its Boeing 787, which begins overseas duty in July 2014 after making its debut in March on selected domestic and short-hop European routes as "proving missions” to bed down the aircraft and train up the crew.
The daily Toronto-Tokyo flight will use Haneda Airport rather than Narita Airport, providing travellers with a much shorter trip into the Japanese capital.
Air Canada has six of the three-class 251-seat Boeing 787-8s due for delivery next year.
Photos: First look inside Air Canada's new Boeing 787
From 2015 the Canadian carrier will then start to split its Dreamliner delivers into nine more of the original 787-8s and 22 of the larger longer-range 787-9s, at a rate of between six and nine new aircraft a year through to 2019.
“What happened with (our Boeing 787 order) is that it’s actually evolved” Air Canada President and CEO Calin Rovinescu told Australian Business Traveller in Sydney late last year.
“As the aircraft was completed and we saw its capabilities, we needed to shift more to 787-9”, Rovinescu explained, because the stretched Dreamliner had “the capabilities we expected in the 787-8.”
Air Canada’s Dreamliner heading down under
Among Air Canada’s 787-9’s routes will be Vancouver-Sydney, which is currently flown on a Boeing 777-200LR, and potentially a new Vancouver-Melbourne route.
“Vancouver to Sydney is the single longest route we have and the only way we want to do Australia is non-stop” Rovinescu said, and "Melbourne would be logical next destination for us in Australia."
“Our challenge is aircraft. We need the Boeing 777-200LR or the 787-9 to fly non-stop to Australia”.
“We have only a few of the 777-200LRs and if the opportunity comes up to take another 777 to deploy here we’d do it, but realistically until we get the 787-9 series we won't have the aircraft to make this route a non-stop basis.”
Photos: First look inside Air Canada's new Boeing 787
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David Flynn is the Editor-in-Chief of Executive Traveller and a bit of a travel tragic with a weakness for good coffee, shopping and lychee martinis.
Cathay Pacific - Asia Miles
25 Apr 2013
Total posts 542
Any other destinations on their list? For example, I'm talking Singapore, Hong Kong...
24 Oct 2010
Total posts 2560
Alvin, if Air Canada had revealed any more 787 destinations we'd have included them in this article.
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
10 Jan 2012
Total posts 258
AC already fly daily, non stop to HKG from YVR and YYZ respectively.
Cathay Pacific - Asia Miles
25 Apr 2013
Total posts 542
I wish they replaced those...
30 Aug 2013
Total posts 437
Vancouver-Melbourne would be awesome!
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
28 May 2012
Total posts 76
I agree, come on Melbourne!
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
25 Jan 2013
Total posts 240
Awesome, one-stop routes from Melbourne to Canada is exciting.
And we might be able to get around LAX.
28 Mar 2014
Total posts 2
Regarding Air Canada Boeing 787 service to Australia, my understanding was that the city in view for that service was Brisbane, and not Sydney, as seems indicated in the article. What about Brisbane as a direct Vancouver destination, anyway. It sounds good to me. I hope it materializes. Melbourne, too, of course !!
28 Mar 2014
Total posts 2
Vancouver should be the Canadian juping-off hub for Australia.
Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane (yield factor provided) should all have a route into Vancouver, in my opinion.
(There's a strong connection with Vancouver and Down Under, which probably explains why we have ANZ to Auckland, too.)
Let's go !!!!
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