Air Canada Increases Service to China

Air Canada has announced it will resume its daily service from Canada to Beijing (PEK) in early 2025 and will also increase its flights to Shanghai (PVG) beginning in December 2024. Both routes will operate from the airline’s Vancouver (YVR) hub.

The announcement comes after Ottawa last week removed restrictions imposed in 2022 limiting flights between China and Canada.

Air Canada Increases Service to China

Air Canada is set to resume non-stop flights between Canada and China with daily service to Beijing (PEK) beginning January 15, 2025. The airline has also announced that it will increase its flights to Shanghai (PVG) beginning December 7, 2024.

Both routes will operate from Air Canada’s Vancouver (YVR) hub, which has become the airline’s primary departure point for destinations across Asia.

Currently, Air Canada flies four times weekly between Vancouver (YVR) and Shanghai (PVG), but beginning December 7, 2024, that frequency will increase to daily with the following flight times:

• AC25 Vancouver (YVR) to Shanghai (PVG), departing 11:15am and arriving 4pm the following day
• AC26 Shanghai (PVG) to Vancouver (YVR), departing 5:50pm and arriving 12:10pm

Air Canada has also announced it will be resuming daily service from Vancouver (YVR) to Beijing (PEK) beginning January 15, 2025, with the following flight times:

• AC29 Vancouver (YVR) to Beijing (PEK), departing 11:40am and arriving 5pm the next day
• AC30 Beijing (PEK) to Vancouver (YVR), departing 6:55pm and arriving 2:05pm

The Vancouver (YVR) to Shanghai (PVR) route is blocked at 12 hours and 45 minutes westbound and 10 hours 20 minutes eastbound. Meanwhile, the Vancouver (YVR) to Beijing (PEK) route is blocked at 13 hours and 20 minutes westbound and 11 hours 10 minutes eastbound.

Both routes will be operated by Air Canada’s 787 Dreamliner which offers a three-class configuration featuring 30 business class suites, 21 premium economy seats, and 247 seats in economy.

Air Canada’s Executive VP of Revenue and Network Planning, Mark Galardo says the announcement reflects the importance of these markets in Air Canada’s global network.

He adds, “with the investments we have made at our YVR hub linking Air Canada’s extensive North American network to our international flights, travelling between North America and Asia is convenient and compelling for leisure and business travellers alike. We look forward to welcoming our customers onboard our flights.”

Air Canada’s announcement comes after the Canadian Transportation Agency recently announced the removal of flight restrictions on Chinese mainland airlines.

Initially imposed in 2022, the restrictions capped mainland Chinese airlines at six weekly round-trip scheduled passenger flights to Canada and halted direct flights from Beijing to Canada.

How to Book Air Canada’s Flights to China

If you’re interested in booking flights to Shanghai or Beijing, both are available for purchase with cash or Aeroplan points.

The Vancouver–Shanghai route covers a distance of 5,615 miles and the Vancouver–Beijing route measures 5,291 miles, according to Great Circle Mapper.

For Aeroplan redemptions, this places the routes in the second distance band on Aeroplan’s “Between North America and Pacific zones” section of the Flight Reward Chart.

The flights are already loaded and bookable at aircanada.com with cash or points, and since this is an Air Canada flight, the redemption prices are subject to the dynamic pricing model. This means that the cost in points varies depending on a host of factors.

The published points ranges for the various classes of service are as follows:

• Economy: 40,000–70,000 Aeroplan points
• Premium economy: 60,000–90,000 Aeroplan points
• Business class: 70,000–180,000 Aeroplan points

A quick look for flights on the Vancouver–Shanghai route shows a wide range in pricing based on the dates searched, with seats in economy coming in as low as 75,000 Aeroplan points and as high as 127,000 points.

The same dynamic range exists for seats in business class, with redemptions ranging from 250,000 to 710,000 Aeroplan points.

When it comes to cash prices, round-trip flights on the Vancouver–Beijing or Vancouver–Shanghai route are currently showing starting at around $1,600 (all figures in CAD) for economy and just over $7,400 for a seat in business class.

When booking an Air Canada flight, it’s always a good idea to use an Aeroplan co-branded credit card to earn bonus points on the Air Canada purchases and to enjoy some travel insurance coverage on both cash and Aeroplan award bookings.

The best card to use is the American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card, which earns 3 Aeroplan points per dollar spent on Air Canada purchases.^†

Alternatively, the TD® Aeroplan® Visa Infinite Privilege* Card, the CIBC Aeroplan® Visa Infinite Privilege* Card, or the American Express Aeroplan Card all earn 2 Aeroplan points per dollar spent on Air Canada purchases.^†

Conclusion

Air Canada is set to resume non-stop flights between Canada and China with daily service to Beijing beginning January 15, 2025. The airline has also announced it will increase the frequency of its flights to Shanghai beginning December 7, 2024, and both routes will operate from Air Canada’s Vancouver (YVR) hub.

The airline says the resumption of the Beijing route and increase in flights to Shanghai are a reflection of the importance of both markets in Air Canada’s global network.

Flights are available for booking with cash or points through Air Canada’s booking channels.

^† Terms and conditions apply. Please refer to the issuer’s website for up-to-date information.