Qantas is adding extra seasonal nonstop flights to Vancouver in 2015 after deeming its six return services in January a success.
Sydney-Vancouver flights with the Flying Kangaroo are returning in June and July, as well as between December and January 2016, with three flights a week, Qantas said on Wednesday.
All up, Qantas has scheduled 33 return flights to Vancouver over those two periods.
The airline operated nonstop flights to Canada for the first time in early 2015, flying Boeing 747-400 aircraft to Vancouver over the Australian summer period.
“Our direct Vancouver services proved really popular so we’re pleased to expand them this year, offering customers more flights on more days over winter and summer, and delivering another boost for inbound tourism for Australia,” Qantas executive manager of international sales Stephen Thompson said in a statement on Wednesday.
“Our focus with this new schedule is to give customers more choice. We’ve increased services from two to three per week, and will ensure customers can maximise their holiday time with night flights in both directions”.
Thompson said customers could also book connecting flights to six destinations from Vancover with Qantas’s codeshare partner WestJet.
Vancouver Airport Authority chief executive Craig Redmond said Qantas’s move to return to Vancouver would be a boost to the British Columbia region.
“Their return provides Canadian and Australian travellers with great options for vacation destinations and brings growth in tourism and economic benefits to the province,” Redmond said in a statement.
The airport noted Qantas’s new seasonal service would bring about 2,000 additional visitors to Vancouver and support 22 new jobs.
Air Canada is the only other operator on the Sydney-Vancouver route, with daily flights using Boeing 777-200LR and Boeing 777-300ER aircraft.
Meanwhile, Qantas said it was adding a fifth weekly flight between Sydney and Honolulu during the September/October school holiday period, as well as from November to January.
