Air Canada has launched the first direct non-stop flight between North America and Thailand in over 10 years. The route will be operated through Spring 2023. It will be flown four times per week, offering North American travelers a more convenient travel option to visit Thailand. The route will be operated on a Boeing 787 Dreamliner.
Transpacific flight
The ultra-long-haul route begins at Canada’s Vancouver International Airport (YVR) and ends at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK) in Thailand. The flight will be operated four times per week, with one flight departing YVR every Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday. The journey will take an estimated 16 hours. The service is a seasonal offering and is scheduled to terminate in April. Depending on the routes’ success, it may be reinstated next winter.
The inaugural flight, Air Canada flight AC65, launched at 23:00 PT from YVR yesterday, December 1st. The flight is scheduled to land at BKK at 05:55 ICT on Saturday, December 3rd. The airline has shared its excitement for this new route, with Senior Vice President of Network Planning and Revenue Management at Air Canada, Mark Galardo, stating,
“We are extremely pleased to be launching our first non-stop service to Southeast Asia this winter, the only one between North America and Thailand.”
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Route history
Thailand is one of the most visited countries in the world. The country offers countless opportunities for tourists. It has plenty of activities for adventure seekers while offering plenty of leisure options for travelers looking to relax. Travelers around the globe highly regard this beautiful land as one of the best vacation destinations. However, this paradise is rather far from North America and Europe, requiring visitors to spend hours on a plane or planes before arriving.
For the past ten years, there has been no direct connection between the Asian country and North America. The last time a regularly scheduled direct non-stop route was offered connecting Thailand to North America was in 2012 when Thai Airways operated regularly scheduled non-stop flights between BKK and Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). Travelers looking to visit Thailand from the US for the past ten years have had to fly across the Pacific to other cities before connecting to another flight.
Air Canada expects this new route to be very successful and sees high demand for leisure travel as it will now offer the most convenient option for travel between North America and this highly popular vacation destination. Thailand’s economy was hit hard by the pandemic travel restrictions as it relies heavily on tourism. Since the county dropped its final COVID-19 entry restriction in October, it hopes to rapidly rebuild its tourism market amid the ongoing surge in air travel.
In 2019 the country saw 39.8 million international arrivals. By the end of 2022, it expects to reach 10 million international arrivals. Next year, the country expects to see 80% of 2019 international arrival numbers. It hopes to reach pre-pandemic levels by 2024 and continue to grow its tourism industry over the coming decade.
Source : SimpleFlying
