A new daily non-stop service from Vancouver to Tokyo via All Nippon Airways (ANA) will begin March 30, 2014, according to an announcement made today by the Vancouver Airport Authority.
It will fly between Vancouver International Airport (YVR) and Tokyo Haneda Airport (HND).
"This new service will offer British Columbia businesses more options to reach customers in central Tokyo, but also throughout Japan and Asia thanks to ANA's strong domestic and international networks," said Craig Richmond, president and CEO, Vancouver Airport Authority. "ANA's decision to fly to YVR further strengthens our position as North America's gateway of choice to the Asia-Pacific region."
This will be ANA’s first service to Canada, and the fact that it is a daily service is a strongly positive sign, Richmond said. “It is a real mark of confidence for Japan’s largest airline to fly to Vancouver first,” Richmond said.
Osamu Shinobe, president and CEO of ANA, was pleased to make the announcement.
"Vancouver will be the first destination in Canada for ANA, and we are confident that passenger demand will be high, not only in Japan but in other Asian cities," Shinobe said.
The added daily service is made possible by recent liberalization to Canada’s air-service agreement with Japan, which provides new landing spots for Canadian flights at HND.
“When these bilaterals open up, we benefit,” Richmond said.
“We’ve been talking to ANA for a long time, but the opportunity to fly to the right airport just was never there. As soon as there was this opportunity, they just jumped in.”
Currently, YVR has daily service to Narita International Airport (NRT), approximately 60 kilometres from Tokyo's downtown core. Flights to HND via ANA will increase YVR's overall capacity to Tokyo by 30%.
In total, YVR's three daily flights to Japan will create an estimated $64.8 million in wages, $36.1 million in taxes and $99.3 million in added gross domestic product for the province.
As the world's third-largest economy, Japan offers B.C. businesses many opportunities to increase exports by taking advantage of its high demand for energy resources, raw materials, seafood and international education.
In 2012, $101 million worth of B.C. exports departed YVR for Japan, making it the third largest market, by value, served from the airport.
ANA's new flight will carry 214 passengers and is expected to generate 356 jobs both at YVR and in B.C.'s hospitality and tourism industries.
