Canada Transportation Agency has given approval for China's Capital Airlines to fly to Vancouver International Airport (YVR). This is the sixth mainland-China based air carrier to service YVR.
Just last month, YVR became the first airport in the Americas and Europe to service five mainland-China-based airlines when Xiamen Airlines touched down a 787 Dreamliner aircraft on a non-stop flight from Xiamen, China.
Other mainland-China carriers to service YVR are Air China, China Southern Airlines, China Eastern Airlines and Sichuan Airlines.
Capital Airlines is the marketing brand of Beijing Capital Airlines, which is a subsidiary of Hainan Airlines – an airline that is headquartered on the Chinese island province of Haikou, which is in the South China Sea.
Hainan Airlines is the largest privately owned air-transport company in China and the country’s fourth-largest airline in terms of fleet size.
Capital Airlines plans to launch its thrice-weekly flights on December 30 and use Airbus 330 planes.
Flights will depart Hangzhou at 2:15 p.m. on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Hangzhou is located inside Hangzhou Bay, which is not far south of Shanghai.
Planes stop at Qingdao, which is also on China's eastern coast but it is in the north, across the Yellow Sea from South Korea. The non-stop flights from Qingdao to Vancouver leave at 6:05 p.m. and arrive at YVR at 1:15 p.m.
Return flights leave YVR also on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays at 4:30 p.m. They arrive at Qingdao at 7:40 p.m. the following day. The flight continues on to Hangzhou, arriving at 11:25 p.m.
“[The new flights are] a true testament to YVR’s position as a connecting hub to the Asia-Pacific region, and to YVR’s competitiveness in attracting new carriers,” Vancouver Airport Authority CEO Craig Richmond said in a release.
Other airlines from greater China to service YVR include Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific Airways and Taiwan-based China Airlines and Eva Air Corp.
