Chinese Airlines Set Course for Canada

Chinese carriers are wasting no time jumping back into the lucrative Canada-China market just two weeks after Canada eased its COVID-era cap on them.

Air China, China Southern Airlines and China Eastern Airlines have announced the resumption of flights between China and Canada, according to the Global Times.

“Direct flights will connect four Chinese cities – Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen and Guangzhou in South China’s Guangdong Province – with the Canadian cities of Toronto and Vancouver,” per the report.

Air China resumed its first Vancouver-Beijing flight on 08NOV and will increase to three times per week on 18NOV, according to the website AirlineGeeks. The article noted that China Eastern will increase from one to four flights per week from Toronto to Shanghai starting 18NOV.

“The increase and resumption of direct flights between the two countries will give a boost to people-to-people exchanges while meeting their economic and trade demand,” Huo Jianguo, a vice chairman of the China Society for World Trade Organization Studies in Beijing, told the Global Times on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Air Canada is preparing for increased competition by increasing its capacity in China. The airline plans to resume daily non-stop Vancouver-Beijing flights in the new year (15JAN) and return to daily Vancouver-Shanghai trips, starting even sooner, on 07DEC.

“It’s aways great news for our industry, advisors, and their clients when entry restrictions are lifted,” Christine James, CTM, Vice President, Canada, Travel Leaders Network, told Open Jaw. “Furthermore, with the reinstatement of Air Canada flights, demand will definitely ramp up.”

Since 2022, Canada has allowed Chinese carriers just six round-trip flights per week, which dampened tourism in both countries. Prior to the pandemic, more than 100 weekly flights crossed the skies between the two countries.

In a tense political climate between the two nations, the restrictions have cut both ways, with China refusing to reinstate Canada as an approved destination after lifting COVID restrictions in 2023.

“China was our number one international (overseas) market prior to the pandemic, Andrew Weir, president of Destination Toronto, told Open Jaw in an interview earlier this year. “We had 300,000 Chinese visitors to Toronto. But we’re only at 10% of that.”

That number should jump significantly with the flight restrictions eased.

“Overseas travel has been the slowest and last segment of customers to return to Toronto and remains well off the peak of 2019,” Weir said in an email to Open Jaw on 31OCT. “While some countries like the U.K., Germany and Mexico are showing momentum in returning to visit Toronto, China persists as a challenge that leaves a hole in the business that is difficult to close.”

Weir said it’s encouraging to see small numbers of flights return to Canada, “but it will be important to see flights reach deeper into Canada and come back to Toronto, and also for Canada to regain Approved Destination Status before we can seize on the opportunity of Chinese outbound travel as before. In the meantime, our top competitors are deepening their grip on the market, and Canada falls further and further behind each month, making the matter more urgent.”