Air Canada is to introduce a new daily year-round non-stop service between Vancouver International Airport and Dallas-Fort Worth beginning February 5, 2017. The new link will be flown by Jazz Aviation LP under the Air Canada Express brand using Bombardier CRJ-705 equipment, offering a 75-seat, wi-fi equipped two-class Business and Economy service.

This year Air Canada has already launched new international services to Brisbane and to Dublin from Vancouver, with new flights launching to Delhi in October. Air Canada has also launched new US transborder flights from Vancouver this year to Chicago, San Jose, and San Diego.

"We continue to strategically expand our Vancouver hub, and our newest transborder flights to the fourth most populous metropolitan area in the USA offer local business travellers a non-stop service, as well as improved access for customers in British Columbia and Alberta via convenient connections in Vancouver," said Benjamin Smith, President, Passenger Airlines at Air Canada.

"Travellers from the United States of America will also enjoy seamless connections to Beijing, Shanghai, Seoul, Tokyo (Narita) and Hong Kong through in-transit preclearance facilities and competitive elapsed travel times making Air Canada and Vancouver a preferred trans-Pacific option for travel,” added the executive.

The Vancouver – Dallas market is already served by American Airlines, which uses its hub in the US city to offer onward connections and supplement the local traffic demand. The US major currently operates two flights per day in the city pair using Boeing 737-800 equipment.

An estimated 280 PPDEW flew on the route during the first six months of the year, according to AirVision Market Intelligence data from Sabre Airline Solutions, suggesting healthy loads of greater than 80% for American Airlines. The annual O&D demand on the route is estimated at around 60,000 two-way passengers.

Air Canada previously last served the Vancouver – Dallas in October 2001 using a Canadian Airlines Boeing 737 and its return is part of its focus on boosting its activities at Vancouver International Airport. The airline’s published seasonal schedules from the west coast gateway have increased year-on-year since 2014 with capacity up 17.1% this summer and already forecasted to rise 8.8% in the forthcoming winter schedule, according to its inventory.