Air Canada will start its first-ever nonstop route to a southeast Asia destination when it launches service to Bangkok (BKK) later this year.

From Dec. 1, the Star Alliance member will operate 4X-weekly flights between Vancouver (YVR) and the capital of Thailand. The route will be operated on a seasonal basis through April 14 with a Boeing 787 aircraft.

"Thailand is a popular leisure destination for Canadians and this new service will give [Air Canada rewards] members exciting opportunities to both earn and redeem their points,” senior VP-network planning and revenue management Mark Galardo said in a statement. “For further convenience, our Bangkok flights will connect to our extensive domestic and transborder [US] network.”

Also, from Oct. 29, Air Canada will resume service to Mumbai (BOM). The carrier will fly a Toronto Pearson (YYZ)-London Heathrow (LHR)-BOM routing daily with a 787 aircraft. The service will be seasonal, operating through March 26.

Both the YVR-BKK and YYZ-LHR-BOM route launches are contingent on Air Canada gaining relevant government approvals.

Air Canada already serves Delhi (DEL) daily from Toronto and 3X-weekly from Montreal (YUL). Both routes are year-round. From Oct. 1, the carrier is slated to resume 3X-weekly YVR-DEL service with a technical stop in Dublin (DUB).

"We are also excited to return to Mumbai, India's largest city and an important financial, commercial and entertainment hub, complementing our 13 weekly flights from Canada to Delhi,” Galardo said. “Our Mumbai services are scheduled to operate with a stop in London Heathrow, offering connectivity to more than a dozen Air Canada and Star Alliance partner United Airlines flights between North America and London, as well as additional options for travel between the UK and India. The India market remains very important to Air Canada, and we are committed to resuming our currently paused nonstop services on Toronto-Mumbai and Vancouver-Delhi when circumstances allow."

Galardo said Air Canada expects to operate 81% of pre-pandemic international capacity in the 2022-23 northern hemisphere winter season.