Air Canada has substantially increased cargo capacity to and from Vancouver between November 21st and 30th from their hubs in Toronto, Montreal and Calgary, to maintain essential economic supply chains after last week's devastating flooding.
On Monday (November 22, 2021), Air Canada announced the addition of 586 tons of additional cargo capacity to and from Vancouver between November 21st and 30th from Toronto, Montreal and Calgary following last week’s flooding. The added capacity is part of the airline’s effort to help maintain British Columbia’s economic supply chain and includes the conversion of Air Canada Dash 8-400s into special freighter configuration, as well as the rescheduling of 28 passenger flights from narrowbody aircraft to Boeing 787 Dreamliners, 777s and Airbus A330-300s. Air Canada will also operate 13 all-cargo flights between their Toronto, Montreal and Calgary hubs and Vancouver.
In Monday’s announcement, Air Canada Cargo’s Vice President, Jason Berry said,
“The economic supply chain is vital, and to help support the urgent transport of goods into and out of British Columbia, we have increased capacity to our YVR hub by using the flexibility of Air Canada's fleet to reschedule 28 passenger flights from narrow-body aircraft to be operated with wide-body Boeing 787 Dreamliners, Boeing 777, and Airbus A330-300 aircraft. These changes will allow an additional 282 tonnes of goods to be moved across the country on our scheduled passenger flights.
“Additionally, Air Canada Cargo will operate an additional 13 all-cargo flights between our Toronto, Montreal and Calgary cargo hubs and YVR using widebody aircraft, providing approximately 304 tonnes of additional capacity. These aircraft will help move mail and perishables such as seafood, as well as automotive parts and other industrial goods.”
In addition to increased cargo capacity, from November 17th Air Canada added approximately 1,500 seats into Kelowna and Kamloops by using larger aircraft. This has enabled people affected by the highway closures to fly in and out of these airports, while the additional belly-hold cargo capacity facilitated the transport of essential emergency medical supplies.
Air Canada is Canada’s largest domestic and international airline. The Canadian flag carrier is a founding member of the Star Alliance and the only international network carrier in North America to receive a Four-Star ranking from Skytrax. For the last two years Air Canada was also named Global Traveler’s ‘Best Airline in North America.’ Additionally, Air Canada has committed to a net zero emissions goal from all global operations by 2050.
Source: Air Canada