By Aviacionline
Air Canada Resumes Flights to Panama and Expands Brisbane Operations
Air Canada will resume operations between Toronto – Pearson (YYZ) and Panama City (PTY), after a two-and-a-half-year absence due to the pandemic. With the return of the Canadian airline, five North American carriers will offer service at Tocumen International Airport (PTY).
“The benefits of the return of Air Canada to Panama will be significant not only from the point of view of connectivity, but this important decision constitutes an additional means to promote tourism, trade, investment and cultural exchange between the two countries,” said Raffoul Arab, General Manager of Tocumen International Airport.
Flight Itinerary
- Toronto – Panama City Flight AC 1874 YYZ 08:30 – PTY 14:05
- Panama City – Toronto Flight AC 1875 PTY 15:05 – YYZ 20:35
Initially the route will offer two flights per week (Friday and Sunday); starting December 18, the company will increase its operations to three flights per week by adding an extra service on Wednesdays. This service will be operated by Air Canada Rouge in Airbus A319 aircraft with a capacity of 136 seats in two classes (12 Business Class/124 Economy).
According Tocumen Airport Statistics, 96,925 passengers were mobilized between Panama City (PTY) and Canada within January and September 2022.
Between January and September of this year, Tocumen International Airport has registered a traffic of 11.5 million passengers, through eighteen commercial airlines offering services to eighty-four destinations in the Americas and Europe.
For this winter season, Air Canada will serve Belize (BZE), San Jose, Costa Rica (SJO), Liberia/Guanacaste (LIR) and Panama (PTY). In addition, it is the only Canadian airline operating out of Tocumen Airport (PTY).
After three months of resuming services between Vancouver (YVR) and Brisbane (BNE), starting June 1, 2023, the carrier will increase this service from four times per week to daily flights. This represents a 16.9% increase in capacity over 2019 levels, completely surpassing the pre-pandemic offering.
“This means Air Canada’s capacity at Brisbane is higher than it was before Covid. This is a great sign of recovery and firmly positions Queensland as a destination of choice for the North American market in time for its summer period,” according to Gert-Jan de Graaff, chief executive officer of Brisbane Airport Corporation.
Flight Itinerary
- Vancouver – Brisbane Flight AC 35 YVR 22:45 – BNE 06:40+2 daily flights.
- Brisbane – Vancouver Flight AC 36 BNE 09:45 – YVR 06:20 daily flights.
The route will be operated by Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft with a capacity of 298 seats in three classes (30 Signature Class/21 Premium Economy/247 Economy).
“Air Canada has seen strong demand for the Vancouver – Brisbane service since its restart in July and is excited to add these additional frequencies with the support of the Queensland government to return our operations beyond their full pre-covid level with the start of these daily flights. from the northern summer of next year,” says Vic Naughton, Air Canada’s General Manager Australia and New Zealand.
For the 2023 summer season, Brisbane (BNE) will have three nonstop services to North America operated by Qantas to Los Angeles (LAX) and Air Canada to San Francisco (SFO) and Vancouver (YVR).
This article was originally published by Rainer Nieves Dolande on Aviacionline in syndication with AirlineGeeks
