Despite the recent challenge posed by increased oil prices, there has been a noticeable movement where airlines are introducing more ultra long haul flights. Nevertheless, Air Canada is momentarily bucking this trend, as the Canadian Star Alliance airline will be terminating its longest route, less than three years after its inception.
**Air Canada halts Vancouver to Singapore flights effective early 2027**
AeroRoutes points out that Air Canada has discreetly revised its schedule, indicating that the airline will cease its route between Vancouver (YVR) and Singapore (SIN) starting January 24, 2027. Air Canada inaugurated this route in April 2024, and it has operated at frequencies ranging from 3 to 5 times a week. Typically, the flight has been conducted using a Boeing 787-9, adhering to the following timetable:
– AC019 Vancouver to Singapore departing at 11:15 PM, arriving at 7:00 AM (+2 days)
– AC020 Singapore to Vancouver departing at 8:40 AM, arriving at 7:45 AM
Spanning 7,967 miles and having a block time of up to 16 hours and 45 minutes, this has been Air Canada’s longest-distance route. With this route being terminated, there will be no further nonstop services connecting Canada and Singapore.
**What are the reasons behind Air Canada’s withdrawal from Singapore flights?**
There has been an observable trend in North America as airlines increasingly operate ultra long haul flights. Numerous factors have influenced this shift, including more advanced aircraft suitable for such operations, a growing emphasis on premium leisure travel, and a network that strengthens loyalty programs.
Air Canada is an airline that certainly stands out in terms of its expansive global route network. It’s intriguing to note that the airline has had greater success with its Vancouver to Bangkok (BKK) route, which began as seasonal but has since transitioned to year-round service.
On one hand, Air Canada enjoys several advantages when operating ultra long haul transpacific routes of this nature. Vancouver’s geographical positioning is unrivaled for Asian flights. Additionally, Air Canada benefits from a robust hub in Vancouver and has a somewhat competitive cost structure compared to its American counterparts.
However, engaging in ultra long haul flying poses challenges, particularly without a substantial volume of high-yield point-to-point traffic. The Vancouver to Singapore market does see a healthy level of origin and destination demand. Nevertheless:
– Much of the demand in this market is sensitive to pricing, and there is no shortage of Asian carriers providing one-stop services between Vancouver and Singapore, some of which can effectively underprice Air Canada.
– Air Canada marketed this route emphasizing connections, but the reality is that making the economics viable while relying on connecting passengers is difficult, due to the plethora of existing one-stop alternatives that do not involve ultra long haul flights.
– Given the duration of this flight, cargo opportunities appear to be quite limited, since there is minimal payload left on a 787 operating such an extended sector.
– I suspect that the prevailing jet fuel price conditions simply sealed the fate of this service, as this route is likely underperforming significantly right now.
**In summary**
Starting January 2027, Air Canada will cease its route from Vancouver to Singapore, just shy of three years after its launch. This represents Air Canada’s longest route. I have a feeling the financials here were not favorable from the outset, and the current jet fuel situation only exacerbated the issues.
What are your thoughts on Air Canada discontinuing its Singapore flights?