In preparation for the first flight back to Canada from Australia after 21 months, Air Canada rolled out the red carpet for 40 lucky travel advisors at Sydney International yesterday who got to meet the AC team plus get onboard the swish Boeing 777-200LR that will take off for Vancouver (YVR) on Friday, 17 December.
After meeting the Air Canada team for a tasty lunch at Rydges Sydney International Airport, the 40 advisors split into two groups and headed over to the Airport for an exclusive behind the scenes tour and an aircraft inspection.
Cue plenty of “ooh’s” and “aah’s” as the advisors got to inspect all cabin classes in-person and, of course, stretch out a little further in the comfy Premium Economy and Business Class seats.
Speaking at the event, Air Canada Country Manager for Australia and New Zealand Vic Naughton said while the airline would not usually have the opportunity to do aircraft inspections because the turnaround was normally only two hours, it was perfect timing to make the most of the aircraft being on the ground for longer this time, “Advisors are always asking us for inspections, so we thought it’d be a great opportunity to finally get people on board and showcase our beautiful aircraft.”
Air Canada will resume its service from Sydney on December 17 with three flights a week until the end of March, with Naughton saying, “The plan is to ramp up from there to hopefully daily services in April while getting the other routes back as fast as we can.”
Naughton also spoke of the airline’s rapid growth before COVID, saying, “We saw so much growth over the last few years pre-COVID. We had Sydney, and then we launched Brisbane in 2016. In 2017 we launched Melbourne, and then at the end of 2019, we launched Auckland as well. We had 22 flights a week at one point and then overnight it all disappeared.”
Thanking the advisors and the trade for their continued support and partnership with the airline, Naughton said, “We really appreciate all of the trade support, and we’re going to need it again to get it back to where it was before. We want to get back to those four flights as fast as we can, but we can only do it together.”
Naughton also cited connectivity as a key differentiator for the airline in accessing Canada domestically and flying onto anywhere in the U.S. “One major selling point we have as an airline is our easy transit experience. We’re lucky to have the best hub in the world.”
“If you have someone, let’s say going to Toronto or Calgary, it’s just one-stop. So flying from Australia to Vancouver, they land in YVR, clear Canadian customs and immigration and then go straight to their connecting gate as their bags are checked through to their final destination.”
“We started the tagline “from Brisbane as the fastest way to get to New York for the same reason.”
“Because when you land in Vancouver, you can also clear U.S. Customs and Immigration so it’s a lot easier and hassle-free to connect through to the U.S. flying via Vancouver Airport.”
Nathan McLoughlin, Account Director Trade, Australia for Destination Canada, spoke on behalf of Joanne Motta, Country Manager Australia and New Zealand for Destination BC (British Columbia), who was unavailable, said that 2020 and 2021 had been a “Challenging year for everyone in the room, but we couldn’t be more excited to see the Maple Leaf tail back on Australian soil.”
“We’re ready to fly your guests back to Vancouver. We know Canadians are a welcoming bunch, and your clients can expect a lot of hugging from friendly Canadians on a trip because we’ve missed the Aussies so much. We’ve missed the requests for AFL and Rugby league on the T.V. at the bars and the requests for smashed avo and Vegemite on toast in restaurants, and of course, a few no worries, mate. She’ll be right,” He said.
Sandy Allan from APT Touring, based in Sydney, said her business was seeing a huge demand in new enquiry for Canada as well as passengers rebooking who are “desperate to get back to Canada. Touring is an easy way for people to get back into travel,” she said with the group planning to resume its own tour departures from May 2022.
Air Canada flight AC34 will depart from Sydney International Airport at 1145, flying non-stop and arriving the same day on Friday 0700 in Vancouver.
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Find out more about Air Canada’s schedule and Canada’s travel requirements here.