Air Canada sees travel demand in Asia rebound by end of 2023 executive says

An Air Canada aircraft flies over town after departing from Pearson Worldwide Airport in Toronto, Ontario, Canada Might 16, 2022. REUTERS/Carlos Osorio

TOKYO, June 4 (Reuters) – Air Canada (AC.TO) is anticipating a requirement for flights between Canada and the Asia-Pacific to recuperate to a close to pre-pandemic stage by December subsequent 12 months, a prime regional government mentioned on Saturday.

At the moment, the routes between Canada and the Asia-Pacific run at 30% of the 2019 capability, however the capability is predicted to double by the tip of December, mentioned Kiyo Weiss, the airline’s gross sales director for the Asia-Pacific.

The airline can also be contemplating including flights to a brand new vacation spot within the Asia-Pacific within the close to future to cater for pent-up demand in leisure journey, she mentioned.

“In all probability we’ll decide inside a month or so,” Weiss mentioned, with out offering additional particulars.

Canada’s largest service is searching for to enhance its presence within the area to fulfill excessive demand, notably from Southeast Asian international locations, as the realm recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The airline on Saturday resumed direct flights between Montreal and Tokyo’s Narita airport that had been disrupted by the pandemic.

Reporting by Satoshi Sugiyama; Enhancing by Raju Gopalakrishnan

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