dailynewsnblog
Asia is one of Air Canada’s most important long-haul markets, with its West Coast hub at Vancouver International Airport (YVR) serving as a particularly important gateway for westbound transpacific journeys. With that being said, the Canadian flag carrier and Star Alliance founding member does also fly to Asian destinations from elsewhere in the country, namely its hubs at Montréal Trudeau International (YUL) and Toronto Pearson (YYZ).
Following a recent route addition, Air Canada will now serve a grand total of 13 Asian destinations (not including the Middle East, which is often considered to be a separate market) from these three hubs in 2026, with one also featuring an en route stopover in the United Kingdom. Let’s dive deeper into the data and take a closer look at the routes, aircraft, and frequencies that will be seen when it comes to Air Canada’s Asian ops.
Lucky 13
Earlier this week, on January 21, 2026, Air Canada announced that it would be adding a 13th Asian destination to its diverse long-haul network at the end of the year. Specifically, December 17 will see the Canadian flag carrier commence thrice-weekly Boeing 787 operations on a seasonal nonstop route from Vancouver to Chitose Hokkaido Airport (CTS) in the Japanese city of Sapporo. These flights will run until March 25/26 of next year.
Vancouver will be Sapporo’s only current scheduled nonstop connection to North America, with this corridor also being Air Canada’s new shortest route to and from Asia, clocking in at 3,726 NM (6,901 km) in length. The Star Alliance founding member has highlighted “epic snow, samen, [and] legendary beer” as being among the top reasons for Canadian flyers to visit Sapporo, with Mark Galardo, Air Canada’s EVP and CCO, saying that:
” Whether people are avid snow enthusiasts, cultural or culinary connoisseurs, or global explorers, Air Canada’s new service will make discovering Japan’s vibrant northern regions more convenient than ever.”
A Diverse Asian Offering
As seen in the map above, Sapporo is one of 13 Asian destinations that 
Air Canada will serve with 19 routes from its three main hubs in 2026. According to present scheduling data made available by Cirium, an aviation analytics company, its top Asian route by frequency is Vancouver to Hong Kong (HKG), with 366 one-way departures planned from its West Coast hub this year. It will serve the route daily, but did so twice on January 8.
This puts this route one departure ahead of several others in terms of frequency, with four more corridors served daily for a grand total of 365 flights in 2026: Toronto to Delhi (DEL), Seoul (ICN), and Tokyo Haneda (HND), and Vancouver to Tokyo Narita (YVR). Vancouver to Shanghai isn’t far behind, on 360 flights, with lower or seasonal frequencies serving the likes of Bangkok (BKK), Beijing (PEK), Manila (MNL), Osaka (KIX), and Singapore (SIN).
According to Cirium, Air Canada has scheduled a grand total of 4,691 one-way departures on flights to Asia from its three main hubs in 2026, and all of them are set to be operated by widebody twinjets made by US manufacturer Boeing. The 787-9 Dreamliner is the dominant force on this front, with 3,318 flights, followed by the 777-300ER (919), the 777-200LR (365), and the 787-8 (89). The Sapporo flights are not yet in Cirium’s schedule data.
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One-Stop Via London
The vast majority of Air Canada’s Asian flights operate on a non-stop basis, but there is one exception, namely its route from Toronto to Mumbai (BOM). This service stops en route at 
London Heathrow Airport (LHR) in the United Kingdom, with passengers also able to book tickets on just the London-Mumbai and Mumbai-London legs, rather than always having to start or end their trip in Canada, thanks to fifth freedom rights.
Air Canada’s route from Toronto to Mumbai via London operates on a seasonal basis in the winter, with 88 departures scheduled this year using the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner. These are split between 18 in January and December, 17 in November, 15 in March and February, and just five when October comes around.
