Air Canada’s inaugural flight AC51, 787 Dreamliner service departed Sunday from Vancouver to Auckland, marking the carrier’s launch of seasonal service between Canada and New Zealand. Flights operate four times weekly until the end of March 2020.

Air Canada is using Boeing 787-8 Dreamliners and all flights provide for Aeroplan accumulation and redemption and, for eligible customers, access to priority services, Maple Leaf Lounges and other benefits.

” Our Auckland flights are timed to conveniently connect at our extensive Vancouver trans-Pacific hub to and from a multitude of non-stop destinations throughout North America including New York-Newark,” said Mark Galardo, vice president, Network Planning at Air Canada.

“We are very excited to welcome this new service from Air Canada which further connects Vancouver to Auckland using the amazing Dreamliner aircraft,” said Craig Richmond, president and CEO, Vancouver Airport Authority. “This addition to Air Canada’s growing network at Vancouver International Airport will not only open up more business and travel opportunities in Canada and New Zealand, it will also facilitate valuable connecting traffic between the two airports. We appreciate Air Canada’s continued commitment to utilizing Vancouver as their trans-Pacific hub.”

“We’re proud of the contribution this new service will make to growing travel and trade between the two countries. The seamless connections Air Canada provides through its hub in Vancouver will further promote a growing market. In 2018 alone, Canadians choosing to holiday in New Zealand grew by 6.7 percent to 70,000 visitors,” said Scott Tasker, general manager of Aeronautical Commercial at Auckland Airport

He added, “Similarly, New Zealand visitor numbers grew by an impressive 12 percent with 34,000 people visiting Canada during the same period.”