Inaugural flight to Manila with Air Canada takes off from YVR

Musqueam Territory/Richmond, B.C (April 2, 2025): Today, Vancouver International Airport | Aéroport international de Vancouver (YVR) celebrated the inaugural flight of Air Canada’s new non-stop service to Manila Ninoy Aquino International Airport (MNL) in the Philippines. The flight arrived in Manila at 06:04 a.m. local time on Thursday, April 3.  

“We are delighted to welcome this new service to Manila, and thank Air Canada for its continued investment in YVR as part of their growing network between Canada, the Philippines and beyond,” said Tamara Vrooman, President & CEO at YVR. “This new non-stop route builds on our already strong air access to the Asia-Pacific region and will facilitate even more onward connections, enabling greater travel and trade from YVR.”

Air Canada’s service to Manila expands on the airline’s global hub at YVR, with other recent additions from the airline including direct connections to Bangkok, Dubai and Singapore.  

Each new international route from YVR results in direct economic benefit, with the flight to the Philippines estimated to generate over $33 million in economic output for B.C. and Canada and create as many as 190 new direct and indirect jobs.  

“We are proud to be the only Canadian carrier flying to the Philippines, building on the longstanding ties between our countries to make visiting family and friends, conducting business, or heading on vacation more convenient than ever. With more than one million Filipinos living in Canada representing an important market, direct air services are a catalyst to facilitating tourism, trade and connectivity, and represent the fastest way of travelling to Manila. Whether you start or end your journey at our Vancouver Pacific hub, or one of our conveniently connected network destinations, we are thrilled to welcome you onboard our newest Asia-Pacific flight,” said Mark Galardo, Air Canada’s Executive Vice President, Revenue and Network Planning, & President, Cargo. 

Between March 10 and April 2, YVR encouraged food lovers, travel enthusiasts, and locals to visit a range of Filipino restaurants across the Lower Mainland, to help promote and create excitement for the new route. Through its Taste of the Philippines Food Tour, YVR provided participants with a chance to enter to win roundtrip airfare for two on the new YVR-MNL route, courtesy of Air Canada. Lucky contest winners will be announced, prior to May 1, 2025.  

The flight to Manila from YVR operates three times weekly through the month of April, and will increase to four times weekly in May. Flights depart YVR at 1:55 a.m. and arrive at MNL at 6:20 a.m. local time the next day. Passengers on flights to and from Manila will fly on a Boeing 787 Dreamliner with 298 seat capacity. 

For further details on this new service and to book, please visit www.aircanada.com.