{"id":423971,"date":"2026-01-21T16:43:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-21T16:43:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/423971\/"},"modified":"2026-01-21T16:43:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-21T16:43:08","slug":"air-canada-reveals-first-north-american-non-stop-flight-to-new-japanese-destination","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/423971\/","title":{"rendered":"Air Canada Reveals First North American Non-Stop Flight to New Japanese Destination"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>                    <a href=\"https:\/\/www.travelpulse.ca\/bio\/jen-mallia\" title=\"Jen Mallia\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Jen-Mallia.jpg\" alt=\"Jen Mallia\" title=\"Jen Mallia\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"author-image w-80 w-48\"\/><\/a>by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.travelpulse.ca\/bio\/jen-mallia\" title=\"Jen Mallia\" class=\"author-name\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Jen Mallia<\/a><br \/> Last updated: 10:30 AM ET, Wed January 21, 2026<\/p>\n<p>Air Canada has announced a new North American first: non-stop flights to Sapporo, Japan. The seasonal route will fly direct from Vancouver International (YVR) to Sapporo Chitose Hokkaido Airport (CTS), beginning in December, 2026.<\/p>\n<p>Sapporo, in the mountainous Hokkaido prefecture is renowned for powder skiing, its namesake beer and the annual Snow Festival.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBy making it easier for travellers to experience world-class winter sports and tourism in both countries, this new connection will bring Canadians and Japanese closer together, strengthening long-standing people-to-people ties and creating new economic opportunities on both sides of the Pacific,\u201d said His Excellency, Ian McKay, Ambassador of Canada to Japan.<\/p>\n<p>Travellers headed for the hills will be pleased to note that on Air Canada\u2019s international flights,\u00a0ski bags and equipment\u00a0are included as part of regular checked bag allowances (for all but Basic Economy fares).<\/p>\n<p>The flights will operate three times weekly aboard Air Canada\u2019s 737 Dreamliner aircraft. The seasonal service complements Air Canada\u2019s existing year-round service to Tokyo-Narita and Tokyo-Haneda and summer seasonal services to Osaka-Kansai.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWith this new service, Air Canada is reinforcing its Vancouver hub as North America\u2019s second largest Pacific gateway,\u201d says Mark Galardo, Executive Vice President &amp; Chief Commercial Officer, and President, Cargo. \u201cWhether people are avid snow enthusiasts, cultural or culinary connoisseurs, or global explorers, Air Canada\u2019s new service will make discovering Japan\u2019s vibrant northern regions more convenient than ever.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Flights for the new route are now available to book.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Air Canada\u2019s Sapporo schedule:<\/p>\n<p>FlightFromToDepartsArrivesDays of OperationSeasonAC55Vancouver (YVR)Sapporo &#8211; Chitose (CTS)13:2515:35 + 1 dayMon, Thu, SatDec. 17, 2026-Mar. 25, 2027AC54Sapporo &#8211; Chitose (CTS)Vancouver (YVR)19:5511:10Tue, Fri, SunDec. 18, 2026-Mar. 26, 2027<\/p>\n<p>*flight times are subject to change<\/p>\n<p>Related:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.travelpulse.ca\/news\/destinations\/as-shogun-fever-grows-walk-japan-tours-spotlight-history-culture-and-food\" title=\"As Shogun Fever Grows, Walk Japan Tours Spotlight History, Culture, and Food\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">As Shogun Fever Grows, Walk Japan Tours Spotlight History, Culture, and Food<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#13;<br \/>\n        Topics From This Article to Explore&#13;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"by Jen Mallia Last updated: 10:30 AM ET, Wed January 21, 2026 Air Canada has announced a new&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":423972,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[23684,176676,5806,49,48,29814,176679,2454,44,176675,40222],"class_list":["post-423971","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-canada","tag-air-canada","tag-airlines-and-airports","tag-asia","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-destinations","tag-homepage-top-stories","tag-japan","tag-news","tag-travelpulse-canada","tag-vancouver-international-airport"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/423971","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=423971"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/423971\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/423972"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=423971"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=423971"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=423971"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}