Air Canada is flooding Vancouver with additional cargo capacity from November 21st to 30th. The 45% increase comes as a measure to protect the supply chains in British Columbia which are currently under pressure due to last week's flooding. Let's find out more.

Rapid increase

Air Canada has today announced a rapid ramp-up of cargo capacity in and out of Vancouver. The airline will be flying in 45% more capacity from Toronto, Montreal, and Calgary for 10 days, from the 21st to the 30th of November.

The carrier previously planned to fly 2,637 cubic meters of freight into the busy hub but has increased this by 586 cubic meters this week. The airline is achieving this rapid increase in a few ways. The first has been to upgrade 28 passenger flights from narrowbodies to widebodies such as the 787, 777, and A330-300. This has boosted cargo capacity by 282 tonnes on regular rotations.

Air Canada, Loss, Increased Bookings
Air Canada is pulling out all the stops to boost capacity, with widebodies replacing narrowbodies of dozens of flights. Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Simple Flying

Additionally, Air Canada will fly 13 extra all-freight flights from TorontoMontreal, and Calgary using widebodies during this time. These flights will carry perishables, mail, automotive goods, and other industrial items important to supply chains. This represents 304 tonnes of additional capacity. 

If you're struggling to wrap your head around the scale of additional capacity, Air Canada has boiled to a simple comparison,

"The additional capacity is equivalent in weight to approximately 860 adult moose."

Dash 8

It's not only the mainline Air Canada that is getting involved with providing supplies to Vancouver. Air Canada Express will use one of its Dash 8-400 and temporarily convert it to a special freighter layout. This Simplified Package Freighter can carry 18,000 pounds or 8,165kgs of cargo and will be used for critical goods.

Notably, the conversion process will only take a few days, with Air Canada saying the aircraft will be in service as soon as this week. The plane is technically coming from Jazz Aviation, which operates under the Air Canada Express branding.

Air Canada Express Dash 8
Expect to see one of Air Canada Express' Dash 8-400s making trips to Vancouver under the new plan. Photo: BriYYZ via Flickr

In a statement about the ramp-up, Air Canada's Cargo Vice President, Jason Berry, said,

"The economic supply chain is vital, and to help support the urgent transport of goods into and out of British Columbia, we have increased capacity to our YVR hub by using the flexibility of Air Canada's fleet to reschedule 28 passenger flights from narrow-body aircraft to be operated with wide-body Boeing 787 Dreamliners, Boeing 777, and Airbus A330-300 aircraft."

Passengers too

While the focus is on cargo today, Air Canada has also been supporting residents Kelowna and Kamloops since last Wednesday by adding 1,500 additional seats by using larger aircraft on the routes. This ensured some affected by road closures could fly in and out while essential medical supplies came in too. Expect to see additional capacity out of Vancouver this week, thanks to larger aircraft.

What do you think about Air Canada's cargo operation? Let us know in the comments!