New Route of the Day – Americas (16 September 2025): China Southern Airlines between Guangzhou and Vancouver

China Southern Airlines inaugurated flights between its Guangzhou hub and Vancouver on Tuesday 16 September. The 10,225-kilometre service will be maintained 2-weekly, on Tuesdays and Fridays, with the 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft. The carrier faces no competition on the route.

Flight CZ329 departs Guangzhou at 00:25 local time, arriving in Vancouver at 21:45 local time the previous day. The return service, operating as flight CZ330, begins its return journey at 01:05 local time, arriving back in China at 06:00 the following morning.

China – Canada flights reach 50% of pre-pandemic levels

The new China Southern Airlines service was made possible after Canadian authorities lifted a Covid-era regulation that limited the number of flights Chinese carriers could operate to Canada. In February 2022, Canada imposed restrictions on flights from China, limiting Chinese carriers to six round-trip passenger flights per week. These measures were primarily implemented in response to China’s stringent “zero-Covid” policies.

The restrictions led to a significant reduction in air connectivity between the two countries, with flights operating at approximately 10% of pre-pandemic levels. In October 2024, the Canadian government lifted these restrictions, allowing for an increase in flight frequencies.

By late September 2025, there will be a total of nine routes served by eight airlines between Vancouver and China for a combined total of 28-weekly round-trip flights. This is just one fewer route, but 50% as many flights as 2019.

Apart from the new Guangzhou service, China Eastern Airlines is restarting its Shanghai PVG flights on 25 September.

Vancouver Airport on track for record year

Vancouver Airport is on track for an all-time record year for passenger numbers in 2025, driven in part by a surge in Asia-Pacific travel, including a steady rebound in demand from China.

Before the pandemic, China was one of Vancouver Airport’s largest sources of passenger traffic, having more services to the country than any other airport in North America.

In the first seven months of 2025, Vancouver Airport handled 15.53 million passengers, up 2.6% from the same period in 2024, which ranked as the airport’s second-busiest year on record. Compared with the same stretch of its record-breaking 2019, Vancouver Airport is already more than 232,000 passengers ahead, roughly equivalent to four full days of traffic.