China-Canada Airfares Tripled During Air Canada's Strike Action

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Ticket prices for flights between the U.S. and Canada have soared, tripling in cost after Canada’s flagship airline halted all flights due to a strike involving 10,000 flight attendants. On August 16 and the following day, fares for connecting two-stop flights between Shanghai and Vancouver topped CNY30,000 (roughly $4,175 USD), while prices for flights scheduled for tomorrow hovered around CNY10,000. Additionally, all business class seats on direct flights have been sold out.

The union representing Canadian flight attendants informed the airline of their intention to strike on August 13, leading to a reduction in flights from August 15 to 18. Passengers who had already purchased tickets were offered free changes after August 21 or full refunds.

On August 15, the airline canceled all flights scheduled for August 16 to and from Japan, South Korea, and China. The airline has been negotiating contracts with the Canadian Union of Public Employees for the past eight months but has yet to reach an agreement.

While the airline operates direct flights from Vancouver to Beijing, Shanghai, and Hong Kong, it can only operate a limited number of flights to China—equivalent to all Chinese carriers combined on routes to Canada—due to bilateral traffic rights agreements.

Chinese airlines serving Canada include Air China, China Eastern Airlines, China Southern Airlines, XiamenAir, Sichuan Airlines, and Hainan Airlines.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, flights from China to Canada have recovered more slowly than those to the United States. Last month, flights to Canada reached only 26.1% of their 2019 levels with 254 round-trips, compared to 26.3% for the U.S., according to Flight Manager statistics.

Nonetheless, Chinese carriers are gradually increasing flights between the two countries. Starting August 27, Air China will boost weekly flights from Beijing to Vancouver from one to two and from Beijing to Toronto from two to three. China Southern plans to launch a new Guangzhou-Vancouver route on September 16, and China Eastern intends to add more flights on its Shanghai-Vancouver route.

Despite these efforts, the U.S. airline has not utilized half of its allocated quota for flights to China, operating only 97 round-trips between mainland China and Vancouver last month—representing just 32% of the 2019 level, according to Flight Manager data.