A New Link

More than just Irish eyes were smiling at a recent Air Canada event at YVR airport to celebrate the announcement of new summertime flights between Dublin and Vancouver.

Travel retailers of all stripes were part of the invitation-only reception on the departures level of the airport’s US/International terminal. They raised a glass to mark the new service, which will start flying early next June.

The non-stop Vancouver-Dublin flights will operate three times weekly on Air Canada rouge, on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays. The schedule will kick off June 10, 2016 using Boeing 767-300ER aircraft. The flights will depart Vancouver at 15:05, arriving in Dublin at 8:35 the next morning.

Air Canada was until recently offering special introductory fares that started as low as $839 round-trip all-in from Vancouver, and $949 round-trip all-in from Calgary or Edmonton.

In attendance at the gathering was Virgilio Russi, the senior director of Canada sales for AC. He projected a strong year ahead for the airline, saying 2016 will be the best ever for the airline. He also offered an outlook on more distant horizons, predicting that Air Canada would double in size by 2020.

Agents enjoyed UK libations like Pimm’s and were also treated to some prizes.  For instance, Linda Heiss of Personal Travel Management in Burnaby won premium economy return tickets to anywhere in the world that the airline flies – nice! Vancouver Airport Authority brass were also in attendance and they presented prizes of well.

In the photo:

Air Canada executives found a little corner of the old world in the international terminal of YVR during a recent reception to celebrate new Dublin flights. In attendance were (l. to r.) Virgilio Russi, the senior director of Canada sales for Air Canada, Bonnie Walker, the western Canada director of sales, Rocky Lo, the Asia business development director, and Tertius Serfontein, the YEG manager of station operations.