Air Canada Launches New Vancouver–Dubai Route

Air Canada has announced that it will soon fly from Vancouver to Dubai. The 4x-weekly non-stop service will commence on October 28, 2023, as part of the airline’s winter timetable.

The announcement comes on the heels of the recently signed expanded air transport agreement between the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Canada. UAE-based carriers Emirates and Etihad Airways also reacted quickly to this development, boosting their flight offering to Toronto starting this spring.

Air Canada’s New Vancouver–Dubai Route

The new route will commence on October 28, 2023 on a four-times-weekly basis during the launch phase.

The eastbound flight from Vancouver, blocked at 15 hours, will be operated on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays.

Meanwhile, the corresponding westbound flight from Dubai, blocked at 15 hours 55 minutes, will be operated on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays.

The flight times are as follows:

• AC78 Vancouver (YVR) to Dubai (DXB), departing 8:50pm and arriving 11:50pm the next day
• AC79 Dubai (DXB) to Vancouver (YVR), departing 2:00am and arriving 5:55am

The timings are mainly designed to serve passengers connecting to onward destinations with Air Canada’s non-alliance partner, Emirates. As part of a single interline booking with Air Canada or Aeroplan, passengers can conveniently book connecting flights on Emirates to the Middle East, Eastern Africa, the Indian subcontinent, and Southeast Asia.

For instance, with a two-hour layover, a traveller departing from Vancouver can connect to Emirates Flight 654 bound for Malé in the Maldives, leaving at 2am.

The route will be served by Air Canada’s flagship Boeing 787 Dreamliner. The three-class aircraft offers Signature Class, premium economy, and economy cabins.

The flights are already loaded and bookable through Air Canada’s sales channels, including the Air Canada website and the Aeroplan search engine.

Booking Air Canada’s New Vancouver–Dubai Flights

Should you wish to redeem points on this route, you should naturally check through Air Canada’s Aeroplan first, since you’ll have access to every seat on the flight.

The flight between Vancouver and Dubai covers a great-circle distance of 7,300 miles, placing it under the third distance band on Aeroplan’s “Between North America and Atlantic zones” redemption chart.

In theory, you may snag a business class seat on this route for as low as 90,000 points. However, with Air Canada’s dynamic pricing scheme, you’ll likely end up paying more.

With no other carrier flying non-stop between Vancouver to Dubai and the rest of the Middle East, you can expect prices (in points or cash) to be high, especially during the first few months.

For instance, a business class seat on the inaugural flight on October 28, 2023 costs a whopping 292,000 Aeroplan points.

And when a flight costs that much, you can’t expect to book a low-priced saver award with one of Air Canada’s alliance or non-alliance partners either.

But the good news is, if you have have any tier of Aeroplan Elite Status and therefore access to eUpgrade credits, you can check for eUpgrade space. With the “Latitude Attitude”, you’ll paying substantially less, in the range of 89,000 Aeroplan points one-way for an Economy (Latitude) redemption that you can then instantly upgrade into business class.

Conclusion

Starting October 28, 2023, Air Canada will fly from Vancouver to Dubai on a new non-stop route, which will initially be operated four times weekly.

This new route will serve as the only non-stop connection between Vancouver and Dubai, as well as the only direct connection between Western Canada and the Middle East. 

On such a premium-heavy and in-demand route, you can expect to pay a significant amount of Aeroplan points to book a business class seat, but you can leverage your eUpgrades with the “Latitude Attitude” to pay significantly fewer points.