Air Canada said Monday (Nov. 22) that it has added an extra 586 tonnes of cargo capacity to help transport goods in and out of Vancouver.
The move, which will increase planned capacity by 45 per cent, comes the week after landslides and flooding crippled B.C.’s supply chain, destroying road and rail links with the rest of Canada. B.C. has implemented gas rationing for the southwest region of the province and banned non-essential travel on affected highways.
Air Canada said its added cargo capacity is the equivalent of 3,223 cubic metres, or in a more Canadian measurement, 860 moose.
“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,” said vice-president of cargo Jason Berry.
“These changes will allow an additional 282 tonnes of goods to be moved across the country on our scheduled passenger flights.”
To continue supporting B.C.’s economic supply chain, we have added 586 more tonnes of cargo capacity into #YVR, the equivalent in weight to 860 adult moose, to help goods move into and out of @yvrairport #BCStorm
More: https://t.co/CmNJ0vLOTY pic.twitter.com/LtJu8kuVc2
— Air Canada (@AirCanada) November 22, 2021
Air Canada will also run an added 13 all-cargo flights between Vancouver and the Toronto, Montreal and Calgary cargo hubs, which will add about 304 tonnes of capacity. Those planes will carry items such as mail, perishables, automotive parts and other industrial goods.
The airline will convert an Air Canada Express De Havilland Dash 8-400, operated by Jazz aviation, from a passenger configuration into a freighter configuration, which will allow it to carry 8,165 kilograms and be in service this week.
