Air Canada has an incredible long haul route network, and I’d say along with United Airlines, it has the most global reach of any North American carrier. The airline has just announced its newest destination in Asia, and it’s one that I find to be particularly awesome!
Continue reading: Air Canada Will Fly To Sapporo, Japan: Only Nonstop From North America!
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
Exciting route. But No mention of Westjets latest route announcement of YYCGRU or even their huge transatlantic expansion they announced last year with 4 new routes from YHZ including a brand new daytime transatlantic route.
cool route- but has anyone book J on Air Canada lately? Either at low prices via their own miles, or via a partner?
I flew J 4 years ago (booked via United), but I haven't seen them release J seats to partners in a long time (i also havent looked super hard)
So, is AC betting that there're enough people who want to ski in Whistler one week and in Niseko the next?
Sapporois a dream Japanese destination.Congratulations AC,hopefully we could find reasonable fares and enjoy AC world famous service .
AC is betting there are enough people who want to ski Japan from North America that would rather connect at YVR (or are from there) to get to Sapporo
"the Japanese ski destination of Hokkaido"
For the geographically ignorant (including the author): "Hokkaido" is a large island, it's not a "ski destination". While Hokkaido does get it's share of snow in the winter, and you can ski there, that's not really a major thing. Winter sports of all kinds, including just enjoying being somewhere cold and snowy (with ice sculptures) is a big thing.
I'm actually surprised that this "seasonal" route runs counter to Hokkaido's actual major tourism season - which is the summer.
I will certainly be taking this flight on a ZED fair ticket in order to ski in Japan
Instead of connecting two snowy places, I would've loved to seen a flight to FUK.
North Americans primarily know Sapporo for the skiing. Their summer season is not as popular with westerners, and is heavily bolstered by more local tourism from countries in the region
If this only flew in the spring/fall as well. My final destination in Japan is always Hokkaido to visit relatives and it would have been a great way to cut out the stop in Tokyo, but then again I live on the East coast US so my stop in Tokyo is being replaced by a stop in Vancouver and might not actually save me any time.
Does AC usually file EU to Asia fares via Canada? I would totally book this just for fun (and miles!).
If there is a flight delay on this route, you can ask the captain if Sum Ting Wong? Lol
World famous service? Famous for indifference? Recently flew NRT YUL and the service was terrible.
the internet (or at least opens now.com begs to differ):
"Utah may have the Greatest Snow on Earth, but Japan has the Greatest Snow Climate on Earth. Nowhere in the world does it snow with such intensity, at such low latitudes, at such low elevations, with such prolific mountain snowfalls." -Jim Steenburgh, Atmospheric Sciences Professor at the University of Utah, Author of the Secrets of the Greatest Snow on Earth, and known to many as @ProfessorPowder.
Steenburgh says it best. Hokkaido is home to an incredible snow climate that produces 500-600+ inches of snow/year during the so-called Asian Winter Monsoon. Alta Ski Area in Little Cottonwood Canyon, Utah is known to many in the United States for its deep and consistent snow totals but the months of December, January, and February in Hokkaido can't be matched.
Steenburgh continues the comparison from his blog Wasatch Weather Weenies: "The snowfall accumulation is relatively punctuated but incredibly intense. Compare, for example, the average monthly snowfall at Kutchan, a Japanese Meteorological Agency observing site near the base of Hokkaido's Niseko resorts to that at Alta. Alta features a broad peak from December through March (the minimum in February largely reflects the smaller number of days), whereas Kutchan features a pronounced maximum, exceeding 140 inches, in January."
skiing hokkaido japan average snowfall
This incredible amount of snow is due to very cold air moving over the Sea of Japan from Asia, combining to create powerful sea-effect snow bands, that eventually interact with the mountain terrain of western Hokkaido. This, in turn, gives Hokkaido during the month of January the crown as the best bet for deep powder skiing anywhere in the world. Hence the hashtag #Japanuary that you often see on Instagram.
My two trips took place during the second half of January and the first half of February and those experiences brought quite an array of weather and ski conditions.
The first trip from February 4th through the 17th, 2016 brought one clear day, two rainy days, one zero-visibility day, and multiple powder days. This trip showed that even though it seems like it never stops snowing on Hokkaido, the weather can change and provide less-than-ideal ski conditions.
The second trip from January 20th through February 4th, 2018 was one I'll never forget. This two-week period provided us with nearly five feet of fresh snow across the Niseko region and ended with two clear and windless days. I knew the weather pattern was ideal when looking at the forecast but it was always important to keep my expectations in check and hope for the best.
The whole point of niche routes to not-heavily-tracked areas is, as Crankyflier has repeatedly pointed out, and both B787 and A321 XLR are/have/will deliver on, is to charge higher fares and have future "junk" fares/seats, while letting the bottom feeders connect at HND/NRT/ICN and trade slightly lower fares for (worthless?) personal time roaming lounges/airport waiting areas...
Just returned from a ski trip to Hokkaido. Great skiing, but the only two-leg trip from Boston was BOS-HKG-CTS on Cathey Pacific. The outbound flight was brutal (13 hrs + 4 hrs) and the CTS-HKG-BOS flight was worse (4 hrs, 22 hr layover, 14 hrs) . Don't get me wrong - Cathay Pacific is a nice airline. It's just a long time to be in the air.
YUL-YVR-CTS sounds really appealing. At least until the Shinkansen to Sapporo is complet e (in 2038).
That’s really cool! I mean, I’m fine with flying to Tokyo then taking the Shinkansen, too, but, more options to Hokkaido, the merrier. And good on Canada (and Air Canada) for expanding connections to its allies in Japan.
No, but, you can pursue compensation under Canada’s APPR regulations (similar to EU/UK261), if the delay was significant and under the airline’s control. Why not pursue a claim for several hundred Canadian dollars! (If only the US cared about consumers enough to have similar legislation… ahh, but the airline lobby bribes our politicians… shame…)
I may say, partly in jest, AC treads where others do not dare to go...
They have just converted seasonal YVR-BKK to a year-round, albeit with a reduced frequency.
I believe the winter season is a tryout, and I won't be surprised if it is extended. Canadians are travelling in increased numbers to Japan. CAD is a very weak currency right now, JPY being one of the very few exceptions.
Hokkaido youth would also have it easy to get to the Stussy store in Vancouver...
Don't have many hopes. Canadian airlines are pretty litigious, with various outcomes, though. The worst part is that they force passengers to sign the NDA before dishing out the compensation
UA should've done this from SFO where the closest skiing is 4h away (if you're lucky) in Tahoe. If you're in Vancouver why not go to Whistler, and if you're connecting there are plenty of ways to do that via TYO.
I’ll consider it if I can do it for a reasonable number of Aeroplan points as I would have 3, possibly 5, family members joining me.
How insulting to the amazing island of Hokkaido to reduce it to a “ski destination.” Niseko is by far the least interesting place in Hokkaido.
I had a notebook stolen in AC flight. The customer service and/or customers are not the market I want to be in and it was in business class too. There are better options for seats too and international long haul is more stressful.