Because Kyoto and Nara lack an airport, the next best thing is a seasonal Osaka flight.
But Osaka has its fans, too.
That’s right, in late spring, Air Canada will be starting seasonal flights from Toronto YYZ to Osaka KIX. On second thought, make that restarting, since Air Canada last flew this route from 1997-2000.
The route will be flown between 17 June and 25 October, on a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner.
As per lifetoronto.jp (link in Japanese), here are the flight details:
AC59 Toronto YYZ 14:00 Osaka KIX 17:35 Monday Wednesday Friday
AC60 Osaka KIX 19:05 Toronto YYZ 19:00 Tuesday Thursday Saturday
This seasonal Osaka flight will be in addition to Air Canada’s Vancouver YVR route, slated to recommence service to Kansai this May.
Inbound travel demand to Japan has been surging since around 2014, with a large part of that owing to Chinese outbound tourism. Once Japan had its COVID-19 reopening in October 2022, I had already trickled in through the floodgates.
It could have been because the hot dog bun stuffed with stir-fried noodles was too difficult to resist.
Wait, that’s a thing?
Not to mention, World Expo 2025 will be taking place in Osaka. Failing any future plagues, intergalactic wars, or airports sinking into the water, it is expected that around 30 million people will attend the event. Consequently, I bet there’s a good chance that this pair of flights will return next year.
Besides, they’ve already got a COVID-25 voodoo doll as a mascot:
Have you been to Osaka?
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