Air Canada's recently launched Vancouver-Hong Kong service has already been profitable despite being restricted to four flights a week, executive vice-president and chief operating officer Robert Milton says.
Mr Milton, on a visit to the territory to mark Canada Day on Monday, said the service that began in December had already proven successful with many flights near full.
But the airline was still having trouble attracting business travellers because of the lack of daily services. Mr Milton did not provide profit figures but said flights were about 90 per cent full last month and were 5 per cent overbooked at 105 per cent this month.
Boeing 747-400 Combi aircraft are used on the route, carrying as many as 299 passengers and significantly more cargo space than traditional 747-400s.
'Air Canada should have been flying to Hong Kong six years ago . . . because there is lots of demand still there,' Mr Milton said.
'When you start something like Hong Kong you obviously want non-stop daily turnaround service. But the [Canadian] Government won't give us that because they were saying there were no slots at Kai Tak airport.
'Our response to that is, 'Thank you, Canadian Government, for the concern, but slots are not a Canadian Government issue.' ' Last month Air Canada's newly appointed president and chief executive officer, Lamar Durrett, hit out at the Canadian Government for not allowing the airline more flights to Hong Kong.