VANCOUVER — A water cannon salute welcomed Air Canada’s inaugural Vancouver-Melbourne flight on Dec. 1, commemorating Canada’s only nonstop service to the Australian city.

Flight AC037 arrived at Melbourne’s Tullamarine Airport using a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, which boasts 30 International Business Class lie-flat seat suites, 21 Premium Economy and 247 Economy Class seats with upgraded in-flight entertainment at every seat throughout the aircraft. The seasonal service now operates four times weekly between the two destinations until Feb. 4, with year-round service beginning June 1, 2018.

Melbourne is Air Canada’s third destination in Australia.

“We are delighted to welcome customers onboard our flights to Melbourne, our newest destination in Australia. Our seasonal service will be of particular interest to Australians travelling for a Canadian winter vacation and North Americans travelling to enjoy Australia’s summer season. The launch of year-round service next June will provide additional options for business and leisure travellers between our two continents,” said Benjamin Smith, President – Passenger Airlines at Air Canada.

Smith went on to note that Melbourne flights will complement Air Canada’s daily flights from Canada to Sydney and to Brisbane.

“The seamless connections through in-transit pre-clearance facilities combined with our extensive domestic Canada and USA network at our Vancouver hub positions YVR to be the preferred trans-Pacific gateway for business and leisure travellers travelling between North America and Australia,” he added.

According to Simon Gandy, Melbourne Airport Chief of Aviation, Canadian visitation to Australia is on the rise, with forecasts expecting a 10.2% increase in visitation in the next two years, growing from 162,000 travellers in 2016/17 to 179,000 in 2018/19. “It’s the perfect time to launch this service and we look forward to welcoming Air Canada’s year-round service in June 2018,” said Gandy.

Flight AC037 will depart from Vancouver (YVR) on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday at 10:45 p.m. Return, flight AC038 will depart Melbourne (MEL) on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday at 11:40 a.m.