Air Canada has awarded a cargo handling contract as well as passenger and ramp services to SATS as it prepares to resume flights to Singapore's Changi International Airport for the first time in over 30 years.

The airline will launch four Boeing 787-9 flights a week connecting Vancouver and Singapore, starting April 4, 2024.

SATS currently handles all the Star Alliance partners in Singapore, enabling Air Canada the benefit of seamless passenger and cargo connections beyond Singapore to other key airports across Southeast Asia.

In the announcement, SATS noted that the new route will provide the only non-stop service connecting Canada and Singapore.

The new contract also extends Air Canada's global partnership with SATS and Worldwide Flight Services (WFS), a member of the SATS Group.

"We are delighted to welcome Air Canada back to Singapore and proud that the airline has chosen to extend its partnership with SATS Group into Southeast Asia. This is another significant business win for SATS Group at Changi Airport, reinforcing the good and longstanding partnership with Air Canada as a major customer of WFS," said Bob Chi, CEO, Gateway Services at SATS.

Mark Galardo, executive vice president of revenue and network planning at Air Canada, said separately that Singapore is an important gateway for the carrier.

"Customers have a multitude of connection options travelling to Southeast Asia, Southern India and Western Australia with our longstanding codeshare and Star Alliance partner, Singapore Airlines," he said, adding that this is also part of a "strategic expansion at YVR, which, together with an efficient and seamless in-transit connection process, further position the airport as the preferred North American gateway to Asia.

"The reality of directly connecting Singapore, Southeast Asia's most active economic gateway and financial hub, with British Columbia, Canada's gateway to the Pacific, can mean limitless opportunities," said Jagrup Brar, minister of State for Trade, Government of British Colombia.

"This new direct flight opens fresh opportunities for travel and tourism, business collaboration, and access to global markets that will directly benefit people in Singapore, Southeast Asia, and throughout our province," he added.