Today’s flight would mark my first flight into the Northwest Territories; one of Canada’s three northern territories located north of the 60th parallel. I would end up flying Air Canada Express CRJ 900 series aircraft from Vancouver to Yellowknife. When I checked in, I was offered a last-minute upgrade into business class. This would afford confirmed access to the Air Canada Maple Leaf lounge, as well as a more comfortable seat on board. This post outlines flying into the summer midnight sun of the Northwest Territories.

Review: Air Canada Express Business Class Canadair Regional Jet – 900, Vancouver International Airport – Yellowknife Airport

---

The first leg of this trip would have me flying on Air Canada Express from Vancouver to Yellowknife, Northwest territories. Given my routing, I would have a forced overnight stay in Yellowknife, followed by a connection onto Canadian North’s Yellowknife – Iqaluit flight the next day.

Check In at Vancouver International Airport:

When it came time to check in for this flight, I checked in using the Air Canada app. As it sometimes happens, I was offered the opportunity to purchase a last-minute upgrade to business class cabin.

This often occurs when Air Canada has distressed inventory that it knows it will not be able to sell. The price for today’s last minute upgrade to business class was $161.70 CAD ($118 USD).

I thought about this opportunity for a bit. Given that the flight was 2 1/2 hours, and that the upgrade offered access to the Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge – Vancouver Domestic, I thought this was a reasonable value. After all, it was less than $64.70 per hour to be in a wider seat. With a few drinks at the lounge and perhaps on board, I’d be at break even almost instantly. As such, the deal was sold quite easily.

On departure day, I ended up taking the public transit bus to the airport. MrsWT73 decided that she needed the car over the weekend. As such, I left the household vehicle at home. It was quite quick on the bus and I arrived after taking the Skytrain Canada line at the YVR Vancouver International Airport station.

It was an easy walk straight across to Trusted Traveller security. With no wait at this hidden security check point, I was through to the secure side quite quickly.

I found the Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge – Vancouver Domestic quite easily on the Domestic C Gates concourse. I have reviewed this lounge several times before and won’t be doing so again on this trip. With my last minute upgrade in hand, I was afforded complimentary access to the lounge.

The Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge – Vancouver Domestic lounge offers its usual terrific Vancouver Coastal Mountain views. Tonight’s plane spotting involved and Air New Zealand and Turkish Airlines wide body planes, along with an Air Canada Boeing 737 Max Eight parked immediately outside the lounge windows.

Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounges offer a form of food during its meal hours. I ended up coming early after having worked a full work day. Tonight’s visit at 7 PM offered mushroom chicken and roasted potatoes with asparagus, paired with a Malbec red from Argentina. It was enough for a light meal replacement prior to eating on board.

At about forty minutes prior to departure, I headed down to the gate. The Vancouver C Gates concourse was pretty much deserted at 8:30 PM, with most domestic flights already having left for the day.

After arriving to Gate C31, the Air Canada Express Canada air CRJ-900 that was to take me to Yellowknife was parked at the gate. Its familiar black and white corporate look offers little creativity or imagination. It has Air Canada Express branding towards the nose of the fuselage and a small Air Canada logo on the rear stabilizer.

The amount of people at the gate was my first clue that the flight was going to be almost completely empty. There were only four people in the holding area. I’d eventually discover that the crew to passenger rate was near 1 to 1.

When it came time to board, I boarded with Group #1. I had no wait of people waiting to get on board.

Air Canada Express
AC 8480 – Business Class (R)
YVR – YZF (Vancouver International Airport – Yellowknife Airport)
June 5, 2025
9:00 PM – 12:26 AM + 1
Booked: Canadair Regional Jet – 900
Flown: Canadair Regional Jet – 900

On Board Air Canada Business Class:

Air Canada Express offers a small twelve seat business class cabin on it’s Canadair Regional Jet – 900 series aircraft. The cabin is set up in a 1 – 2 configuration in business class across four rows of business class, versus a 2 – 2 configuration in economy class in the back. Given that this was a familiar cabin type, today’s review offers a combination of old and new photographs.

As a solo traveler, I ended up in a single row seats on the left-hand side of the aircraft. I find that these seats are usually exposed when the cabin is full. However when the cabin is empty, like it was on this flight, these seats are perfectly fine.

I was once again seated in Seat 3A. The seats on the Air Canada Express CRJ 900s do not have seat back monitors. As a result, I brought some entertainment with me on my tablet.

There were only four of us seated across twelve seats in business class. There were only six passengers in the economy class cabin, making tonights flight of ten passengers exceptionally light.

It is worth mentioning that if you’re seated in the single row of seats on the left hand side, that the overhead bins on this side of the plane are not large enough to stow a rolling suitcase. You’ll have to fight your seat mates across the aisle for space on the right hand side of the aircraft. Accordingly, make sure you board early enough to get bin space.

Pre Departure Services:

Much like other Air Canada flights, there isn’t much in the way of a pre-departure beverage. There was a small bottle of Eska water waiting on the seat. There was not any additional offer of a drink.

While waiting for the plane to complete boarding, I reviewed the menu offered for todays flight. While Air Canada used to offer a printed menu service, recently they have shifted to menus presented in the Air Canada app.

Since it was a late departure, I wasn’t expecting much in the way of food. Despite this, Air Canada offered a full three course meal that was eventually presented all at once.

As usual, the second page of the menu offered the spirit and beverage list. Air Canada typically offers mainstream spirits. It was nice to have access to a bar when on board.

My dinner order for this flight was taken on the ground before take off. I was offered the choice of the Lasagna Pomodoro or the Chicken. Despite being the last to have my meal order taken, I was still able to get my first choice. Perhaps this is the benefit of travelling in business class cabins with only four passengers.

Departing Vancouver International Airport:

Just prior to pushback, we had a captain’s public address announcement. Our flight time was scheduled at two hours and one minute.

We had a beautiful departure from Vancouver International Airport. With the sun setting against the Pacific Coastal range, the scenery was remarkable for this corner of the world.

The Meal: Dinner

We got to cruising altitude and the flight service started. Without that seat back monitor, the flight cabin ambience is pretty relaxing.

As per the service standard, tonight’s flight started off with a warm towel service.

The dinner service started with a tall glass of red wine. I didn’t happen to get the type. It was not listed on the menu. We’ll call it “sommerlier’s choice” tonight (laughing).

The dinner option was a Lasagna Pomodoro served with a mesculin salad paired with olive oil / balsamic dressing.

The lasagna, like my last Air Canada lasagna, looked a little limp. Despite this, it was fairly tasty with just the right portion amount for a later dinner. The lasagna is one of the better menu options on Air Canada, as I haven’t found many menu items that have been particularly flavourful.

The fact that Air Canada provides a complete dinner on a quick two hour journey is to be commended.

Landing at Yellowknife International Airport:

The flight was pretty much daylight all the way up to Yellowknife. Since that it was the middle of the summer, were it doesn’t get all too dark.

Our descent into Yellowknife International Airport, had us descend over Slave Lake. The views over Slave Lake under the midnight sun were amazing. Much like Alaska, even in the middle of summer, the lake still contained ice and snow.

Without any traffic at Yellowknife International Airport, we were on the ground before we knew it.

Without any jet bridges at Yellowknife, I disembarked right out on to the apron. The Yellowknife International Airport is located at latitude 62.27 north. It’s just a few degrees below the article circle at latitude 66.

Stepping out into the Northwest Territories, the remarkable thing was that, despite arriving at half past midnight, it’s still light out.

With no indoor hallways, there was a short walk to the terminal under Yellowknife’s midnight sun. It was a pretty desolate and eerie walk across the apron.

Once inside the Yellowknife International Airport, I arrived into a polar bear themed baggage hall. Its’ not ever day you get to see a polar bear on top of a baggage belt; that was a first for me.

Since I didn’t have any checked baggage, I headed over to the shuttle bus to connect over to the Explorer Hotel Yellowknife. It turned out the flight attendant and pilot crew from my flight were also taking the same shuttle bus over to the same hotel..

The Bottom Line: Air Canada Express Business Class

The Air Canada Express Business Class on the Canadair Regional Jet – 900 Series offers a little more room, but not a whole lot in the way of excitement.

What struck me about this particular flight was how light the load was. I can’t recall a flight that I’ve travelled on where there’s only been 10 passengers traveling. Normally, I would’ve expected them to have cancelled this flight, but I guess they needed the aircraft positioned up to Yellowknife for something else.

---

When flying an Air Canada Express Canadair Regional Jet, do you find the experience to be comfortable ?

---