Flying During Covid - AC 8 Flight Report
(Seoul - Vancouver)

This trip was a last minute booking that originally was a round-the-world itinerary heading westbound from Hong Kong, but with COVID rendering this unpredictable and risky with stops in multiple countries, I decided to simplify the trip in the end and change it to Canada in and out only. The key concern was the PCR test before every international flight, as infected people would be barred from flying even if they are asymptomatic or fully vaccinated, and it could take quite some time for that PCR positive test to clear out, which would mean being stranded in the meantime. Canada has been reopening its borders in the lead-up to this trip. In August 2021, it re-opened to vaccinated Americans for non-essential reasons, and then extended to all vaccinated international travelers on Sep. 7, allowing them to skip quarantine. ------------------------- We arrived in Incheon at 1:02pm local time. As we waited for the replacement crew to board in Seoul to continue our journey to Vancouver, I browsed around the IFE to see what they've got. It's not Emirates, but the selection has vastly improved from my previous flights with them.
The crew change took less time than scheduled. We pushed back at 2:19pm, offering a few more angles of the Asiana A380s taking a pandemic slumber. While there were a lot of planes parked at the terminal, traffic seemed quite light. We took off towards the south at 2:35pm for the 9 and a bit hour flight across the Pacific. My left window seat was a wise choice with plenty of city views across Incheon and Seoul. The weather was quite good so there should be some decent aerials to take. Looking back towards the airport ... We then turned east, which gave me a good opportunity to spot Seoul's huge urban mass in the distance, evoking memories of my numerous business trips there before the pandemic. Too bad there was no catering in Korea for this leg of the flight. I miss their food. With the Han River in the distance, I tried to look for landmarks where I've been, such as Yeouido. I had the best dry aged steak there. I was able to spot Lotte World, the city's new tallest building, as we exited Seoul. I had a decent abalone porridge there a few years back. We flew across the Korean peninsula and spotted the ocean 25 minutes after take-off. A full meal was served at the start of this long transpacific leg. As with my previous experience flying this airline, the food tasted all right but the portion was quite small. I stretched comfortably in my last row seat that had extra space by the window and underneath the 2 seats in front of me. Since there was nobody behind me, I reclined to my heart's content to get into the optimal rest position. Watching my favourite TV series and dozing off here and there, the sun set and rose again as breakfast was served just over an hour before arrival. I'm quite happy with the Dreamliner product. The air didn't feel particularly dry for the long journey but the tinted windows did impact my photo-taking even when they are in the brightest mode. Snacks were provided in the back galley and I helped myself to a lot of water breaks as a bottle was not provided to every passenger. We did a great circle over Alaska and the clouds rolled in as we neared Vancouver. Visibility wasn't good all the way to final approach and the skyline wasn't visible at all. My only full day in town would be grey and wet. We were the only international flight arriving in Vancouver at this early hour. Even though I was at the back of the plane, there was barely a wait for the immigration kiosk. With receipt in hand, I waited only a little bit for the immigration officer, who acknowledged by ArriveCan documentation and explained I would not need to quarantine. However, I was selected for a random COVID test and would need to follow the signs heading out. Everything was smooth sailing and after a short wait for my luggage, I followed the signs out to the COVID testing station. There were 2 lines at the customs exit and there were plenty of staff around to direct traffic. The first step is to register your information at the counter. You need to provide a phone number and an email address, where the results will be sent to you. I wouldn't need to wait in the hotel until the negative result is confirmed. Then I would walk to the test cubicles where I got the nasal and throat swab. All the processing and testing took only an hour from arrival. I then used the courtesy phone in the empty terminal to call my hotel for their shuttle. I would get the negative test result on the next day. Flying to Canada was relatively straight forward. The pre-departure documentation was not too time-consuming to input and upload, and getting a COVID test at Hong Kong's airport was quick and cheap. With no quarantine requirement upon arrival, there wasn't much more to do but to hope for the best that the flight won't get moved. While Air Canada is not known for world-class service, their Dreamliner is quite nice and I was surprised their IFE selection has vastly improved. I hope their meals can get a bit bigger but I give them credit that we were fed 3 times on this long flight via Seoul. Back to the Hong Kong - Seoul leg