Air Canada said today it will add a direct Vancouver-Maui service starting Dec. 16, bringing it to four flights a week on that route from the current three.

The Montreal-based carrier, using Boeing 767s with room for about 200 passengers, will also boost its Vancouver-Honolulu service to three flights a week from two, as of Dec. 17.

However, that is a normal winter program and the same as last year's, said a spokesman for the airline, Dick Griffiths in Chicago.

Air Canada's rival, Canadian Airlines International, posted its winter schedule last month, boosting its Vancouver-Honolulu service to 16 flights a week, from 14, starting Dec. 21.

Canadian Airlines, which has no neighbor island destinations, also will increase its Toronto-Honolulu service to six flights a week, from five, starting Nov. 3. The airline uses 767s on the Toronto route and McDonnell Douglas DC10s from Vancouver.

Air Canada had been running charters to Hawaii for years but was able to shift to scheduled service last September, under the U.S.-Canada open-skies pact.

A third Canadian carrier, Canada 3000, operates several charter flights to Hawaii each week from Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver. It flies to Maui and Kona as well as Honolulu.

Many Canadians, especially those in the interior of the country, like to flee for warmer climates in the winter and Hawaii is a popular destination.

Canadian tourist arrivals were up 21 percent through the first seven months of the year for a total of 172,320, the Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau said.

Summer travel got a good start with a 3.6 percent increase in Canadian arrivals, the HVCB said.