Canada and Australia are doubling the number of seats airlines can fly per week between the two countries under an expanded air transport agreement, effective immediately, the Canadian government has said.

With the new deal, airlines from Canada and Australia each have been allotted 6,000 weekly seats for flights between Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth and Canada’s international gateways. By December 2016, Canada said, airlines from each country will be able to fly 9,000 weekly seats between Australia and Canada.

Also as part of the updated agreement, Canada and Australia have agreed to void “a number of regulatory requirements” regarding pricing. Moreover, airlines from both countries will be able to fly an unlimited number of all-cargo operations.

In 2014, about 400,000 passengers traveled on direct flights between Canada and Australia. From Canada, only Air Canada flies to Australia, with flights from Vancouver to Sydney and, starting next June, Brisbane.

Qantas, meanwhile, is flying from Sydney to Vancouver for a short period this fall and winter, in part to accommodate Australian ski tourists.