The maiden non-stop flight from Washington DC to Beijing arrived
at the capital's airport at 1:55 PM yesterday after a 14-hour
flight.
Washington is now the 29th capital city directly linked to
Beijing thanks to the United Airlines flight.
"This inaugural flight is more than just another service in
United's robust global network," Glenn Tilton, president and CEO of
United said. "Connecting for the first time two of the world's most
important cities is a historic occasion."
The daily service, a 347-seat B747-400, departed Washington
Dulles International Airport at 12:23 PM local time on Wednesday.
On the return leg, it left Beijing at 6:30 PM yesterday and arrives
at Washington Dulles at 7:46 PM local time today. Till April 29,
promotional round-trip tickets cost 3,890 yuan (US$503).
Currently, three Chinese airlines -- Air China, China Southern
Airlines and China Eastern Airlines and four American airlines --
United, American Airlines, Delta Airlines and Continental Airlines
provide non-stop flights between the US and Chinese mainland. But
so far there has been no direct flight between the two capital
cities.
The new route is expected to be favored by executives and
government officials and is estimated to be generating more than
US$200 million a year.
(China Daily March 30, 2007)
