United Airlines launchesChengdu-San Francisco service
United Airlines launched a non-stop service between Chengdu, capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province, and San Francisco of the United States on Wednesday morning.
This is the first non-stop service to the United States from central and western China, and comes as a result of the U.S. airline seeking to cash in on booming tourism between China and the United States.
Around 1.8 million Chinese tourists visited the United States in 2013 and the number is expected to reach three million in 2016, according to the U.S. Consulate General in Chengdu. Meanwhile, more than 220,000 U.S. citizens traveled to Sichuan last year, it said.
United Airlines offers three round trips per week between the two cities, said Walter Dias, its managing director for Greater China and Korea. A 219-seat Boeing-787 Dreamliner will be used for the flights and the trip takes about 14 hours, Dias said.
The flight has three Chinese-speaking flight attendants and offers Chengdu-style food.
Before the non-stop service was launched, passengers traveling to the United States from Chengdu had to transfer in other cities. A single trip took around 20 hours.
San Francisco is a major tourist destination in the United States and its airport offers 300 flights to more than 90 destinations each day, according to Dias.
