United Airlines has expanded the number of cities it serves in interior China with the launch of new nonstop flights to Xi´an on Sunday, May 8, the company said.
The flights from United´s Asia-Pacific gateway in San Francisco will be the first trans-Pacific service to Xi´an operated by any airline, and United will be the first US airline to serve the city, a destination for commerce and tourism in the central region of China.
At the eastern end of the Silk Road, and with a population of more than 8 million, Xi´an is an important cultural, economic and educational center with facilities for research and development and China´s space exploration program. The plains surrounding Xi´an are home to the famed Terracotta Warriors, thousands of life-size, hand-molded figures buried with China´s first emperor, Qin Shi Huang.
United will use the world´s most advanced passenger airplane, the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, to operate the three-times-weekly service during the peak travel period between May 8 and Oct. 27, 2016 (westbound).
United is a founding member of Star Alliance, the world´s largest and most comprehensive airline alliance, whose other members include Air China. United and Air China have a bilateral partnership that includes code-sharing on selected routes and provides customers with additional travel benefits such as airport lounge access and frequent flyer program reciprocity.
United Airlines and United Express operate an average of 5,000 flights a day to 336 airports across six continents.
