SAN FRANCISCO, May 6, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- United Airlines continues to expand the number of cities it serves in interior China with the launch of new nonstop flights to Xi'an on Sunday, May 8. 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 U.S. 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 celebrating our 30^th anniversary of service linking the U.S. and China this year and there couldn't be a better way to honor our proud and long-standing relationship than by being the first airline to offer customers nonstop trans-Pacific service to Xi'an," said Marcel Fuchs, United's vice president of Atlantic and Pacific sales. "United operates more nonstop U.S.-China flights, and to more cities in China, than any other airline and we expect the addition of flights to Xi'an to continue to create opportunities for trade and collaboration between our two countries throughout the U.S.-China Tourism Year and long into the future."

Flight Schedule

The flights will depart San Francisco International Airport at 1:25 p.m. on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays and arrive in Xi'an at 5:30 p.m. the following days (all times local). The return flights will depart Xi'an's Xianyang International Airport at 9:30 a.m. on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays and arrive in San Francisco at 6:35 a.m. the same days. Flying times will be approximately 13 hours, 5 minutes westbound and 12 hours, 5 minutes eastbound.

United in China

United began nonstop service to China in 1986 and today has twice as many routes between China and the mainland U.S. as any other U.S. airline, with 96 weekly departures serving:

• Beijing, with nonstop flights from Chicago, New York/Newark, San Francisco and Washington Dulles;
• Shanghai, with nonstop flights from Chicago, Guam, Los Angeles, New York/Newark and San Francisco;
• Chengdu, with nonstop flights from San Francisco
• Hong Kong, with nonstop flights from Chicago, Guam, Ho Chi Minh City, New York/Newark, San Francisco and Singapore.

In addition, United will begin new nonstop service between San Francisco and Hangzhou on July 13, 2016.

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's San Francisco Hub

United operates more than 250 daily flights from San Francisco to more than 90 destinations in Asia, Europe, North America and Latin America.

A major component of the new Xi'an service will be traffic originating in China, and United has timed the Xi'an flights to connect conveniently at San Francisco with an extensive network of service throughout the United States, Canada and Latin America.

About United

United Airlines and United Express operate an average of 5,000 flights a day to 336 airports across six continents. In 2015, United and United Express operated more than 1.5 million flights carrying more than 140 million customers. United is proud to have the world's most comprehensive route network, including U.S. mainland hubs in Chicago, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, New York/Newark, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. United operates more than 715 mainline aircraft, and this year, the airline anticipates taking delivery of 21 new Boeing aircraft, including 737 NGs, 787s and 777s. The airline is a founding member of Star Alliance, which provides service to 192 countries via 28 member airlines. Approximately 86,000 United employees reside in every U.S. state and in countries around the world. For more information visit united.com, follow @United on Twitter or connect on Facebook. The common stock of United's parent, United Continental Holdings, Inc., is traded on the NYSE under the symbol UAL.

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SOURCE United Airlines