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 October 27th.
“United is celebrating our 30th 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.”
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
