United Airlines will begin a three times weekly non-stop service from San Francisco to Hangzhou, China on July 13, 2016, subject to government approval. The service will be operated by the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner which features a total of 252 seats – 48 in United BusinessFirst, 88 Economy Plus and 204 in Economy.

The service to Hangzhou will become United’s fifth destination in mainland China, and their third secondary Chinese city. Like other US carriers, United serves both Shanghai and Beijing, but the airline has branched out to serve Chendgu and provide a seasonal service to Xi’an, between May and October 2016.

No other US carrier currently serves a secondary Chinese city – American Airlines do not believe they are ready for a secondary Chinese city, whereas Delta has stated it plans to access other cities via SkyTeam partners. United operates more non-stop US – China flights to more cities in China than any other US airline. February 2016 marked 30 years of service to China by United.

This route to Hangzhou, served by United Airlines, is the eighth secondary China – North America route that is in some form of proposal for the calendar year. This could result in more Chinese cities having service to North America than they do Europe. United’s growth could influence future decisions, with expectation to open a new Chinese city a year.

United Airline’s vice chairman and chief revenue officer, Jim Compton said: “We look forward to welcoming Hangzhou to our global route network using the customer-favourite 787-9 Dreamliner. We will offer customers unique non-stop flights between the West Coast and one of China’s fastest growing travel markets. Additionally, customers travelling from China to the U.S will find convenient, easy connections to our San Francisco hub to many U.S business centres and leisure destinations.”

Westbound, flight time will be 12 hours 55 minutes but an hour shorter in the other direction. The flight has been timed by United to connect conveniently at San Francisco with an extensive network service throughout Latin America, Canada and the U.S. The airline operates more than 260 daily flights from San Francisco to more than 90 destinations throughout North, Central and South American and the Caribbean, including more than 69 served non-stop.

United’s director of Sales for Eastern China, Eliza Lin said: “At United, we want to be the airline that our Chinese customers choose first. We are bringing our customers in China and the US the choice, comfort and convenience they deserve, and our growing trans-Pacific network offers customers more ways to travel between the US and China.”