United Brings Back Daily Nonstop Flights to Beijing

United Airlines will resume daily flights to Bejing this November and increase flights to Shanghai with daily service beginning this October. Both routes will fly from the airline’s San Francisco International Airport (SFO) hub.

The additions to United’s already impressive Asia Pacific schedule are due to an agreement between the United States and China to increase flight service between the two countries.

Photo: Beijing, China. Courtesy of zhang kaiyv / Unsplash

“We are grateful for this positive step forward in U.S.- China passenger air services, and we thank the many officials from both countries who partnered to make this reinstatement of air service possible,” says Patrick Quayle, Senior Vice President of Global Network Planning and Alliances.

“This announcement is good news for United customers because we believe that a daily flight to Bejing and a daily flight to Shanghai from San Francisco is consistent with the demand we see in the market right now—especially since our ability to serve China nonstop from our mid-continent hubs or the East Coast is severely limited by Russian overflight restrictions.”

Passengers can now book the San Francisco and Shanghai routes on the airline’s website and app.

The Largest Carrier In The South Pacific

Thanks to an abundance of new flight routes, United has positioned itself as the largest U.S. carrier in the South Pacific. Currently, the carrier is the only U.S. airline to service Gaum and Palau, and this new flight route will further expand the airline’s network in the region.

United will be the first U.S. airline to offer direct flights to Manila and has recently added more nonstop flights to Hong Kong, Tokyo, and Taipei from its Los Angeles (LAX) and San Francisco hubs.

The North American carrier also revealed an expansion of South Pacific routes to launch in the winter. United will add nonstop service to Christchurch, New Zealand, and increase flights to Auckland, Brisbane, Melbourne, and Sydney.

Photo: Auckland, New Zealand. Courtesy of Sulthan Auliya / Unsplash

According to United, it will run 66 weekly flights between Australia and New Zealand. These new winter additions will increase the airline’s service to Australia and New Zealand by 40 percent, larger than any other U.S. airline.

A couple of months ago, United also launched a bevy of upgrades to its iPhone app. It became the first to utilize Live Activities for iPhone, which allows passengers real-time access to their boarding pass, gate, seat number, and more.

Domestic Updates

Earlier this month, United announced that it will redesign its domestic First Class seats to provide passengers a more comfortable and luxurious experience. All the new seats will have larger seatback screens and tray tables, privacy panels, wireless charging, and many other thoughtful features.

Photo: Courtesy of United Airlines

The new seat design marked the airline’s first update to its domestic first-class fleet since 2015. Updates have already begun rolling out on Boeing 737s and will continue to be added to more aircraft over the next few years.