United Launches Daily Nonstop Flights Between Los Angeles and Shanghai

May 20, 2011
United Launches Daily Nonstop Flights Between Los Angeles and Shanghai

FURTHER EXPANDS U.S.-CHINA NETWORK

PR Newswire

LOS ANGELES, May 20, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- United Airlines today will launch its first-ever service between Los Angeles and Shanghai, China, with daily nonstop flights from the airline's hub at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). The new route provides a link between the second-largest city in the U.S. and mainland China's center for finance and trade.

"United operates more routes from the U.S. to China than any other airline, and this new service is another step in the expansion of our U.S.-China network," said Jim Compton, United's executive vice president and chief revenue officer. "The new flights will offer customers additional convenient options for travel between the two countries."

United began operating flights to China in 1986, and today, it has 11 daily nonstop flights to Beijing, Hong Kong and Shanghai from hubs in Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco and Washington.

Convenient Flight Schedule

Flight 877 departs Los Angeles daily at 1:23 p.m. and arrives at Shanghai's Pudong International Airport (PVG) at 5:45 p.m. the next day. On the return, flight 878 departs Shanghai at 8:10 p.m. and arrives in Los Angeles at 5:07 p.m. the same day. The flights are timed to provide convenient round-trip connections at United's Los Angeles hub to cities throughout the Western U.S., Canada and Mexico. From the Los Angeles hub, United offers more than 225 daily flights to destinations throughout the world.

United will operate the daily flights using Boeing 777 aircraft with United First, United Business and United Economy sections. The airline is currently upgrading its international first- and business-class sections, including new flat-bed seats in business class. By the end of the year, both the first-class and the business-class cabins of the aircraft used on the Los Angeles-Shanghai route will have flat-bed seating. The flights will also offer improved economy-class features such as larger personal video screens, video-on-demand and in-seat power ports. For customers opting to sit in the forward section of the economy cabin, Economy Plus offers up to five extra inches of legroom.

Onboard Product Tailored for China Market

United's Shanghai flights feature special products and services for customers, with movies and music available in English and Mandarin. Inflight meals offer Chinese choices with menus printed in English and Mandarin. Chinese-speaking flight attendants are available to assist customers inflight and Chinese-speaking agents are available to assist customers at check-in.

Flight schedules and aircraft are subject to change.

About United Airlines

United Airlines, a wholly owned subsidiary of United Continental Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: UAL), operates an average of 3,332 daily flights on United and United Express to 238 domestic and  international destinations from its hubs in Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Tokyo and Washington, D.C. With key global air rights in the Asia-Pacific region, Europe and Latin America, United is a founding member of Star Alliance, which overall offers 21,000 daily flights to 1,160 airports in 181 countries.  United Continental Holdings, Inc. became the holding company for both United and Continental upon close of the merger transaction. The two airlines will operate separately as they begin to integrate key customer services, marketing activities and airport processes. For more information about the airlines, see united.com and continental.com or follow on Twitter and Facebook.

SOURCE United Continental Holdings, Inc.