United Airlines will resume daily flights between San Francisco and Beijing in November in lines with the increase in passenger services between the US and China.

The carrier said it would also increase its operations in Shanghai, with daily flights to and from San Francisco, starting October 1.

The enhanced Asia Pacific schedule has been enabled by an agreement between the governments of the US and China to increase flights between the two countries.

“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,” said 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 Beijing 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.”

Flights between the US and China set to double

The number of flights between the US and China is set to double after the US government announced it had approved an increase in air connectivity between the two countries.

The US Transportation Department (USDOT) said the number of Chinese passenger flights would rise from 12 a week to 18 a week by the beginning of September and to 24 per week starting from the end of October.

Authorities in Beijing are expected to agree to the same increase for US airlines.

USDOT said: “Our overriding goal is an improved environment wherein the carriers of both parties are able to exercise fully their bilateral rights to maintain a competitive balance and fair and equal opportunity among US and Chinese air carriers.”
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