UA applies for authority to serve Chengdu, China 3x weekly

[FWAAA]

Dunno if three times a week will be successful, but it is the first USA-carrier flight to a city not PVG or PEK.

CHICAGO, Aug. 29, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- United Airlines today applied to the U.S. Department of Transportation for authority to begin nonstop service linking the airline's San Francisco hub with Chengdu, China, the fourth-largest Chinese city, effective June 9, 2014.

United intends to use the world's most advanced passenger airplane, the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, to operate three-times-weekly service to Chengdu. If approved, Chengdu will be the ninth destination United serves in the Asia/Pacific region nonstop from San Francisco, from which United offers more nonstop trans-Pacific flights from the United States than any other carrier -- nearly twice as many as any airline from any West Coast city.

Flight Schedule

The proposed flights, subject to government approval, will depart San Francisco International Airport at 1:35 p.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays and arrive at Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport at 6:50 p.m. the following day (all times local). Service from Chengdu will depart at 10 a.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and arrive at San Francisco International Airport at 8:50 a.m. the same day. Flying times will be approximately 14 hours, 15 minutes westbound and 13 hours, 50 minutes eastbound. This new nonstop flight will shave nearly four hours off the typical travel time between the two cities.

http://online.wsj.co...829-909907.html

http://www.marketwat...nk=MW_news_stmp

 

[Kev3188]

Dunno if three times a week will be successful, but it is the first USA-carrier flight to a city not PVG or PEK.

Might be misreading what you mean here, but NW flew to CAN for awhile...

 

[robbedagain]

kev did you mean that nwa used to fly to CTU chengdu and when and what aircraft did they use

 

[Kev3188]

No, I meant Guangzhou (CAN). IIRC, it was flown ex-NRT with a 757?

We also served it for awhile with our freighters...

 

[robbedagain]

thanks kev

 

[FWAAA]

Might be misreading what you mean here, but NW flew to CAN for awhile...

You're probably right; I paraphrased a sub-headline that was in the press release that said:

Proposed route from San Francisco hub would be first service by a U.S. carrier to mainland China beyond Beijing, Shanghai

So my bad (and maybe UA's bad).

 

[WorldTraveler]

current, yes. past, no, as Kev notes.

UA also proposed service to CAN from SFO and DL proposed to restart it from NRT on a 767 this time and neither was restarted. CAN is home to China Southern which is a Skyteam airline so there is little reason for UA to try and go there now.

Given congestion at the largest Chinese airports and the size of the US-China market, it is only a given that there will be more and more secondary markets added in China.

 

[FrugalFlyerv2.0]

CAN is home to China Southern which is a Skyteam airline so there is little reason for UA to try and go there now.

So what? Big deal that China Southern, a SkyTeam airline is there!
China Southern flies CAN-YVR, where AC, a * alliance carrier is there, so it should have no business doing so (at least by your logic).

 

[WorldTraveler]

YVR has multiple nonstop flights on multiple carriers. This will be CTU's first transpac service, IIRC.


Even with 3 days/week, UA needs whatever feed within China they can get. They aren't going to get that feed in a city where another alliance is much stronger. Skyteam IS larger in China as a whole which means it will be harder for competing alliances to start "fragmentation flights" where Skyteam is stronger outside of PEK and PVG.

The very same principle is true in Germany where Star is dominant.

UA knows what they are doing and they are doing this first "fragmentation flight" right.

 

[FrugalFlyerv2.0]

I think you kind of have missed my point. You originally stated that CAN is a hub for China Southern, a proud skyteam member and therefore has the ability to crush any airline flying there, including UA. Then using your same logic, China Southern has no business flying CAN-YVR (I believe it is the only airline offering this non-stop) since Vancouver is a hub for AC a competing alliance (star) airport. N'est-ce pas? It fits your "if it's not DL (or skyteam) then its cr@p" M.O. quite nicely.

I think UA has potential to do well on this SFO-CTU route since it will be the only airline offering non-stop service to the USA, starting with 3/week on a B787 out of a strong Pacific gateway in SFO. I know that only DL could do it better, but I guess we'll see if an inferior ariline like UA could make this work.

 

[WorldTraveler]

you were fine until the last sentence.

YVR is a much larger market for transpac traffic than CAN. Thus, it matters less who is able to connect passengers at YVR than it does in secondary cities of China. YVR also benefits from geography while CAN is quite a bit south compared to other hubs in China. UA is not going to put its code on near as many flights connecting out of CAN as China Southern (or partner DL) can.

We do agree that UA will do well and the 787 is a good airplane to develop those routes from SFO where range is needed to penetrate deep into China.

Significantly, UA did not choose CAN despite having applied for that route in the past. You can tell me why UA is now passing up flying to CAN and selecting CTU.

 

[FrugalFlyerv2.0]

Significantly, UA did not choose CAN despite having applied for that route in the past. You can tell me why UA is now passing up flying to CAN and selecting CTU.

I don't know. Maybe for the same reason(s) DL dropped ATL-PVG and istead operates SEA-PVG instead?