US-China relations are at an all-time low. US President Trump blames China to be responsible for the spread of COVID-19, while he himself was diagnosed with the virus. On the other side, a US Airline is restarting flights between the United States and the Peoples Republic China launching its non-stop from San Francisco to Shanghai.
United Airlines today announced it will start nonstop service to China four-times-weekly between San Francisco and Shanghai’s Pudong International Airport. Beginning Oct. 21, 2020, United will operate four weekly nonstop flights with Boeing 777-300ER aircraft from San Francisco to Shanghai on Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays. Customers traveling from Shanghai will return to San Francisco on Mondays, Tuesdays, Fridays, and Sundays.
United will continue operating four weekly flights between San Francisco and Shanghai and beginning October 21, will no longer be required to stop in Seoul. United offered more service to China than any other U.S. carrier prior to suspending service in February due to COVID-19. In 2019, United operated five daily flights between Shanghai and its hubs in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago and New York/Newark.
“United continues playing a critical role in keeping people and global supply chains connected to Shanghai and to cities around the world,” said Patrick Quayle, United’s vice president of International Network and Alliances. “We look forward to resuming nonstop service and offering our customers greater convenience and shorter flight times between San Francisco and Shanghai.”
Since the start of the pandemic, United has been a leader among U.S. airlines in enacting new policies and innovations designed to keep employees and passengers safer when traveling. It was the first U.S. airline to mandate masks for flight attendants, quickly following with all customers and employees. United was also among the first U.S. carriers to announce it wouldn’t permit customers who refused to comply with the airline’s mandatory mask policy to fly with them while the face mask policy is in place. United was also the first U.S. airline to roll out touchless check-in for customers with bags, and the first to require passengers take an online health assessment before traveling. The airline also recently announced it will apply Zoono Microbe Shield, an EPA-registered antimicrobial coating that forms a long-lasting bond with surfaces and inhibits the growth of microbes, to its entire mainline and express fleet before the end of the year.
