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The main route news out of United Airlines yesterday was the announcement that the airline would launch new services to Marrakesh, Cebu, and Medellin, but there was other promising route news too as the airline confirmed its plans to bring back its route between LA and Shanghai and told us that it would boost capacity on its route between LA and Hong Kong.
United’s Los Angeles – Shanghai route
Back in January, United Airlines made wholesale changes to its routes between the United States and China and as part of those changes, its Los Angeles – Shanghai route was removed from the schedules.
Now, however, the route is coming back and United has confirmed that it will relaunch the service on 29 August 2024 on the following schedule:
UA198 LAX 12:55 – 17:45+1 day PVG (Tue, Thu, Sat, & Sun)
UA199 PVG 20:10 – 16:55 LAX (Mon, Wed, Fri, & Sun)
When the Northern Hemisphere winter season comes around, United plans to operate this route daily on the following schedule (as at 26 October 2024):
UA198 LAX 13:40 – 18:45+1 day PVG (Daily)
UA199 PVG 20:25 – 16:50 LAX (Daily)
The route will be operated by United’s Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners featuring the following cabin layout:
- 48 Polaris Business Class seats.
- 21 Premium Economy seats.
- 39 Economy Plus seats.
- 149 regular Economy Class seats.
The wifi on board will be Panasonic’s Ku-band satellite wifi.
Bookings for these flights are already open but given the seemingly unstable nature of the route networks between the US and China, there’s a possibility that further changes may be made to this service.
Currently, the schedules show the daily service running through to the end of the bookable period.
United’s Los Angeles – Hong Kong route
United Airlines currently offers a daily service between Los Angeles and Hong Kong using its 787-9 Dreamliners but starting from the beginning of the Northern Hemisphere winter season (26 October 2024), the airline will double the number of flights that it offers on this route.
This is what the October schedule currently looks like:
UA801 LAX 11:10 – 18:05+1 day HKG (Daily)
UA868 LAX 22:50 – 05:55+2 days HKG (Daily)
UA867 HKG 08:10 – 06:00 LAX (Daily)
UA802 HKG 20:05 – 17:45 LAX (Daily)
These two flight pairs are set to continue through the winter season but as the 2025 summer season schedules have not yet been released, we can’t say if United will continue offering this level of service past the end of March 2025.
Just like the current flights, the new flights (UA867/868) will be operated by 787-9 Dreamliners in the same cabin configuration as will be offered on the Los Angeles – Shanghai route and the wifi on board will be Panasonic’s Ku-band satellite wifi.
In further West Coast news…
As well as boosting its transpacific services out of Los Angeles, United Airlines also plans to boost the service that it offers between San Francisco and Seoul.
Currently, United Airlines offers a daily service between San Francisco and Seoul, and the plan was to boost this route to a double-daily service for the Northern Hemisphere winter.
Now, however, we’re told that while the double-daily service will be delivered as promised, both flight pairs will remain in the schedules year-round.
This is what the schedule will look like when the second daily flight is added on 25 October 2024:
UA893 SFO 10:35 – 15:15+1 day ICN (Daily 787-9 service)
UA805 SFO 23:30 – 04:40+2 days ICN (Daily 777-200ER service)
UA806 ICN 12:00 – 06:50 SFO (Daily 777-200ER service)
UA892 ICN 17:05 – 11:35 SFO (Daily 787-9 service)
The Dreamliners will offer the same cabin configurations as their counterparts flying out of Los Angeles while the 777-200ER will offer the following cabin options:
- 50 Polaris Business Class seats.
- 24 Premium Economy seats.
- 46 Economy Plus seats.
- 156 regular Economy Class seats.
The wifi on board will be Panasonic’s Ku-band satellite wifi.
Bottom line
United Airlines plans to restore its Los Angeles – Shanghai route from late August 2024 and will offer a 4x/week service that is expected to increase to a daily service in October. Aklso, The airline’s Los Angeles – Hong Kong route will be getting a second daily flight from 26 October and United’s San Francisco – Seoul service will be going double-daily year-round from approximately the same date.
