China Eastern Airlines will resume it direct Shanghai Pudong-San Francisco service on April 23 next year, after a 13-year suspension.
The route will be serviced daily by an A330-200 aircraft, leaving Shanghai at 1300 for 0930 arrival in the American city, and returning from San Francisco at 1130 to touch down in Shanghai at 1600.
The route was previously dominated by American carrier Delta, which entered into a comprehensive codeshare deal with China Eastern earlier this year (see story here). The pact allowed Delta to codeshare on China Eastern operated flights from New York and Los Angeles to Shanghai.
Between 1997 and 2000, the Shanghai-San Francisco route was serviced by China Eastern via Beijing twice a week with an MD11 aircraft. A spokesperson for the airline said it originally axed this route since it was already servicing Los Angeles, and "found it unprofitable to have two destinations on the west coast". She added that more details about the new route will become available in March.
For more information, visit www.flychinaeastern.com
Alex Andersson
