Air China's B747-8 will make its international debut as a daily service between Beijing and New York JFK from January 7.
The carrier had originally planned to fly the aircraft to Frankfurt, but the latest schedule update indicates that it will instead make the 14-hour journey to the Big Apple.
It operates the B747-8 in a four-cabin configuration, with 12 first class suites, 54 fully-flat seats in business, 66 premium economy recliners and 233 seats in economy.
Air China is the first Asian airline to operate a passenger version of the aircraft that has proven harder to sell than anticipated. Similar to the A380, many carriers said the B747-8 was too big for their fleet and network expansion plans.
The carrier operates a total 12 weekly flights to New York. The remaining five frequencies are operated by B777-300ER aircraft, without premium economy.
Dominic Sebastian Lalk
