Source: USA Today
Author: Ben Mutzabaugh

United Airlines has applied with the U.S. Department of Transportation for the rights to add service between its San Francisco hub and Chengdu, China's fourth-largest city.

If approved for the route, United plans to fly it with Boeing 787-8 Dreamliners.

United has proposed flights begin on June 9, with departures from San Francisco leaving at 1:35 p.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays. The flights would arrive at the Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport at 6:50 p.m. the following day (all times local).

San Francisco-bound flights would leave Chengdu at 10 a.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and arrive to San Francisco at 8:50 a.m. the same day. Flying times will be approximately 14 hours, 15 minutes westbound and 13 hours, 50 minutes eastbound.

United says the new nonstop flight would reduce the "typical" travel time between the two cities by about four hours. Chengdu would be United's ninth nonstop destination in the Asia/Pacific region from San Francisco.

In its release announcing the new service, United offers the following description of Chengdu:

"Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province in southwest China, is the country's fourth largest city, with a population of approximately 14 million in the urban area. In recent years, Chengdu has been one of the country's fastest-developing cities economically, and more than 200 Fortune 500 companies have a presence in the city. Sichuan is famous as the natural habitat of the giant panda and home to one of China's most popular cuisines."