Travelore News: Air China Announces Expansion Of Nonstop Services Between Los Angeles And Beijing

 Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti joined Dr. Zhihang Chi, Air China’s Vice President for North America, in a press conference this morning at Tom Bradley International Terminal announcing Air China’s third nonstop service between Los Angeles and Beijing starting May 2, 2015. Consul General Jian Liu of the Chinese Consulate General of the People’s Republic of China; Los Angeles City Councilmember Mike Bonin and Los Angeles World Airports’ Deputy Executive Director Samson Mengistu also welcomed the news of the expanded services from China’s exclusive national flag carrier in their brief remarks.

Air China’s third service will start with four flights per week on May 2, 2015 and will increase to daily on July 1, 2015. Dr. Chi also announced Air China’s move from Terminal 2 at LAX to Tom Bradley International Terminal on July 1, 2015.

“I’m pleased to welcome Air China’s new service between LAX and Beijing,” said Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti. “Tourism from China has quadrupled over the last four years, and Air China’s new service puts us well on our way of meeting our goal of 50 million visitors a year by 2020 and creating more good jobs in the City of Los Angeles.”

According to the United Nations World Tourism Organization, 100 million Chinese are expected to travel overseas in 2015 and Los Angeles is one of their top favorite destinations.

More important, the Los Angeles Economic Development Corporation has determined that every daily round-trip international flight on a wide-body aircraft at LAX generates $623 million annually and provides 3,120 local jobs to the regional economy.

Dr. Zhihang Chi remarked on Air China’s growth in North America since he took the helm of the company in 2004. “The unprecedented increase in connectivity will facilitate travel from China to the United States and strengthen the bilateral trade, tourism and cultural ties between the world’s two largest economies,” Dr. Chi said. “Travelers to cities in China and other fabulous destinations in Asia will find added convenience, more flexibility and options in booking their business trips or holiday visits with our new service.”

The additional third service (CA887/CA888) will be operated by Air China’s new generation Boeing 777-300ER. Featuring state-of-the-art green technology, the triple seven delivers better fuel burn performance and is much quieter than any other aircraft. With a spacious three-cabin interior, ambient lighting and an enhanced entertainment system, the B777-300ER provides transpacific passengers with a smooth, comfortable experience. It features eight luxury suites in the Forbidden Pavilion (first class), 41 fully-flat sleeper seats in the Capital Pavilion (business class) and 259 economy seats with individual TV monitors and in-seat audio-video on demand.

Air China is the only airline with nonstop services between Los Angeles and Beijing. It is also the only Chinese carrier with more-than-once daily frequency from the United States to China.

Details of Air China’s Los Angeles-Beijing services can be found in the chart below. Note: This is for reference only and the schedule may be subject to change. All times are local. *+1 = Next Day.

Flight # Origin-Destination Departure - Arrival Frequency Aircraft
CA887 Beijing-Los Angeles 12:00 - 09:00 T T S S (May 2-June 30, 2015) B777-300ER
CA888 Los Angeles-Beijing 11:30 - 15:10 +1* T T S S (May 2-June 30, 2015) B777-300ER
CA887 Beijing-Los Angeles 12:00 - 09:00 Daily (Starting July 1, 2015) B777-300ER
CA888 Los Angeles-Beijing 11:30 - 15:10 +1* Daily (Starting July 1, 2015) B777-300ER
CA983 Beijing-Los Angeles 21:00 - 18:00 Daily B777-300ER
CA984 Los Angeles-Beijing 01:40 - 05:20 +1* Daily B777-300ER
CA987 Beijing-Los Angeles 15:00 - 12:00 Daily B777-300ER
CA988 Los Angeles-Beijing 14:20 - 18:00 +1* Daily B777-300ER

Air China offers nonstop services to Beijing from its seven gateways in North America: Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, Washington Dulles, Houston, Honolulu and Vancouver. In addition to Los Angeles, Air China is also the only airline with nonstop services to Beijing from New York and Houston. It offers double daily services from New York’s JFK International; daily services from Houston, Vancouver and San Francisco; four times weekly service from Washington Dulles and three times weekly from Honolulu to Beijing.

On January 6, 2015, CA981/CA982 between New York and Beijing was upgraded to Boeing’s newest and largest passenger wide-body aircraft, the B747-8i. On May 1 this year, the aircraft for Air China’s daily nonstop San Francisco-Beijing service will also be upgraded to the iconic B747-8i. Air China’s B747-8i is the first in Air China’s fleet with a four-cabin configuration: Forbidden Pavilion, Capital Pavilion, Premium Economy and Economy. Air China is the launch carrier in Asia for Boeing’s 747-8i.