United Airlines announced on Wednesday that it will restart a seasonal route from San Francisco to Xi'an, capital of Northwest China's Shaanxi Province, on May 9.
The route, depending on government approval, will have three flights a week and run until October 28. It is the first nonstop, trans-Pacific route to Xi'an operated by a US airline. United is also the first US airline to fly to the ancient city.
United also announced that it will increase the frequency of flights on its route from San Francisco to Chengdu, capital of Southwest China's Sichuan Province, for the period from May 22 to September 29.
"The market growth in China is higher than that in the Asia-Pacific region, and China is the center of the growing force," Walter Dias, United's managing director of Greater China & Korea, said at a press conference on Wednesday.
To increase its market share, the airline plans to open a store on Alitrip to sell tickets and support services.
United launched its seasonal route from San Francisco to Xi'an in May 2016, followed by a route from San Francisco to Hangzhou, capital of East China's Zhejiang Province, in July.
In October 2016, it opened a second daily nonstop route from San Francisco to Shanghai.
The airline said it has the most nonstop flights between the US and China of any airline in the world, amounting to 100 flights day.
