United Airlines to introduce Melbourne
United Airlines has announced that they will start flying from Melbourne to San Francisco in 2019.
The service will operate on a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner and commence on October 29, 2019 and runs three days a week. [19659004] It will compete with the Qantas service to San Francisco that began in September last year, also on a Dreamliner.
Qantas, however, runs an overnight service that arrives in the evening. United's service flies by day, like most common flights to Los Angeles.
Departure Melbourne at. 11.40 is airplane UA61 flying every Monday, Thursday and Saturday.
The plane arrives in San Francisco at. same day.
Passengers on a business trip can enjoy United's Polaris seats and experience the Polaris San Francisco lounge coming back.
The flights depart at 10.50 pm on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, arriving in Melbourne two days later at 9.40.
The move is part of an international network extension for United Airlines from downtown San Francisco International Airport.
The airline will offer the most service between the west coast of the United States and Australia by any US carrier.
It also offers a non-stop service to Sydney from Houston, Los Angeles and San Francisco, providing a non-stop service between Los Angeles and Melbourne.
Meanwhile, Qantas's direct flights from Australia to Chicago consider the next step in the plan to add more long-distance destinations to an expanding fleet of Boeing 787 jets.
The airline draws its attention to the United States with the next rate of four 787s due for delivery this year.
The 787s replace 747 jumbos on Qantas existing Brisbane-Los Angeles-New York route. But also in the carrier's thinking is a direct Brisbane-Chicago service or aircraft from Queensland to Seattle or Dallas, CEO Alan Joyce revealed recently.
Wind and weather data analysis has shown that all three destinations could be reached with a standard passenger load, although flights would not begin until Qantas wins antitrust immunity for a joint venture with American Airlines.
Oneworld Alliance partners American and Qantas in February asked US authorities for permission to coordinate prices and schedules and share costs and revenue on Trans-Pacific flights.
"We hope we can get through it in six months," said the CEO and let the chosen service start "as soon as the high season, which is at the end of the year."
However, Qantas took the first Dreamliner flight to Hong Kong on Wednesday morning from Melbourne, which marked the airline's first 787 to fly an Asian route.
with BLOOMBERG
See also: Flight test: Qantas new route from Melbourne to San Francisco
See also: Flight test: United's competitor for perfect economy with an exception)
