United Airlines announced that it will introduce daily non-stop flights between San Francisco and Singapore from 1 June 2016, subject to government approval. United will be the first airline to offer non-stop service between San Francisco and Singapore, and currently this will be the only non-stop service to the U.S. from Singapore.
The Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner will be used to operate the service. Going by distance, the San Francisco-Singapore route will be the longest scheduled 787 flight operated by any airline and the longest scheduled flight operated by any U.S. carrier at 8,446 miles.
“We are very excited about introducing nonstop flights between San Francisco and Singapore,” said Marcel Fuchs, United’s vice president of Atlantic and Pacific sales. “This long-awaited service has been made possible by the newest version of our customer-pleasing Boeing 787 Dreamliner, and will offer unique benefits to customers traveling between our West Coast hub at San Francisco and Singapore. Customers arriving to San Francisco will have dozens of options to connect to other cities across the Americas.”
This new non-stop service will allow passengers to save up to four hours’ journey time each way, as compared with the current United one- stop service.
With the launch of the non-stop service, United will terminate service between Singapore and Tokyo/Narita from 2 June 2016 (eastbound). However, United customers in Singapore may continue to choose to fly to Tokyo/Narita by using daily flights on ANA, United’s trans-Pacific joint venture partner, and to make connections at Narita to many cities in the U.S. on multiple flights operated both by United and ANA. United will maintain its daily service between Singapore and Hong Kong.
