Summary
- After a four-year hiatus, Air China will resume Beijing to Washington Dulles on November twenty first.
- The service shall be one in all five US routes this winter, none by the 747 after November nineteenth.
- The airline’s network stays down by two routes versus winter 2019, with Houston and Newark now not served.
While US-China seats on the market remain down by a substantial 63% versus before the pandemic, this market segment is slowly recovering. Star Alliance member Air China is the second-largest operator, after United, and has five US routes this winter. They include a return to Washington Dulles, served via Los Angeles en route back to Asia.
Welcome back, Washington Dulles!
It has been just a few years since Air China operated this particular service. Having last been offered in February 2020, Beijing Capital to Washington Dulles will resume on November twenty first and run on Tuesdays and Saturdays. But flights remain down by no less than half versus November 2019.
It’s, for now, the one carrier on the long, 6,921-mile (11,138 km) airport pair, based on the non-stop distance. Nonetheless, on the time of writing, it is anticipated to be joined by a every day service by United Airlines on March thirtieth, 2024.
Photo: Vinceno Pace I Easy Flying
Using the Boeing 777-300ER, Air China’s offering is scheduled as follows, with all times local:
- Beijing to Dulles: CA817, 12:30-14:10 (14h 40m block; same-day arrival)
- Dulles to Los Angeles: CA818, 16:35-19:05 (5h 30m)
- Los Angeles to Beijing: CA818, 21:05-04:10+2 (15h 5m)
While it doesn’t have traffic rights on the domestic leg from Dulles to Los Angeles, it’s nonetheless significant. The flight from Los Angeles to China is obtainable to book.
Image: Air China
At 22h 35m back to China, it’s roughly the identical duration as most other one-stop options. Nonetheless, one considerably faster option is Korean Air via Seoul Incheon. The Sky Team airline’s alternative takes a mere 19h 30m to Beijing with a really short 70-minute transit in South Korea.
That makes five US routes
While it might change, Air China’s US network from November nineteenth to the top of March is as follows. Notice that it’s all operated by the Boeing 777-300ER. For now, the airline’s last 747-8 service will operate from Beijing to San Francisco on November 18th, the day of writing.
- Beijing to Los Angeles: three weekly (777-300ER);
- Beijing to Recent York JFK: three weekly (777-300ER);
- Beijing to San Francisco: twice-weekly (777-300ER, replacing the 747-8)
- Beijing to Washington Dulles: twice-weekly (777-300ER);
- Shenzhen to Los Angeles: weekly (777-300ER)
Notice that JFK is, like Dulles, also via Los Angeles en path to Beijing, with these flights again bookable from Los Angeles. In the event that they are added to the terminator (i.e., Beijing-Los Angeles-Beijing), Air China has eight weekly passenger flights the California airport.