United Airlines will strengthen its already dominant transpacific position among US majors with a new US-China route won in a contentious Department of Transportation (DoT) proceeding.
The airline will fly between the Chinese capital Beijing and Washington Dulles from 25 March. The route may generate as much as $200 million in annual revenue, according to Calyon Securities analyst Ray Neidl.
In choosing United's over three rival plans, the DoT said the Washington region is the largest US area without China service. The Dulles route also has the advantage of offering more convenient service to China to members of Congress and government officials.
Continental wanted to fly between New York Newark and Shanghai, while Northwest sought to serve Shanghai from Detroit. American sought to fly between Dallas/Fort Worth and Beijing, but changed its request to include a stop in Chicago after American's unions refused to agree to fly the longer route non-stop. That effectively doomed American's application, which was seen as a likely winner because the southwest region has no China gateway, says consultant Stuart Klaskin.
|
|---|
United already has 28 flights per week to China with an average load factor of 80% |
Source: Airline Business
