On Tuesday, federal officials announced that Delta Air Lines
and United Airlines have been awarded rights to launch nonstop services between
the U.S. and China. Delta
will operate service between its Atlanta hub and
Shanghai, China,
beginning March 2008, the first time the carrier will fly to China. The
airline had submitted two applications to the U.S. Department of
Transportation: one for nonstop flights from Atlanta
to Shanghai and another between Atlanta
and Beijing,
both to begin in 2008. Close to 70,000 people supported Delta's
Atlanta-Shanghai application, including more than 80 federal, state and local
officials, as well as over 80 companies, airports, business and tourism
organizations, the carrier said.
Delta is officially set to fly the new Atlanta-Shanghai
route—said to be the most lucrative—following foreign government approval.
Delta plans to operate the flight using Boeing 777 aircraft that would offer
Delta's revamped BusinessElite class
Meanwhile, the Department of Transportation also awarded
United with route rights between San Francisco
and Guangzhou, bringing United's amount of daily
nonstop flights to China
to six. Services begin in the spring of 2008 and also will be operated using Boeing
777 aircraft that offer all three classes of service. Visit [www.delta.com] or
[www.united.com].
