Singapore
The 14,000km journey is currently the world’s longest nonstop flight to or from the United States.
FILE PHOTO – A United Airlines Boeing 787 taxis as a United Airlines Boeing 767 lands at San Francisco International Airport, San Francisco, California, U.S. on February 7, 2015. REUTERS/Louis Nastro/File Photo
LOS ANGELES: United Airlines launched its daily non-stop flights between Singapore and Los Angeles on Sunday (Oct 29).
Flight UA38 departs Changi Airport at 11am Singapore time daily, arriving at Los Angeles International Airport at 11.15am Singapore time the same day. The flight is about 15 hours 15 minutes long, according to United Airlines.
The returning flight, UA37, departs Los Angeles at 9.25pm (Singapore time), arriving in Singapore at 6.20am two days from departure. It is more than two hours longer than the journey from Singapore at 17 hours 55 minutes.
The 14,000-kilometre journey is currently the world’s longest non-stop flight to or from the United States.
Previously, the record was held by Qantas, which operates an 13,800-kilometre flight between Dallas and Sydney, as well as United’s San Francisco-Singapore route (13,592 kilometres) launched last year.
Both of United’s Los Angeles and San Francisco routes are operated with Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft that can accommodate some 250 passengers.
United Airline is the only airline operating a direct flight between Singapore and Los Angeles.
To celebrate the inaugural flight on Sunday, passengers departing Changi Airport were greeted by Hollywood celebrity impersonators and were invited to participate in a cake-cutting ceremony.
The celebration was attended by CEO of Changi Airport Group Lee Seow Hiang as well as the charge d’affaires at the US Embassy of Singapore Stephanie Syptak-Ramnath.
The cake-cutting ceremony held at Changi Airport on Sunday (Oct 29). (Photo: United Airlines)
Commenting on the launch of the flight, United’s Vice President of Atlantic and Pacific Sales Marcel Fuchs said: “United is proud to launch the long-awaited Singapore-Los Angeles route for our customers in Singapore.
“The addition of this new exclusive service to our existing daily Singapore-San Francisco non-stop service gives more options for our customers to conveniently connect to our extensive US network over both gateways,” he added.
David Hilfman, United’s senior vice president of Worldwide Sales, said the new route will consolidate the airline’s position in Asia, with Singapore a key destination for business travellers.
