![[PR] PR_Ascott and Vimut Hospital_2024](https://www.traveldailynews.asia/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/PR-PR_Ascott-and-Vimut-Hospital_2024-400x265.jpg)
United Airlines application for non-stop service between Washington, D.C. and Beijing received widespread support according to executives from the airline. The company filed support materials with the…
United Airlines application for non-stop service between Washington, D.C. and Beijing received widespread support according to executives from the airline. The company filed support materials with the U.S. Department of Transportation, including endorsements from leading experts in transportation, economics and international relations and eight former U.S. Trade Representatives, who have rallied around United`s proposal to create the first direct link between these two major world capitals. If the application is approved by DOT, United`s Capital-to-Capital service would enable Washington, D.C. to have a non-stop flight to Beijing as 28 other capital cities do today.
United has applied for the new daily U.S.-China frequencies that will become available in March 2007. In its filing with DOT, United described how the proposed capital-to-capital connection offers a unique opportunity to promote the national interest. The route from the Washington region – by far the largest metropolitan area in the U.S. without direct service to China – also offers public service and competitive benefits that far exceed those of other applicants, the company said.
United`s Washington, D.C.-Beijing service would provide a much higher level of public benefit than any of the competing proposals and, at the same time, would promote the national interest in ways that the other proposals cannot begin to match, said Michael Whitaker, United`s vice president, Alliances, International and Regulatory Affairs.
Benefits of the proposed service include:
The new route would operate nonstop on 347-seat B747-400 aircraft with three classes of service, which would provide maximum passenger options on the long flights. United`s is the only proposal to offer both the B747-400 aircraft and first-class seating.
Operating out of United`s east coast hub at Dulles International Airport, the service would offer connections to a vast number of cities through United`s extensive network and its code-share partner US Airways.
United`s code share alliance with Air China means passengers would be connected to a host of Asian cities beyond Beijing upon landing in China.
The route would benefit the largest metropolitan area in the country currently without non-stop service to China. The non-stop route would be the first from the Mid-Atlantic and would bolster China service for the underserved eastern United States.
A recently released economic impact study from George Mason University concluded that the new route would generate between $275 million and $333 million annually in regional economic expansion and create between 3,400 and 4,100 jobs in the Washington, D.C. area.
The capital-to-capital proposal also uniquely promotes the national interest by establishing the first-ever route between Washington, D.C. and Beijing some three decades after the two capitals reinstated diplomatic relations.
The non-stop service will promote and facilitate much needed face-to-face contact between representatives from both countries` public and private sectors. In a recent letter supporting the route, a bipartisan group of eight former U.S. Trade Representatives called such interaction critical to building trust and developing mutual understanding.
No other proposal comes close to positively impacting these two nations` economies and geopolitical relations the way a capital-to-capital connection does, said Whitaker. A non-stop Washington-to-Beijing route serves the national interest and the interest of our customers by flying the largest capacity aircraft to and from the largest metro area without non-stop service to China. It is past time these two great cities were connected by air.
Washington, D.C., is the fourth-largest and fastest-growing metro area in the country, and the fastest-growing metro area for U.S. exports. Washington also has the largest Chinese population of all U.S. metro areas without nonstop service to China.
The proposal is also backed by the Capital-to-Capital Coalition, a diverse slate of formidable transportation, tourism and business organizations and leading experts in U.S.-China relations advocating for the route. The alliance is chaired by Jane Garvey, former FAA administrator, and James E. Bennett, president and chief executive officer of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority.
Coalition members include:
- Capital Region USA
- D.C. Chamber of Commerce
- Greater Richmond Chamber of Commerce
- Greater Washington Board of Trade
- Greater Washington Initiative
- Loudon County Chamber of Commerce
- Maryland Office of Tourism Development
- Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority
- United Airlines
- United States Olympic Committee
- Virginia Chamber of Commerce
- Virginia Manufacturers Association
- Virginia Tourism Corporation
- Washington Airports Task Force
- Washington, D.C. Convention and Tourism Corporation
- Al Broaddus, Chairman, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, 1993-2004
- Whitt Clement, Former Secretary, Virginia Department of Transportation
- Robert Kapp, President, U.S.-China Business Council, 1994-2004
- Eric A. McVadon, Rear Admiral, U.S. Navy (retired), Consultant on East Asia Security Affairs and Director, Asia-Pacific Studies, Institute for Foreign Policy Analysis
- David Michael Lampton, former president, National Committee on U.S.- China Relations, and Director of China Studies, Johns Hopkins-SAIS
- William A. Reinsch, President, National Foreign Trade Council
- Robert G. Sutter, Visiting Professor of Asian Studies at the School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University
Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine, Maryland Gov. Robert Ehrlich Jr., D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams and Virginia Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling also support United`s route application.
Vicky is the co-founder of TravelDailyNews Media Network where she is the Editor-in Chief. She is also responsible for the daily operation and the financial policy. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Tourism Business Administration from the Technical University of Athens and a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Wales. She has many years of both academic and industrial experience within the travel industry. She has written/edited numerous articles in various tourism magazines.
