Xiamen Airlines touches down in LA

Third US destination for Chinese carrier, following Seattle and New York

Xiamen Airlines will deploy a Boeing 787 Dreamliner on the new route

Xiamen Airlines, the fast-growing Chinese carrier, has launched its first ever flights to Los Angeles.

The airline’s Boeing 787 Dreamliner touched down at LAX for the first time on 27 June 2017, following a trans-Pacific flight from Xiamen, in Southeast China’s Fujian province.

Under the new schedule, Xiamen Airlines flight MF829 will depart Xiamen’s Gaoqi International Airport at 2000 every Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday and arrive in Los Angeles at 1800 the same day, having crossed the International Date Line. The return service, MF830, then leaves LAX at 0015 every Monday, Wednesday and Friday and arrives back in Xiamen at 0530 the next morning.

Xiamen Airlines will deploy its largest aircraft on the route – a 257 seat 787-9 Dreamliner with business and economy class cabins.

This becomes the third US route for the airline, following its existing Xiamen-Shenzhen-Seattle and Fuzhou-New York services. It also plans to launch Xiamen-Qingdao-Los Angeles flights in December this year.

“The opening of the route means Xiamen Airlines will operate 10 flights between China’s Fujian province and the US weekly, creating a convenient air bridge that strengthens economic and trade ties, and enhances cultural exchanges between the US and China,” the airline said in a statement.

Passengers from the US transiting in Xiamen will be offered free hotel stays and transit lounge access in Terminal 3 of Gaoqi International Airport

Mark Elliott