Delta to begin non-stop service from LAX to Shanghai

Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL) has announced plans to begin daily nonstop service between Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) and Shanghai-Pudong Airport (PVG) on July 9, 2015.

The Los Angeles market makes up 25 percent of all U.S.-Asia demand, and the start of Shanghai service marks Delta's fourth daily nonstop flight to the Asia-Pacific region in addition to Tokyo-Narita (NRT), Tokyo-Haneda (HND) and Sydney, Australia, (SYD), the airline said in a Jan. 14 statement announcing the planned service.

"Delta's new nonstop service provides our business customers with more access to Shanghai and markets beyond through our partnerships with China Eastern Airlines and China Southern Airlines," Ranjan Goswami, Delta's vice president of Sales – West, said. "This route was the most requested by our corporate customers, and everyone will enjoy the investments we've made to upgrade our airport facilities, our onboard service, full flat-bed seats with direct aisle access in BusinessElite, and industry-leading complimentary in-flight entertainment."

Delta will operate a 291-seat Boeing 777-200LR aircraft on the route. The aircraft will have 37 full flat-bed seats in BusinessElite, 36 seats in Economy Comfort and 218 seats in Economy class. According to SeatGuru.com, BusinessElite seats are 21 inches wide with 78 inches of pitch, while economy seats are 18.5 inches wide. Economy Comfort seats have a pitch of 35 inches, while standard Economy seats offer pitch of 31-32 inches.

Pending U.S. Department of Transportation and foreign government approval, the 14-hour eastbound flights will leave LAX at 1:15 p.m. and arrive at PVG at 6:15 p.m. the next day, owing to the crossing of the international date line. Return flights will leave PCG at 8:55 p.m., arriving at LAX at 6:15 p.m. Westbound flights will take approximately 12 hours, 20 minutes.

Combined with its hubs in Detroit (DET), Seattle (SEA) and NRT, Delta will operate 42 weekly departures to China's global financial center. Additionally, Delta offers daily service to China's capital, Beijing, from both SEA and DET. Delta continues to make significant investments to build up its West Coast presence to Asia and, with recent international additions, offers service to the top five Asian markets from Seattle: Seoul, Tokyo, Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong.

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