United Airlines launches Silicon Valley-Xi’an direct flight

A new direct flight between San Francisco and China's Xi'an launched on Sunday, linking Silicon Valley and the Silk Road.

上周天，美国旧金山硅谷直飞中国西安丝绸之路的新航线正式开通。

The seasonal service will be operated by United Airlines with a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, three times a week during the peak travel period from May 8 to Oct 27.

美国联合航空公司选用波音787型梦想客机执飞此季节性航线。航班于旅行高峰期间（即5月8日至10月27日）每周飞三趟。

"We now connect for the first time ever Silicon Valley with Xi'an, the eastern part of the Silk Road," said Marcel Fuchs, UA's vice president of Atlantic and Pacific sales, at the launch ceremony at San Francisco International Airport.

美联航大西洋及太平洋地区销售副总裁马塞尔·福克斯在于旧金山国际机场举办的航班启动仪式上说："西安位于丝绸之路的东部，因此此航线将是本公司第一个由硅谷飞至丝绸之路的航线。"

The flights will depart SFO at 1:25 pm on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays and arrive in Xi'an at 5:30 pm the following days. The return flights will depart Xi'an's Xianyang International Airport at 9:30 am on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays and arrive in San Francisco at 6:35 am the same days. Flying times will be approximately 13 hours and 5 minutes westbound, and 12 hours and five minutes eastbound.

航班将于每周二、四、天当地时间下午1:25于旧金山国际机场起飞，次日北京时间下午5:30抵达西安。返程航班于每周二、四、六北京时间上午9:30由西安咸阳国际机场启程，同日当地时间上午6:35降落旧金山。去程约13小时5分钟，返程仅需12小时5分钟。

"After Beijing, Shanghai and Chengdu, we are so pleased to be adding Xi'an as our fourth destination in Chinese mainland," said Fuchs. Two years ago, UA launched a San Francisco-Chengdu route, the first time that a US airline flew beyond Beijing and Shanghai, Fuchs said.

福克斯说："继北京、上海、成都之后，非常高兴能将西安纳入本公司在中国大陆的第四个目的地。"他补充道，两年前，美联航开通了旧金山—成都航线，也是第一次飞北京、上海之外的目的地点。

According to Ivar Satero, deputy airport director of SFO, the new direct route between San Francisco and Xi'an represents three firsts – the flight is the first trans-Pacific flight to Xi'an, UA will be the first US airline to serve the Chinese city, and SFO will be the first airport in the US to serve Xi'an with a direct flight.

据旧金山国际机场运行总监伊瓦尔·萨特罗透露，此条新航线代表了三个第一，即第一条以西安为目的地的美国航空越太平洋航线、美联航将成为第一家飞往西安的美国航空公司、旧金山国际机场也会成为美国第一个为直飞西安的航班提供服务的国际机场。

UA began nonstop service to China in 1986 and it currently has 96 weekly departures serving Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu and Hong Kong. It will begin new nonstop service between San Francisco and Hangzhou on July 13.

美联航自1986年起开始启动直飞中国的航线，现在每周有96架飞机从美国出发分别飞往北京、上海、成都和香港；并且计划今年7月13日将开通旧金山直飞杭州的新航线。

"The presidents of China and the United States declared 2016 as the year of tourism. In fact, we are expecting more than 3 million Chinese tourists to arrive," said Fuchs. "United Airlines will provide more service and more seats to China than anybody else. I'm convinced we'll see many more Chinese visitors coming to San Francisco."

"中美首脑共同宣布2016年为中美旅游年。实际上，我们预估会有超过3百万中国游客来美。"福克斯说："美联航将为中国游客提供最全的航线和最充足座位。我深信此举能吸引更多的中国游客。"

Last year, 2.1 million US tourists visited China, and 2.7 million Chinese traveled to the US, which means 13,000 people flying between the two countries every day, said Luo Linquan, Chinese consul general in San Francisco. Thanks to the China-US Tourism Year, more than 5 million tourists are expected to travel between the two countries this year, he said.

中国驻旧金山总领事罗林泉说，去年，210万美国游客赴中旅游，中国赴美游客达到270万人，这意味着每天有13000人穿梭两国之间。为庆祝中美旅游年，预计今年将有逾五百万游客往返中美。

Luo told the guests at the ceremony that San Francisco is a unique hub for world travelers and especially for those who travel to and from China. "With around 1 million Chinese Americans living in the Bay Area, the demand for traveling between San Francisco and China is high and sustainable," he said. "I believe this new service will greatly promote our bilateral communication not only in tourism, but also in economy, trade, investment, education and culture."

罗林泉在启动仪式上向在座嘉宾表示，旧金山对全世界游客，尤其是往返中国的游客来说是一个独具特色的航空枢纽中心。"住在旧金山湾区美籍华人多达一百万人，他们来往于旧金山和中国的出行需求长期旺盛，"他说："我相信新航线的开通不仅能促进两地旅游业的交流，还能加强在经济、贸易、投资、教育和文化方面的联系。"