New flights on the trans-Pacific route will help reconnect a city previously isolated from the world by its strict zero-Covid policies.
A United Airlines Boeing 777-300ER taking off at SFO. (Photo: United)
In response to surging demand, United Airlines says it plans to increase the frequency of its current daily service between San Francisco and Hong Kong to 12 flights weekly on August 3, 2023. This will later be expanded to become a twice-daily service starting in late October. United returned to the Hong Kong market just two months ago after a pandemic-induced suspension of nearly three years; it continues to be the only U.S. airline directly connecting Hong Kong with its home country.
Walter Dias, United’s Regional Director of Greater China, Korea, and Southeast Asia Sales, said in a statement, “Combined with the new late-evening Hong Kong departure time and early-afternoon San Francisco departure time, our new 12 times-weekly HKG-SFO service will provide our customers in Hong Kong, the southern part of mainland China, and some Southeast Asian countries including Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam, with more flight options to San Francisco and one-stop connections to more than 70 destinations in the mainland U.S., Canada, and Latin America via our hub in San Francisco.”
The new flight UA878 will depart Hong Kong every Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday at 10:30 p.m. and arrive in San Francisco at 8:25 p.m. the same day. The westbound service, UA869, will then leave SFO every Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday at 1:30 p.m. and arrive in HKG at 6:45 p.m. the following night. All flights will utilize Boeing 777-300ER widebody aircraft, featuring 60 seats in the United Polaris business cabin, 24 seats in United Premium Plus, and 266 United Economy seats.
From August 3, the flight schedule for United Airlines’ services between Hong Kong and San Francisco will be as follows:
| Flight No. | Departing | Time | Arriving | Time | Days of Operation |
| UA862 | Hong Kong | 11:15 a.m. | San Francisco | 9:10 a.m. | Daily |
| UA878 (new) | Hong Kong | 10:30 p.m. | San Francisco | 8:25 p.m. | Tue, Thu, Fri, Sat, Sun |
| UA869 (new) | San Francisco | 1:30 p.m. | Hong Kong | 6:45 p.m. (+1 day) | Mon, Wed, Thu, Fri, Sat |
| UA877 | San Francisco | 11:45 p.m. | Hong Kong | 5 a.m. (+2 days) | Daily |
