Sunday, March 18, 2012
Got it!
Last month, I told you that Air China has started using B777-300ERs on their LAX - Beijing route, and showed you a grainy night time photo. The recently-added daytime flight is still usually a B747-400, but thanks to daylight saving time, the evening flight now sometimes arrives before dark. Los Angeles is the first North American city to receive B777 service from Air China; the evening flight is expected to switch to the B777 later this spring or summer, with B777 service to New York and San Francisco planned for next year. Air China plans to have nineteen of these B777s, which will replace their current B747-400s and A340-300s. Air China's B773s seat 313 passengers; the B744s being phased out seat 340, while the A343s seat 255. An interesting thing I noticed is that Air China also operates B777-200s with a seating capacity of 345. No, that's not a misprint; their -200s really do seat more than their -300s -- which just goes to show how much carrying capacity these long-haul flights have to use for fuel to make the trip. Flight time to Beijing runs 12-13 hours, and at present Air China is the only carrier offering direct passenger service from Los Angeles.
I must say that I personally think the Air China paint scheme appears more attractive on the B777 than on the B747.
References:
Air China International
Accidental Travel Writer (anybody notice that the photo with this article is NOT a B777-300?)
Business Traveller
Marketwatch
Wikipedia: Air China
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