Last year, United began service to Hong Kong from Los Angeles, making it the second city the airline connects HKG to, in addition to its fortress hub of San Francisco. Due to LAX’s status as a crew base for United’s vast 787 fleet, all long-haul flying out of Southern California bybthe airline is done with the 787-9 and 787-10, with the shorter -8s being used on transcontinental routes, when they occasionally appear in LA. Since the addition of HKG to the airline’s LAX network, service has also resumed between PVG and PEK, meaning that United is here to stay in the competitive LAX long-haul market.
Server: Solo
Airline: United Airlines
Aircraft: Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner
Origin: Los Angeles International Airport, Los Angeles, California (LAX)
Destination: Hong Kong International Airport, Chep Lap Kok, Hong Kong (HKG)
Flight Number: UA801
Route: KLAX-VHHH
Seat: 11L (Polaris)
Time En Route: 14 Hours 53 Minutes
Ready to board at Gate 77 on a partly-cloudy day at LAX. It’s getting rarer and rarer to see a non-Evo Blue 787-9 these days.
Crossing Sepulveda Boulevard as we taxi out for takeoff. According to FlightAware, we’re going to be crossing the Pacific the long way. No Great Circle route for us!
Another powerful GEnX departure from LA
Got the lie-flat Polaris seat down while we climb past Malibu
Heading westward over the Pacific
Got some ways to go to our destination as we cruise a couple hundred miles north of the Marianas
Final descent into Chep Lap Kok
We’re finally here in Hong Kong!
Taxiing clear of the runway
Deplaned in the afternoon sun at Gate 7