American Airlines has filed an application with the US Department of Transportation to gain authority to launch a nonstop daily service from Los Angeles International Airport to Pudong International Airport in Shanghai, China in 2011.
"These new flights would be the only nonstops between Los Angeles and Shanghai operated by a US airline," says Will Ris, senior vice president, government affairs at American Airlines. "Los Angeles-Shanghai is the largest US–China market for air travel and we believe it is in the public's interest to offer more air service between the two cities and to provide new connecting opportunities for passengers travelling to other points in the US and China."
The proposed service will also complement the airline’s existing flights between Chicago and Shanghai and Beijing, according to American’s vice president, international Kurt Stache.
The nonstop service will use a Boeing 777 aircraft.
American, which also flies nonstop from Los Angeles to Tokyo's Narita International Airport, began service from Chicago O'Hare International Airport to Shanghai in April 2006 and from O'Hare to Beijing in May 2010.