Results tagged “americanairlines”

OK, we've never heard of East Star Airlines before, but it has just become the first private airline in China to be authorized to operate international flights. A Xinhua report tells us that under Civil Aviation Administration of China regulations, new airlines may apply to operate international flights only after three years of operations. East Star has been in business less than two years, but it beat rivals Okair, Ueair, Juneyao Airlines and Spring Airlines to be the first. Hmm... we wonder what made them bend those rules!

Photo by raincontreras taken from the Shanghaiist Contribute page. To see your photos on our Contribute page, use Flickr and tag your photos “shanghaiist”. Or you can email your photos to photos@shanghaiist.com and they will automatically appear on our site.

A few weeks ago, we told you that several US airlines are jockeying for one opening route to and from China early next year: Northwest from Detroit to Shanghai, United from Washington, D.C., to Beijing, American from Dallas to Beijing and Continental from Newark to Shanghai.

For our recent trip to the US, we decided to check out American Airlines' nonstop service from Shanghai to Chicago, which they launched in April. Since moving here in 2002, we have primarily used Northwest Airlines' Shanghai-Tokyo-New York route, save for a couple legs on JAL and Air Canada, whose website is embarrassingly incompatible with Safari. American is now our airline of choice for flying home. Here are some notes on our travel experience:

• If you drive a Mercedes Benz S Series W220, we highly doubt you are reading this website. but if you are, your car is at risk of a gas leak and has been recalled.
• In airline news, American Airlines' prices for US-to-Shanghai flights are not as low as we reported earlier, but they are still low: "The cheap seats are available at $625 from Chicago O’Hare and $675 from Atlanta, Boston, New York LaGuardia, Newark, St Louis, and Washington D.C. Flights from Dallas Fort Worth will cost $680." Tickets must be purchased by March 10 and they are good for flights leaving the US between April 2 and May 1. Return flights must be made before June 30. Also, United Airlines wants to fly to South China. And Continental Airlines desperately wants in on the Shanghai gravy train.
• Who could possibly be "shocked" that half of China is "suffering from second-hand smoke"?

Yep, and even cheaper (around US$360) if you fly direct from Chicago. How is this possible? Well, American Airlines is launching service to Shanghai in April with some special fares. The good times run from April 2-30, so get your travel visas fast.