Matching Delta, United will also operate its Shanghai flights via Seoul, South Korea. The technical stop will spare crews from overnight stays in Mainland China.
United Adds Seoul Technical Stop To China Flights
After a multi-month hiatus, United plans to resume flights to Mainland China on July 8, 2020.
With the Chinese government permitting only two weekly flights, United will operate twice weekly service between San Francisco (SFO) and Shanghai (PVG) with a Boeing 777-300ER per the following schedule:
|
Flight |
Depart |
Day |
Time |
Arrive |
Time |
|
UA 857 |
San Francisco |
Wed, Sat |
11:00 a.m. |
Shanghai |
5:45 p.m.+1 day |
|
UA 858 |
Shanghai |
Thurs, Sun |
9:40 p.m. |
San Francisco |
8:55 p.m. |
Notice UA857 is blocked at 15 hours, 45 minutes. This is normally a 13 hour, 10 minute flight. Indeed, hidden in that schedule is a technical stop in Seoul, South Korea.
In each direction, the flight will stop in Seoul for 1 hour, 45 minutes. This will allow a change in crew, which will operate the Seoul – Shanghai – Seoul sectors and thereby avoid an overnight in China.
United will not sell Fifth Freedom seats between Seoul and Shanghai and will also not sell seats between San Francisco and Seoul on UA857/858. United is also resuming service between San Francisco and Seoul on UA892/893, but demand for China is so strong there is no need to allow Seoul passengers on UA857/858.
Delta, which has already resumed flights to Shanghai from Seattle (SEA) and will soon restart service from Detroit (DTW), also stops in Seoul.
Who Can Travel To China Now?
China flights are sold out for months, but United warns that severe restrictions exist for entering China:
“Currently, customers flying to China are subject to a 14-day quarantine at their expense, must take a COVID-19 test upon arrival, and are required to complete information in a health management app for 14 days up to and including day of departure. Only Chinese nationals and travelers with certain passports are allowed to enter the country.”
But with only two flights per week, filling up planes will not be an issue even with tight entry requirements.
CONCLUSION
It is not surprising that United has chosen to route its China flights in a way in which crews avoid overnight stays. The choice of Seoul is also not surprising considering it is closer than Tokyo and not out of the way like Hong Kong would be. The Seoul stop is officially in the schedule until August 3, 2020, but will likely stick around longer.
Will you fly United to Shanghai via the Seoul technical stop?
United doesn’t have any crew based in Seoul, right? Just trying to figure out crew staffing for these flights.
So if you’re a crew member who staffs the Wed outbound flight, you would presumably then layover in Seoul Thursday, Friday, and Saturday night, then continue onto Shanghai on Sunday, returning on the same flight that lands back Seoul just after midnight on Monday. At that point, would they then layover in Seoul Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday night and then work the return trip that leaves ICN 2:10am on Friday? Seems like a lot! Would this type of arrangement be desirable?
Another theory is that the relief crew is on the flight with the working crew, but that seems miserable. Sounds similar to what Aer Lingus was doing with its Boston and NYC flights back in March/April, but they also blocked the entire Business Class cabin. Seems like a stiff price to pay on these Asian routes.
Or perhaps some of the crew working 892/893 will work the Shanghai flights if they align better with the schedule.
Presumably, the relief crew would be positioned to Seoul on 892/3 and then fly back on the second 858 sector. I believe the final sector in a crew schedule can be deadhead without going into limitations of duty day.
Does being closer than Tokyo matter? Is it a crew hours issue? I would have thought that UA has a stronger relationship with ANA, as well as historic fifth freedom rights (I think), so Narita would have made more sense as a pitstop.
Maybe landing fees or fuel are cheaper in Seoul.
Fifth freedom right does not matter in this case, so it does not impact NRT.
China and Korea has an agreement on green channel clearance and that may be is part of the consideration for flight crew coming in from Korea.
Seoul to Shanghai is shorter than Palm Beach to Atlanta or Beijing to Shanghai. It is easier just provide beverage during flight than the 3+ hours NRT-PVG flight with in-flight catering etc.
Don’t forget Asiana is also a Star Alliance partner
The main reason why ICN was chosen for the crew stop instead of NRT is that NRT has a night curfew between the hours of 00:30 and 5:00. Since UA 858 departs Shanghai at 21:40, that would put it in Tokyo at 1:40, which is past curfew time. There’s simply no way to time a reasonable flight with a same day turnaround at PVG that does not violate the rule. ICN has no such curfew, so a crew swap between the midnight hours of 00:25-2:10 is possible.
Thanks Colin. This answer makes the most sense to me.