United ups its luxury offering

Mike Hann (center), vice-president of United's San Francisco hub, cuts the ribbon for the inaugural intercontinental Polaris class for the San Francisco-Hong Kong route on March 25 at San Francisco International Airport. LIA ZHU / CHINA DAILY

A United Airlines engineer came up with the name "Polaris" for their new business class service, but the North Star is leading the company east to China.

The inaugural intercontinental Polaris class was launched on Saturday on United's San Francisco-Hong Kong route, which also is the first international deployment of the new Boeing 777-300ER aircraft.

"We feel this is a perfect market for Polaris based on customer demand, and the amount of volume we have not only above the wing on the airplane for customers but also for cargo," said Mike Hann, vice-president of United's San Francisco hub. "So it's a great airplane for us to serve this market."

First- and business-class have long been bringing most profit to airlines. The all-new, sleep-focused Polaris class is expected to appeal to the upscale market in Asia and compete with rivals such as Singapore Airlines and Cathay Pacific.

The configuration for this aircraft model is 60 seats for business class and 306 for economy class.

Following more than 12,000 hours of research, United identified sleep as a priority for its business class passengers.

The individual suite-like pods are designed for all-aisle access and feature custom bedding designed by Saks Fifth Avenue, memory foam pillows, pajamas and multi-course meals.

"This is only the first market," said Hann. "We're really out to show the spirit of United."

He said United's employees also came up with the slogan "the new spirit of United" for the Polaris service.

"As our CEO said, we need to have a vision for the future. We need a North Star," said Hann.

According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), China is projected to become the world's largest air-travel market by 2024 as more people take to the skies domestically and internationally.

The number of air passengers to, from and within China will almost double to 927 million annually by 2025, and reach 1.3 billion by 2035, according to the IATA.

United, which has served China routes for more than 30 years since the first nonstop service to China in 1986, has stepped up efforts to meet the increasing demand in the profitable market.

Last year, it launched a new direct flight between San Francisco and Xi'an in May and another non-stop flight between San Francisco and Hangzhou in July, in addition to departures servicing Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu and Hong Kong.

United has also established a partnership with the Golden State Warriors, who will play two exhibition games against the Minnesota Timberwolves next season on Oct 5 in Shenzhen and Oct 8 in Shanghai.

"United looks forward to flying fans and community leaders to China," said Hann.

As for the Polaris class, United currently has four Boeing 777-30ERs with the new seats and 16 others on order.

"In the future, all of our international flights will be part of our Polaris offering," said Hann. "If you think about first class and Polaris, you're going to like Polaris."