San Francisco, Feb. 5, (People's Daily Online)---- United Airlines announced today at a news conference in San Francisco that the company is planning to launch additional flights to Shanghai and Chengdu in China this year.

Jake Cefolia, vice president of Atlantic and Pacific Sales for the company said that the expansion is a move to meet the rising demand for passengers traveling between two countries.

Kay Ikawa, managing director of Asia Pacific Sales of the United Airlines specified that the current three-time-weekly service between San Francisco and Chengdu will be increased to daily from June 4 to September 1, 2015.

The Chengdu-bound daily flights will depart from San Francisco at 1:20 p.m. and arrive at the Chinese destination at 6:40 p.m. the following day. The return flight will again be slightly shorter.

Moreover, the company will operate two flights a day on the Shanghai–San Francisco route from May 6 to Oct. 24, 2015. Currently, United Airlines operates once a day on the route.

The company also provides featured services for Chinese customers, including Chinese-style dishes for all cabins, Chinese in-flight entertainment and Chinese-speaking flight attendants.

Jake Cefolia told the reporter that the reciprocal extension of visa validity to 10 years for short-term business and tourist travel between China and the United States will increase travel and exchanges. It's reported that visas issued by the United States to Chinese citizens soared 68.2 percent in December and January after the extension of the tourist and business visas.

According to proprietary research conducted by Attract China, Inc., it is predicted that in 2015, 140 million Chinese tourists will go abroad, spending more than $188 billion. While the U.S. tourism industry expects to see as many as 2.85 million Chinese visitors in 2015.