United Airlines is using a Boeing 787 on routes to Auckland and now Christchurch. Photo / Supplied
United Airlines will become the first US carrier to fly into the South Island with the arrival today of UA730 from San Francisco to Christchurch.
United is now the only airline to offer direct flights between the South Island and the US and it is the first to offer direct San Francisco ( SFO) services. Air New Zealand was the last airline to link Christchurch to the US, with services to Los Angeles ending the 2002.
The new United direct route is three times a week using a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner during summer although it will use the larger 9-series of the the plane for the first flight. To commemorate the inaugural flight, the aircraft has been adorned with a symbolic silver fern.
It is scheduled to touch down at 10:35 am although Flightradar24 shows it running up to 40 minutes early.
Christchurch Airport (CHC) has said that based on government data, the…