The inaugural direct flight from the D.C. area to Beijing will lift off from Washington Dulles International Airport at 12:23 p.m. today.
The United Airlines flights will run once a day and last approximately 14 hours. Dulles is the 28th airport in which United offers direct flights to Beijing, and, until now, D.C. was the largest market in the United States without nonstop service to the country, a United Airlines press release said. Around 68,000 D.C. residents traveled to China in 2005.
The U.S. Department of Transportation approved the route in January.
United Airlines won the bid after facing competition from American Airlines, Continental and Northwest Airlines, which each proposed direct routes to Beijing from other cities.
The airline industry and area businesses lobbied for the route, saying it would improve economic development and encourage more businesses to set up operations in China.
The George Mason University Center for Regional Analysis in Fairfax estimated the routecould create between $275.6 million and $333.1 million in new revenue and anywhere from 3,395 to 4,123 new jobs in the area.
Gov. Tim Kaine is scheduled to speak at Dulles Airport today at 11 a.m. about the new route and how it will benefit the region.
