United Airlines holds a ribbon-cutting ceremony to launch its non-stop flight service between San Francisco and China's Xi'an on May 8, 2016. (Photo by Ma Dan)

San Francisco, May 8 --- United Airlines inaugurated its nonstop flight between San Francisco and China's Xi'an on May 8.

The flights from United’s Asia-Pacific gateway in San Francisco will be the first trans-Pacific service to Xi’an, making United the first U.S. airline to serve the city, a commerce and tourism hub in the central region of China.

United Airlines will use Boeing 787 Dreamliner to operate the three-times-weekly service during the peak travel period between May 8 and Oct. 27, 2016.

“United is celebrating our 30th anniversary of service linking the U.S. and China this year and there couldn’t be a better way to honor our proud and long-standing relationship than by being the first airline to offer customers nonstop trans-Pacific service to Xi’an,” said Marcel Fuchs, United’s Vice President for Atlantic and Pacific sales. “United operates more nonstop U.S.-China flights, and to more cities in China, than any other airline and we expect the addition of flights to Xi’an to continue to create opportunities for trade and collaboration between our two countries throughout the U.S.-China Tourism Year and long into the future.”

Luo Linquan, General Consul at Chinese Consulate General to San Francisco said at the ribbon-cutting ceremony that more than 4.75 million tourists traveled between China and U.S. in 2015, including 2.1 million American tourists to China and 2.7 million Chinese tourists to America. "According to the initiative launched by the leaders of our two countries, 2016 is 'China-US tourism year,' It is estimated that tourists between China and U.S. will exceed 5 million this year."

He also said that "It is the perfect year for the United Airlines to open its direct flight service between Xi'an and San Francisco. It will be the 8th scheduled flights between San Francisco and mainland China. With this new service, people from central region of China could fly to U.S. more easily, and U.S. people will enjoy the facilitation to travel to Xi'an, to explore the beauty and prosperity of such a famous historical city."

With frequent exchanges between the two countries, both Chinese and U.S. airlines are snatching the market in big cities like Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and others. United Airlines is now eyeing some second-tier cities. The company opened its direct flight last year to China's Chengdu. It will also launched its service to Hangzhou in July this year.