OREANDA-NEWS. United Airlines is expanding its extensive trans-Pacific network this weekend, connecting its San Francisco hub with Taipei, Taiwan, beginning Saturday, and launching a second daily flight between Houston and Tokyo on Sunday.

United will host inaugural gate events in both San Francisco and Houston, marking the importance of these flights to tourism and economic development.

United will operate both services with Boeing 777-200 aircraft. The aircraft flying San Francisco-Taipei will offer 269 seats - eight in United Global First, 40 in United BusinessFirst and 221 in United Economy, including 113 extra-legroom United Economy Plus seats.

The aircraft flying Houston-Tokyo will offer 267 seats - 50 in United BusinessFirst and 217 in United Economy, including 72 United Economy Plus seats.

In United Global First and United BusinessFirst, United offers customers seats that recline into fully flat beds, personal on-demand entertainment, in-seat power and USB ports, enabling travelers to rest or to be productive in-flight. Customers in United Economy also enjoy personal, on-demand entertainment at every seat and in-seat power.

United is the only U.S. airline to offer the comfort of flat-bed seats in its premium cabins on every long-haul, international flight from the continental United States. The airline also offers more extra-legroom economy seating than any U.S. airline.

These Taipei and Tokyo additions come as United plans to introduce three-times-weekly Boeing 787 service June 9 between San Francisco and Chengdu, China, pending government approval. This nonstop service would be the first by a U.S. airline from the United States to mainland China, beyond Beijing and Shanghai. The company also plans to offer, subject to government approval, nonstop Boeing 787 service between Los Angeles and Melbourne, Australia, six times weekly beginning Oct. 26.

"With the most extensive route network, the broadest alliances and hubs in the largest U.S. cities, United offers travelers more choices to more of the world than any other U.S. airline," said Jim Compton, United's vice chairman and chief revenue officer. "The new Taipei and Tokyo services strengthen our commitment to the Pacific, where United is already the leading U.S. carrier, and to the San Francisco and Houston hubs."