BEIJING- The Chinese flag carrier, Air China (CA) will introduce Boeing 747 aircraft on its Beijing to Washington D.C. route beginning March 11, 2025, Ishrion Aviation reported.
Air China’s 747 fleet has historically served various U.S. destinations, though New York-JFK remains the only market consistently receiving the airline’s 747 service until now.
Photo: By Bill Abbott – Air China Boeing 747-8 B2486 DSC_0359, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=75078425Air China 747 Route
The revamped Washington-Beijing route will operate as a direct service, eliminating the previous stop in Los Angeles.
Here’s the flight schedule:
- The service will operate with flight CA817 departing Beijing Capital International Airport at 12:30 PM and arriving at Washington Dulles International Airport at 3:10 PM.
- The return flight CA818 will depart Washington at 5:35 PM, arriving in Beijing at 10:30 PM the following day.
This new service replaces the previously operated Boeing 777-300ER on this route. The introduction represents a rare addition of passenger 747 service to the United States, where the iconic jumbo jet has largely disappeared from regular schedules.
According to Cirium Diio schedule data, Air China currently maintains a fleet of seven Boeing 747-8i aircraft operating to select destinations, including some domestic routes within China. The carrier plans to expand its 747-8i service to Frankfurt, Germany beginning next month.
While the 747-8i has previously appeared on Air China’s Washington route, these were isolated operations rather than regular service. Airline industry publication AirlineGeeks reports the jumbo jet briefly served the route during select periods in 2017, 2019, and 2020.
Photo: By Julian Herzog, CC BY 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=17243843Other Int’l Changes
Air China has filed initial changes to its long-haul network for the Northern summer 2025 season as of December 20, 2024. These adjustments include previously announced modifications reported by Aeroroutes to Australian routes and several aircraft upgrades across European destinations.
The Beijing Capital to Athens route will transition to Airbus A330-300 aircraft replacing the initially planned A330-200, effective April 1, 2025. Service frequency will decrease from the initially filed 5 weekly flights to 3 weekly flights for the period of April 1 to July 1, 2025.
For the Beijing Capital to Barcelona route, Air China will maintain its daily Airbus A350-900 service beginning March 30, 2025, contrary to the initially filed plan to utilize A330-300 aircraft.
The carrier will upgrade its Beijing Capital to Dubai service with Airbus A350-900 aircraft replacing the Boeing 787-9 effective March 1, 2025. This A350 service will continue beyond March 30, maintaining daily frequency.
London Gatwick flights from Beijing Capital will operate with Airbus A350-900 aircraft starting March 30, 2025, replacing the initially scheduled A330-300. The planned service suspension between April 29 and May 29, 2025, remains unchanged.
Australian routes will see capacity increases during peak summer periods, with Melbourne service increasing from 4 to 5 weekly flights between July 12 and August 9, 2025, utilizing A350-900 aircraft. Similarly, Sydney service will increase from 4 to 5 weekly flights between July 18 and August 15, 2025, operated by Boeing 787-9 aircraft.
The Beijing Capital to Warsaw route will increase from 3 to 4 weekly flights effective April 5, 2025, utilizing Airbus A330-200 aircraft.
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