United Airlines has launched four new Pacific routes, beginning with non-stop service betweens Los Angeles and Melbourne, Australia, and between San Francisco and Tokyo’s Haneda Airport.

The airline will also launch two new routes from its Guam hub, to Seoul, South Korea and Shanghai.

“These four new routes further strengthen United’s presence in the Pacific, already the most extensive among US airlines,” said Brian Znotins, United’s vice president of network.

“New non-stop service to Melbourne and Haneda from our powerhouse West Coast hubs, and the additional new flights from our Guam hub to both Seoul and Shanghai, offer our customers convenience and schedule options that no other airline can offer.”

The airline will fly the Los Angeles – Melbourne route six times weekly with the new Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft.

United is the North American launch customer for the 787-9, and this will be the carrier’s first international deployment of the aircraft type.

United has timed the new Melbourne flights to conveniently connect at Los Angeles with an extensive network of service throughout the United States, Canada and Latin America.

United and United Express jointly operate nearly 200 flights daily from Los Angeles to more than 65 destinations.

With this new service, United will provide convenient one-stop service to Melbourne from more than 37 US cities.

United started service to Australia in 1979 and today operates more flights to more destinations in Australia than any other US carrier, with daily flights from its San Francisco and Los Angeles hubs to Sydney and Melbourne and twice-weekly service to Cairns from Guam.

The 787 Dreamliner is revolutionising the flying experience for United customers and crews while delivering unprecedented operating efficiency, comfort and lower emissions.

The 787-9’s extended range enables United to launch the Los Angeles-to-Melbourne service, which will be the longest Dreamliner route in the world to date.

The Boeing 787-9 aircraft operating the new Melbourne route will feature a total of 252 seats – 48 in United BusinessFirst and 204 in United Economy, including 88 Economy Plus seats with added legroom and increased personal space.

New daily flights between San Francisco and Tokyo’s close-in Haneda Airport complement United’s existing service between the hub and Tokyo’s Narita International Airport.

Flights from San Francisco to both Tokyo airports maximise choice and convenience for customers travelling from across the Americas to Tokyo, and to points beyond on United’s joint-venture partner ANA.

The flight schedules enable customers to use convenient public transportation between Haneda Airport and central Tokyo and Yokohama.

United also operates daily service to Tokyo/Narita from its hubs in Chicago, Denver, Guam, Houston, Los Angeles, New York and Washington, as well as from Honolulu.

United is the largest carrier at San Francisco International Airport, offering nearly 300 daily flights to more than 90 destinations in the US and around the world, more service than any other airline from the Bay Area.

United’s San Francisco hub also offers more non-stop trans-Pacific service than any airline hub in America.

The company currently operates nearly 30 daily non-stop flights from San Francisco to more than 20 international destinations.