Air China now has a second daily nonstop flight between Beijing and Los Angeles. On hand to celebrate on Thursday is (from left to right) Qiu Shaofang, Chinese consul general in Los Angeles; Wang Yinxiang, vice-chairman of Air China; Zhang Yesui, Chinese ambassador to the United States; and Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. Wang Jun / China Daily

LOS ANGELES - Liu Jiakun, an MBA student at the UCLA Anderson School of Management, didn't expect to be part of Air China's history making.

The airline launched its second daily nonstop flight between Beijing and Los Angeles on Thursday. Liu was one of the inaugural passengers, which he didn't know when he booked his ticket in July.

"I chose this flight because the time is convenient," Liu said. He had never taken Air China's existing nonstop flight from Los Angeles International Airport to Beijing Capital International Airport because it takes off at midnight.

"The new flight time is more humane" Liu commented. The new flight takes off in the early afternoon for Beijing.

Chi Zhihang, general manager of Air China North America, said at the inauguration ceremony held at LAX: "It is a momentous moment in Air China's history. It's the very first time we have launched a double daily flight to an international destination."

Air China is the only carrier operating nonstop flights between Los Angles and Beijing.

"Nonstop flights between Los Angles and Beijing is one of our most competitive products," said Yang Rui, deputy general manager of Air China's Los Angeles office.

Yang said as China's economy has been steadily growing for decades, the market size for Air China's international flights, especially those between China and the US, has tremendously expanded. More Chinese travel to the US as the country opened its gate wider to Chinese tourists and students.

"Though China and the US don't always see eye to eye with each other on political or ideological issues, the economic ties between them gets tighter," Yang said.

As famous as China is for its exports, it is buying more and more from the US. According to the US-China Business Council (USCBC), China is the third-largest US export market, ranking only behind US' two immediate neighbors. And, China as a buying market continues to expand rapidly.

"In 2010, exports to China rose 32 percent - faster than export growth to any of the US top five export destinations," USCBC reported in a recent study. "Taking a longer view, total US exports to China from 2000 to 2010 rose from $16.2 billion to $91.9 billion, up 468 percent. Total US exports to the rest of the world increased 55 percent during this period."

Economic exchange boosts the air traffic over the Pacific Ocean. In 2001, 7,058 nonstop flights traveled between 11 major cities in the US and three in China - Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou - according to the Air Transportation Association. These flights are operated by four US-based carriers and six China-based carriers, of which Air China plays a leading role.

Air China opened its route between Beijing and Los Angeles in 1982. Wang Yinxiang, vice-chairman of Air China, shared at the inauguration that it took 24 years to turn the flight to a daily one in 2006, but it only took five years to add another nonstop flight.

In 2008, Air China consolidated its North America offices and started a call center in Los Angeles, the airlines' North America headquarters. It's a milestone in the carrier's localization, which makes it more competitive in the US market.

Air China is proud of the call center because of the type of customer service it offers. "When customers call us, 80 percent of them don't need to wait more than 20 seconds," Yang said.

Beyond concrete statistics, the serving attitude is more impressive to Annie Ye, secretary-general of the Chinese Enterprise Council based in Los Angeles. Air China is one of its more-than-a-hundred members.

Ye recalled that Chi, the vice-president and general manager of Air China's North America operation, sometimes sees through issues reported by customers himself to make sure problems are solved. "Maybe not all of the problems can be solved, but the attitude is what matters more," said Ye, who used to be China Southern Airlines' general manager in North America.

During the inauguration, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said there is "good reason" to celebrate the new flight, from a local perspective. China is California's top trading partner. An average daily round-trip transoceanic flight at LAX contributes $623 million annually to the local economy and supports 3,120 jobs in Southern California, according to the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation.

Zhang Yesui, China's ambassador to the US, sees beyond the economic point of view.

"It is our hope that this will also serve to promote a closer exchange between the US and China, not only in trade but also among its people."

Chinese travelers now make up the majority of Air China's customer pool. To enlarge the group, the carrier has been seeking high-end, non-Chinese speaking passengers. It will fly a trade and investment mission team from the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation to Shanghai later this month. The 16 members of the team are "top notch experts and business leaders" in a variety of industries.

Yang said that hardware improvement will be a focus for next year. They will replace the four-engine Boeing 747s for Boeing 777-300ERs for its cross-Pacific flights. The new two-engine aircrafts will further reduce the operation fees of Air China, which continues to make profits while many other airlines are struggling to survive.