FILE PHOTO: A United Airlines Boeing 777-200ER taxis past an Air New Zealand Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner plane sitting at a gate at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, Illinois, U.S. November 30, 2018. REUTERS/Kamil Krzaczynski/File Photo

(Reuters) - United Airlines said on Monday it plans to operate non-stop flights between New York and Cape Town thrice a week starting December.

The Chicago-based airline will fly Boeing’s widebody 787-9 Dreamliner plane between Newark Liberty International Airport and Cape Town International Airport.

If approved by the U.S. Department of Transportation, the non-stop flight would save about eight hours of travel time between the two cities, United Airlines said.