On March 1, 2001, Continental launched a non-stop service from Newark to Hong Kong, operating over the North circumpolar route. It was the first non-stop long-haul route for any airline with flying duration exceeding 16 hours. The service initiated a brief dispute between Continental, United Airlines and Cathay Pacific over rights to non-stop flights between Hong Kong and New York. On September 13, 2004 Continental entered SkyTeam alliance along with Northwest/KLM and CSA. In 2005, Continental expanded service from Newark to Beijing after being awarded the China route. Among U.S. airlines, only Delta (with its extensive network of legacy routes dating from Delta's acquisition of Pan American's European network) serves more European destinations than Continental.