United Airlines is gearing up for its biggest, and perhaps most exciting, summer season ever.
On Thursday, the Chicago-based airline announced a major expansion that includes a whopping eight new international destinations and 13 new routes.
In recent years, United Airlines (and its competitors) have announced their summer expansions with great fanfare, posting teasers on social media in the hours leading up to the announcement, followed by flashy press releases with exciting details about the new facility. announced. go.
But the announcement marks United’s biggest international expansion to date and is unlike any other announcements the major U.S. airlines have seen in recent years. In fact, it contains a number of exotic and off-the-beaten-path locations that are sure to impress, assuming you can place them all on a map. (In my case, I didn’t even know the airport codes for some of United’s new destinations.)
Here’s everything you need to know to plan your summer vacation trip. And if you’re ready to book, all new flights are already available for sale (with the exception of Nuuk, Greenland and Dakar, Senegal, which will be available soon).
United Airlines announces eight new destinations
Starting in May 2025, United Airlines will add eight new destinations to its network. The complete list is available below.
Seven of the eight new destinations are not served by any other U.S. carrier, with Delta flying to Dakar from New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK).
Technically, Delta will soon be flying from New York to Sicily, Italy, but Delta has chosen Catania as its main gateway to Sicily, while United has chosen Palermo.
It’s interesting to go from having no direct US flights to Sicily to suddenly having two next summer. This is likely to please “White Lotus” fans.
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Otherwise, this new route list feels markedly different from United’s other recent announcements. You’ll notice there are no new flights to London, Paris, Rome, or even Athens, Greece, some of the proven destinations that consistently draw large numbers of American tourists each summer.
Of course, United already flies to many of Europe’s major destinations (with two more new transatlantic routes coming next summer, as detailed below), but United Airlines’ announcement It’s interesting to compare this to recent expansions announced by Air and Delta Air Lines.
American Airlines and Delta Air Lines remain very focused on their pre-coronavirus pandemic plans to ramp up service to popular destinations in Europe, including Athens, Rome and Edinburgh, Scotland.
United and Patrick Quayle’s network planning team are charting their own course. They keep adding services to far-flung destinations that at first make you wonder, “Where is that?” Questions to ask when reading the notice.
Which strategy is most effective in the long term remains a matter of debate. As it turns out, not all of United’s new routes work out.
Faro is the airline’s new destination this year, initially announcing the city in 2023 and then canceling new flights weeks before it was scheduled to launch. Additionally, the airline recently added new flights to Tenerife in Spain’s Canary Islands in 2022, but the summer wasn’t as successful as originally planned, leaving United wondering whether there will be more demand going forward. We are planning to try operating only in winter to see if it works.
That being said, some of United Airlines’ new routes these days are definitely winners. For example, consider services to Cape Town and Johannesburg. Quayle mentioned it multiple times during a press conference Wednesday afternoon ahead of the announcement. These routes were innovative when they opened in 2019 and 2021 respectively, and now consistently perform as some of the best routes in our international network.
Time will tell what United’s new destinations will look like, but the airline is confident it will be a success.
“People rely on United for where they fly. …These are unique destinations that are undiscovered gems. United offers all the unique content you need for business, leisure, travel and more. It’s just become a one-stop shop for people to come to United, no matter what their honeymoon is,” Quayle said. (Despite United’s network chief just starting his own professional Instagram account, Quayle still thinks he’s “rooting” his real “content.”)
Interestingly, four of the five new flights from Newark will be operated by narrow-body aircraft. The Boeing 737 MAX 8 is not equipped with lie-flat pods on the pointed end of the plane (just standard domestic recliners), so it’s clear that these routes are aimed at leisure flyers.
Of all the new transatlantic routes, only one, to Nuuk, Greenland, will operate during the day in both directions. The flight departs Newark at 11:30 a.m. and arrives at 6:45 p.m. All times are local times. The plane will stay overnight in Nuuk, departing the next morning at 8am and landing in Newark at 9:30am.
While much of the focus has been on the Atlantic, United Airlines has been busy in recent months expanding its presence at Tokyo’s Narita International Airport (NRT) into a de facto gateway hub within the wider region. The airline recently announced that new flights from Tokyo to Cebu, Philippines will take off later this month, and it plans to add three more short-haul regional routes from the airport.
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The latest announcements include new routes from Tokyo to Mongolia and Taiwan.
United Airlines says its joint venture partnership with Japan’s All Nippon Airways will help take off these routes. The new flights will also support travelers seeking a one-stop connection from the United States.
“We’re thinking about Tokyo differently. We think Tokyo is a real asset for us. … If you look at the data, a lot of this traffic connects through Beijing. But now that’s no longer the case, so this is the way to connect via Tokyo,” Quayle explained.
United Airlines adds 13 routes
In addition to new destinations, United Airlines will add new routes to existing destinations for next summer. They include:
The two new routes from Dulles definitely fit into the traditional European expansion. Although Nice and Venice don’t attract as many tourists as London or Paris, many Americans still want to fly to these cities each summer, and United Airlines’ new flights are full. I don’t think there will be any problem in becoming .
After all, the airline already serves these cities from Newark, giving it a great pulse on demand. Additionally, the opening of new gateways will give travelers even more connectivity opportunities from locations across the United States.
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Regarding the Tokyo-Koror route, United Airlines says these flights will further increase its presence in Tokyo. The airline already flies to Koror from Guam and Manila in the Philippines.
United Airlines strengthens short-haul international network
New long-haul routes are getting a lot of attention, but United Airlines isn’t resting on its laurels. The airline also plans to launch several new short-haul international routes next year.
First, a new weekly flight from Houston to Puerto Escondido, Mexico will begin on April 5, 2025. United Airlines will be the first and only airline to connect the two cities. The airline’s regional affiliate, Mesa Airlines, will operate the flight using Embraer 175 aircraft.
And starting May 22, 2025, United will add new daily flights from San Francisco and San Jose, Costa Rica, on Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft. Once operational, the airline will offer service to San Jose from all seven continental U.S. hubs, making it the largest U.S. carrier to Costa Rica.
Although not included in this announcement, as previously reported by TPG, United Airlines plans to launch flights from Newark to Dominica in the Caribbean on February 15, 2025.
United expands existing portfolio
Finally, the airline plans to expand its flight season next year and increase the gauge of some of its aircraft on major routes in Europe.
The airline will resume service from Newark to Athens on March 6, 2025. To Venice on March 29, 2025, and to Dubrovnik, Croatia on May 1, 2025. Flights to Dubrovnik will also move to daily, and flights to Palma de Mallorca in Spain will increase to four times a week.
Additionally, United Airlines will resume service from San Francisco to Barcelona and Chicago to Athens on May 1st. Both flights will be operated by Boeing 787-10 Dreamliners, providing more capacity on these routes than before.
conclusion
All told, United will offer a whopping 800 daily flights to and from 147 international destinations, including 40 nonstop routes not served by other major U.S. carriers.
This expansion reaffirms United’s status as the largest international airline in the United States. From opening new adventures in Greenland to adding more service to Italy, United Airlines will have something for everyone next summer.
For airlines, such moves help strengthen their end-to-end value proposition.
“What we see is that the more unique your content is, the more credit cards you win. And the more unique your content is, the more you differentiate yourself from your competitors. ,” Quayle explained.
The company is now formalizing its plans for the summer, but Quayle and the network team have no plans to go into hibernation mode. In fact, there have long been rumors that the company would soon add flights to Bangkok and possibly Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam.
These flights were not announced in Thursday’s update, but Quayle dropped a teaser during his remarks.
“We may add more West Coast flights later this year, so stay tuned,” he said.
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