United announces service to Dubai and Moscow

Finally some positive news in what seems to be a battlefield of negativity in the industry recently.

CHICAGO, May 6, 2008 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX/ — United plans to tap into two thriving economies with new daily passenger and cargo service to Dubai and Moscow from its Washington Dulles hub. Pending government approvals, United plans to begin its Dubai and Moscow service October 26.

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 The proposed schedule between Washington Dulles and Dubai is:

    Schedule                                Depart        Arrive
    United 976                              10:02 p.m.    6:50 p.m.*
    Boeing 777                                            (the following day)
    Washington Dulles (IAD) – Dubai (DXB)
    United 977                              11:30 p.m.*   6:44 a.m.
    Boeing 777                                            (the following day)
    Dubai (DXB) – Washington Dulles (IAD)
   
    Schedule                                Depart        Arrive
    United 964                              4:45 p.m.     9:30 a.m.*
    Boeing 767                                            (the following day)
    Washington Dulles (IAD) – Moscow (DME)
    United 965                              11:20 a.m.*   3:35 p.m.
    Boeing 767
    Moscow (DME) – Washington Dulles (IAD)

This is great news! Those are two cities I’d really like to visit, and it looks like these are some pretty decent schedules. Sadly DME is a 767, but if it were anything else we’d see a downgrade of a better plane on another route, and I’m not sure that would be good.

I’d be curious to hear where they’re getting the planes for this service. I know they canned CAN service for now, but that service never began. It seems to me like DME will require one 767 and DXB 1.5 777’s to operate, so they must be coming from somewhere.