United Airlines has just announced that it’s adding eight new international destinations in 2025, as part of its largest international expansion in history. United has long been the most creative US airline when it comes to international service, but this latest announcement is really on a completely different level in terms of the cool factor.
Continue reading: AMAZING: United Airlines Will Fly To Greenland, Mongolia, And Beyond!
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
Amazing. UA is so far ahead of its peers when it comes to its international network.
You forgot to mention that they're also adding service from IAD to VCE and NCE, not new destinations but still cool routes.
And there are rumors of a new Southeast Asian destination (BKK, SGN, or KUL) from SFO soon.
"I mean, six of the eight routes are operated by narrow body jets, and four of them don’t even have flat beds"
Seems worth highlighting which routes will (and won't) offer lie flat service.
Yay
My prayers have been heard
I Live in Greenland and have a vacation planned in the US next summer, so this is great great news 😀
These are exciting. Some logical additions (IAD-DKR, IAD-NCE, EWR-PMO, EWR-FARO). Nuuk likely won't last more than a season. Ulan-Baatar? Probably not going to either. Simply too niche.
In the press release you quoted, United also announced that they will add new service from Tokyo/Narita to Koror, Palau without specific launch date.
« United will add a year-round, nonstop flight between Tokyo/Narita-Koror, Palau. United is the only U.S. airline to serve Palau, with its existing service from Guam and Manila, and this new flight will enable easy one-stop connections for travelers coming from the U.S. to experience the pristine marine ecosystems. With nearly 350 islands in Palau, visitors can plan the ultimate underwater adventure with snorkeling or scuba diving to see the diverse coral and fish in the Pacific. »
Well the UA boss did say they're looking at ex-West Coast expansion later in the year, so round #54325435 of BKK, SGN, etc rumours could begin then. Though BKK/Thailand are still classified as Cat II in IOSA safety, so there may be some clarification if it's just the Thailand carriers (or if it includes the US carriers) that are effectively 'barred' from starting ULH service between BKK and Mainland USA until Thailand are upgraded to Cat I.
I also agree with this comment
"Second of all, there’s something to be said for the overall halo effect of having an unrivaled, global network. If United can keep using this as a point of differentiation, I think it’ll make more people loyal to the airline."
I have AA PL Pro status from non-flight activity. I'd switch to United status if they adopt a similar scheme.
Im torn on Bilbao and Palermo. Not having nonstop service kept them more off the US radar.
UNITED rising though
@ ECR12 -- Went ahead and updated the post to add that. The 757s have flat beds, while the 737s don't. I suspect the forward cabin on the 737s will be sold as premium economy, though.
The last thing Europe needs in the summer is more nonstop flights from the United States of Genocide. Yuck yuck yuck.
@ Marcin -- Kangerlussuaq Airport (SFJ) is able to accommodate large jets, as that's Greenland's largest existing airport, and it's under 200 miles away.
@ A_Japanese -- Just went ahead and added that to the post as well. There was so much to discuss here. Quite a contrast to the American and Delta additions.
@ shoeguy -- It's possible you're right, though keep in mind that the Tokyo flights can also serve the local market. Tokyo to Ulaanbaatar currently has up to two daily flights, so there's some demand there. The demand doesn't all have to be from people originating in the US.
but someone has been on such a rant lately talking about the death of the Narita hub...? how is this possible?! (eye roll)
Really excited to have options for Mongolia. In the summer peak season there is really tough to get good prices or seats from/to Ulaanbaatar. The airfare costs at least 300$ one-way between Ulaanbaatar -Japan/Korea and hard to find seats.
How “United “ will these flight feel in terms of crew etc is venture most of these routes will feel like flying a foreign carrier with United branding
Great news. When do they generally open bookings after announcing these new routes?
When are these flights bookable? I can't find GOH airport when searching on United.
Ben, please inform about the staffing of an off shore hub like NRT. (I remember transiting in NRT for United flights to SIN and BKK.) I want to know its history & how you predict its future.
Some folks thought it would include SFO-BKK. As if Thailand isn’t still FAA Category II
Very nice, underscores the strong footing UA has secured for itself relative to its domestic competition!
Once again the Denver hub gets the shaft. When it comes to international service, Denver hub always gets treated like the bastard child.
So, United is not bring back its twice daily Brussels flight and will operate it next summer only as once daily again? Bummer...
Looking forward to the Nuuk review trip Ben - now you can fly in from Iqaluit and out to EWR.
I'd have Palermo higher up in the "cool table" - Sicily is a great destination.
I’ve always been wondering why there’s no direct flight between MXP and LAX/SFO and hoped UA could add one of them…
Damn United you suprise me here. Mongolia is really trending up and they’ve invested a lot into their tourism industry. United thinking ahead and seeing the future.
Living in Washington and struggled to book a flight without stop over to the south of France this past summer was a challenge now I can just leave from my house and be in Nice within a couple of hours. Dakar is also great with a ton of Africans living in the DC area. Lots of safe expansions and cool routes, Greenland is open for Americans
Pretty sure this will be Guam based crews. Japan to Guam demand has cratered due to the wea yen, so UA needs to send its Guam aircraft and crews somewhere.
I can only see one, maybe two of these making money within 3-5 years. Take them while you can.
Denver's altitude means that it's difficult for long haul flying since fuel burn is more significant at higher altitudes. Range is reduced and fuel efficiency suffers so it's difficult to fly longer distances economically.
The Madeira route is actually surprising me very much. It has a relatively short runway and given the MTOW for a 737Max8, there's literally zero room for error. I recall that landing and taking off there was quite a thing as the runway is literally built on pillars and tucked between the ocean and a mountain range. Well worth the thrill if you don't have a heart condition. 😉 Then go for a tasting of the local Madeira wine to flush away the adrenaline.
Also Greenland and Mongolia are awesome. I hope that some Americans actually will get out and visit these beautiful and desolate places and get some new perspectives on life. There's more than New York City and LA, you know... I've been there and, if you're lucky and it's clear at night, you may see the milky way in all its glory, or the northern lights in Greenland. The vast emptiness of the Gobi desert and the complete lack of infrastructure outside Ulanbataar will also be things people remember for life.
Agreed with Ben, this is by far the most adventurous and surprising announcement of the 'big three' and I really hope that they succeed!
I'm not sure. Mongolia is opening up for foreigners and waived the visa requirements for quite a few nationalities. It has more to offer than just some bragging rights for adventurers. The nature, the people, the culture and the complete lack of infrastructure really make it something completely different. I've been there some years ago and really wish to go back some day. It's inspiring.
Besides that, Mongolia apparently has quite some (rare) natural resources to offer, so one can expect increased business demand from companies willing to develop some sites and harvest the riches. The economy of Mongolia isn't the best in the world so every penny is welcome there.
Lost in the announcement - new daily service between Houston (IAH) and Puerto Escondido (PXM) kicking off on April 5th! Exciting expansion in many corners of the world.
I wonder how the KHH-NRT route will do on a 737-800.
Do people want to fly KHH-NRT (737-800) then NRT-United States? Or would they prefer to drive or take high speed rail to the Taipei area then TPE-United States non stop on a A350 / 787 / 777? Time difference is possibly minimal.
Guessing, KHH passengers will be quite a few originating from the United States and those originating from Taiwan will fly from TPE unless the fare is low.
As I have noted, the difference between UA’s route system and AA and DL’s is UA’s willingness to use narrowbody aircraft without direct aisle access on transatlantic flights over 8 hours and also UA’s ability to use narrowbody aircraft beyond NRT. Economically, DL couldn’t make that part of its Tokyo strategy work because DL’s pilots are all based on the US mainland while UA has the GUM base. KHH and Mongolia are cool additions to NRT and help close the gap between the number of destinations offered from Tokyo and those offered from ICN.
Narita continues to leak local Tokyo traffic to Haneda so UA is trying to backfill beyond NRT traffic with new destinations. If UA has local market rights – which I would imagine they do – they could help to reduce the negative financial impact of the shrinking Tokyo hub. Narrowbody less-than-daily service isn’t going to have a huge impact compared to the amount of TPAC capacity but UA is fighting for the NRT hub so good for them. Tokyo TPAC is not growing for the big 3.
I am wondering why united wont establish routes to star alliance hubs in africa / ME, like Istanbul, Cairo or Addis Ababa. This might help UA funnel passengers through to TK, MS or ET
For someone, if it's done by United, then it's foolish. If it's done by Delta, then it would be brilliant lol
@Lucky, where did you read that United is "expanding the length of the season" for EWR-PMI? The press release just states they are increasing frequency to 4x weekly.
GOH-EWR-ORD-SFO-HNL-MAJ-KWA-KSA-PNI-TKK-GUM-NRT-UBN can be done all on united 737s! Throw in an extra stop in saipan or koror if you'd like, or could go through phillipines for eveything except the cebu to manila flight. Amazing!
Madeira actually has quite a long runway. It's certainly unique and interesting but runway length is not at all an issue. Many A330s have used it to fly to South America. The approach (not straight in, fully visiual, turn right beofre touchdown) is a far more unique bit.
In terms of MTOW difficulties, GOH will have a much shorter runway after the expansion and even airports like PDL and FAO are quite a but shorter.
The Tokyo-Mongolia flight surprises me because no Japanese airline operates that route
It has a relatively short runway and given the MTOW for a 737Max8, there's literally zero room for error
9100ft is more than generous for a 7M8 going westbound at 2800nm, which would not require MTOW even if you factored in 10-15% contingency for prevailing winds + northern storms.
That’s really only an issue for ULH flying i.e Oceania and parts of Asia. The point being is that UA won’t even operate high potential routes such DEN-AMS (one of the largest/if not largest unserved routes between US and EU), PUJ, FCO etc all of which have high demand.
All foreign carriers that have entered DEN have done well and expanded their schedules, Colorado’s economy has grown leaps and bounds and we are wondering why UA doesn’t seem to want to compete and utilize their massive operations at DEN. They clearly like to experiment with remote and exotic routes with limited demand (Nuuk, really?). We really don’t want to be shunted through clusterf**k ORD or EWR for routes that DEN could easily support nonstop.
DEN's primary purpose is to serve as a mid-continent domestic connector, which it does with aplomb (for 3 different airlines at that).
But due to (1) comparatively low longhaul demand, relative to coastal hubs; (2) geography that requires TATL/TPAC routes to overfly half the country in either direction; and (3) restrictive elevation..... DEN will never have anything but secondary consideration, when it comes to longhaul additions by UA.
Denver's altitude means that it's difficult for long haul flying since fuel burn is more significant at higher altitudes. Range is reduced and fuel efficiency suffers so it's difficult to fly longer distances economically.
Fuel burn is actually BETTER at higher altitude. Thrust generation (lb/ft) is however decreased.
As such, the issue is getting off the runway before exceeding (1) runway length and/or (2) tire rotation-speed limit, not burning more fuel.
That requires you to either lower payload (reject pax or cargo) thus affecting revenue, or lower fuel (thus restricting destinations)
Kirby and Quayle just kicked your homophobic CEO in the nads, Timbits. This is brilliant. UA is great, DL is incompetent. So who's the premium airline now, boy?
IASA Category II classification, does not affect foreign carriers operating *into* the downgraded nation with their own metal. UA's only restriction would be that it couldn't codeshare with TG.
TG (or any other Thai carrier) however, could not launch new flights to the USA nor codeshare with a US airline.
Depends on the UA credit card you have. I have the Club Infinite card, and I receive a decent number of PQPs from my purchases. It's given me a good boost when combined with my flight activity, and you have United Club membership. Yes, you still have to fly to get status.
Which is why UA is operating it. They're staying out of ANA's way on these flights from Narita.
UA is kicking DL and AA's @sses when it comes to international networks and route options.
ORD... what is your problem? Where is this nonsensical Ed Bastian homophobia sentiment commentary coming from? Do you know anything about Delta's C suite?
Considering how much BR and CI charges on their KHH-NRT flights (operated by A321 and B738 respectively), I feel like UA will do alright on O/D traffic alone.
UA’s TPE-SFO flight departs TPE around 9am each morning, just a tad too early for those arriving from Kaohsiung via high speed rail — necessitating those travellers to head north the previous night and book an airport hotel, or take an overnight bus. So it’s great seeing UA offering this alternative.
Plus, if your final destination is an UA hub, connecting in NRT is much less stressful than connecting at SFO (no passport control, rechecking bags, etc.).
Traveling to TPE from southern Taiwan is a hassle to some as the trip involves 2 train rides which take around 2.5 hours in total, and you need to move luggage between train stations. That is why Cathay is getting some transit traffic from KHH to North America via HKG even it is slightly back-tracked.
Also KHH-NRT alone is a route in a high demand which UA can be benefitted from the 5th freedom rights. Wishing them success on this route!
This is insane!
I can’t wait to go on at least 6 out of those new inaugural routes! I love United’s creativity… and i think it will resonate with those who love to travel & explore!
I’m Gold with SA and Diamond with Delta - but nothing in Skyteam (other than Air France) excites me!
Even OneWorld is becoming more interesting than ST.
Great job whoever plans United’s international network!
reread the UA press release.
Most of these additions are seasonal and/or on narrowbody aircraft.
Not one of UA's routes are daily longhaul widebody routes.
DL is adding more long-term capacity solely with just one route announcement - its SLC-ICN route.
Adding dots to route maps might be sexy but a bunch of seasonal, narrowbody routes on a less than daily service is not going to shape UA's long-term destiny.
It's surprising that Madeira is seasonal given that it's main selling point is the year-round pleasant weather. Still a nice addition to the network - locals probably won't be pleased, but definitely great for holidaymakers.
Why does UA want to funnel passengers to TK? TK runs a massive connecting hub operation. It doesn't need UA's feed, nor does UA want to feed TK.
Alliance partners don't actually mean they aren't competitors.
@ Samo -- Fair, but I think it's popular year-round with Europeans, where warm weather is hard to find in winter. Meanwhile Americans generally prefer to go to the Caribbean, Florida, or Hawaii.
@ Evan -- Sorry, I should've said "expanding the length of the season or increasing frequencies." Fixed now, thanks!
This could work. UA's been quite successful to Taiwan. I can see the case that connecting at NRT is nice since you'll get to freshen up at the UA Club or ANA lounge and then land exactly at your final destination vs flying into TPE and having to slog for 3 to 4 hours over to Kaohsiung and carry massive checked bags with you.
You also get to avoid some of the congestion from the TPE arrival banks.
This is what is called a subsidy strategy…
Whether it is
* national/regional tourist boards incentives
* US military commitments
* cruise line guarantees
* vacation package company guarantees
Fair play if they can make it work. The second these subsidies are gone most of the routes are likely gone.
MIAT Mongolian had been sniffing around announcing service to San Francisco, with their new 787s, and several media sources jumped the gun. United might see this as away to further combat that.
"Most of these additions are seasonal and/or on narrowbody aircraft.
Not one of UA's routes are daily longhaul widebody routes."
Versus flights that don't exist, flown by nothing? Not a hard choice.
"the difference between UA’s route system and AA and DL’s is UA’s willingness to use narrowbody aircraft without direct aisle access on transatlantic flights over 8 hours"
Or, more realistically described:
United gives passengers the OPTION to CHOOSE whether they wish to go directly to their destination on a smaller aircraft, or take a widebody to a partner hub then connect.
Delta increasingly FORCES passengers to connect+backtrack, a concept that will only increase in occurrence as Delta's smaller widebodies retire, forcing marginal destinations to upgauge or be cut.
I think Greenland is going to be a flop. I can't imagine Nuuk has much to do and see for more than 1 or 2 days. And there's a huge, huge shortage of hotels. I also can't imagine there are any large chain hotels.
I see a lot of people questioning or expressing surprise at Palau. This is a popular destination for Japanese tourists. Delta used to serve it, like Guam, from NRT. And, Palau is essentially an American protectorate. Independent but closely linked to the US for matters of foreign policy and defense. I imagine United will have cargo contracts, including a USPS contract as the USPS is the post office for Palau.
@ Tim Dunn -- Duuuuude...
"UA’s willingness to use narrowbody aircraft without direct aisle access on transatlantic flights over 8 hours"
Will you apply this same standard to Delta's ex-LATAM A350s? So is the issue the lack of direct aisle access, or the lack of a narrow body?
"Narrowbody less-than-daily service isn’t going to have a huge impact"
Six of Delta's seven adds for the summer of 2025 are 3-4x weekly on smaller narrow bodies. Do those have a huge impact, or no?
If the new Asian routes via NRT work, I could see UA expanding quite a bit into Asia using that hub. The inability to use Russian airspace makes this advantageous again. It didn't matter when you could do SFO-BKK over Siberia and the PRC. This now requires a detour. But NRT is located south of Russian airspace and any flights from there to Asia (aside from the Russian part) can fly direct. Easy way to serve places like SGN, BKK, KUL, and other cities in the region. And you can hit smaller cities in Asia that are within 4 hours of HND with 737s. Brilliant, really.
Good to see United expand further internationally. Even though I dread sitting on a 737 for more than 2 hours, it's good to have options like NRT-KHH.
@Ben wasn't United planning on replacing the 752s - is that still happening?
Disappointed that BKK was not included in UA's expansion plans. Use to take UA's early morning flight to Narita.
As for Guam, how about a return to Cairns, Queensland? I remember flying a Continental 737 from Guam to Cairns. Great to fly into Cairns, instead of backtracking through Brisbane or Sydney!
Don't need to know anything, Max. His statements from a couple of weeks ago made it perfectly clear that he was a homophobe.
Wow, I didn’t know. I love the Oaxaca coastline. Just down the road from Escondido is one of the best place I’ve ever experienced in life…and I’ve traveled the world… pure magic and still undiscovered…that coast is perfection. Okay, I’ll share…Zipolite….keep it between us…HUX is the closer airport, and UA/AA both fly there…
the only steam that is coming out of anyone's head is the people that are beginning to realize that UA just announced a bunch of seasonal, narrowbody, less than daily flights and not a single year round new widebody flight.
Which will always be better than the NO exclusive-country flights, that Delta DIDN'T launch, because it doesn't have the right size of aircraft with which to DO them.
At least United is giving their customers the CHOICE of a smaller nonstop, or a wide-body via a partner hub. Delta is FORCING a connection, ROBBING their customers of choice.
Ben. You forgot to add United’s recently announced new route EWR-DOM (Dominica) starting February 15th 2025. Weekly service will be operated by 737-700.
It will be the island’s second direct link to the US mainland after AA’s service from MIA.
Have you considered the Nuuk market is mainly for local market traffic?
Also the "group series" market is going to eat this up...the EF's, etc... have you not noticed how much money people will spend to go to Antarctica? It's the exact same thing...but now easier and cheaper than Antarctica...
IAD-DSS is only thrice weekly. Ergo, it doesn’t count as a new route because “reasons.” -Tim Dunn
Aha, so it's basically supposed to be a cold destination for Americans during the summer? That makes sense.
How is necessitating a connection in an era when aircraft can fly 20 hours nonstop “brilliant”? The NRT hub was a relic of the 80s and 90s, when such aircraft did not exist.
aaron,
this route announcement is about adding dots to a route map - not about providing sustained widebody service.
nobody is diminishing what has been announced but when so many talk about the size of UA's widebody fleet and this includes ZERO daily new widebody service on a single route, the substance of what has been announced is notable. very notable.
You could use a reading comprehension course, Lindsey, because I explained this above. US airlines CAN NOT use Russian airspace. Look at a freakin' map and imagine what that does to routings. This is what puts NRT into play as a hub again.
@Tim - noted but didn't DL do the same sort of summer expansion despite so many A350s on the way? Thoughts?
Wow! These are awesome routes to some great destinations I want to visit in the coming years!!! AA's int. routes out of my hub (PHL) have been dropping like flies. I might have to start working for United status.
you have no clue at how popular nuuk is going to be... ive been there, like 6 years ago, and seen the ramp up for myself. the airport expansion was surely a huge mistake, because, as you say, there's a huge shortage of hotels. good luck to them, because they're going to need it badly.
MIAT absolutely dont have the capacity for it. not unless they get more than their current singular 787. they are running their fleet at max max capacity rn
haha... how wrong you are! nuuk and ulaanbaatar are BOOMING for tourism right now. its literally through the roof and there's not enough capacity, especially not in nuuk. there wasnt enough capacity for tourism there 6 years ago when i visited, it was already so popular. wait and see... when other airlines start to realise how profitable and high-demand nuuk is, they will all be clamouring to start flights there, further increasing mass tourism and degrading the unique culture they have there. its quite sad.
and that easy-ness makes it easy to degrade a millenia year old culture that they have still preserved there in greenland... antarctica has no culture.
Obviously none of the mensas like Patrick Quayle,at UAL ,bothered to look up the meaning of Ulaanbaatar,or read recent headlines.The name means red(as in communist) hero.On his recent visit there,rather than arresting him as signatories to ICC dictates,Putin was welcomed as a hero with full honours.Sounds like a "cool" place to send American tourists these days.Gawwd.
Used to be, on Air Italy for a hot minute before they went under in 2020. Good for Avios redemptions, heh.
When are these flights book able? I’m trying to book TYO UBN next July and am unable.
Same, trying to book but can't find any available flights. Not sure when they'll be on sale.
Nuuk is likely to support the US invasion. They should not be granted landing rights.
Nuuk is likely to support the US invasion. They should not be granted landing rights.