United Airlines has by far the most interesting global route network of the big three US carriers, and the network keeps expanding. Yesterday, the Chicago-based airline teased how it would announce new international routes today, and those details have just been unveiled.
Second best airline in the world after Lufthansa
I hope this is a joke....as LH has become a joke of an airline in the 30 years I have been flying Star Alliance Airlines across the pond.
@Christian I would hope so as well. Like who would seriously think that LH is the best airline in the world. LH is certainly not known for having the best service. Also, I remember Ben’s critique of the awful plating in business class and the taste of the food was nothing remarkable at all.
Of course it’s not a joke. Star alliance airlines are the best airlines, UA and LH are star alliance, hence the best airlines
Well. That was interesting. In some cases the destination was expected, but the origin city was not…just one example, a lot of people assumed the flight to LUX would be from IAD instead.
The DEN service to CDG, whats the frequency and equipment and when are they planning to start ?
Whilst there are a lot of exciting destinations. From a selfish perspective I'd much rather the XLR went to an existing route like Edinburgh so I didn't have to go to London or change at FRA/MUC/ZRH across the Atlantic as a *Gold
I agree, but for me, MAN would be very helpful. UA doesn't serve Manchester at all these days and there just aren't many nonstop flights on any airline from the USA. It's probably not as touristy as Scotland but there are a lot of things in the area worth seeing if you know where to go--and it's a very large metro area not far from other large metros (Liverpool, Birmingham, etc.).
Problem is Manchester is not a premium destination despite Cheshire trying to be. There is a W Hotel under construction but that won’t be open till 2029 at the earliest. Other places surrounding it like the Lake District don’t even have points hotels and as an executive once told me ‘people aren’t flying 8 hours for pies’. The only reason EK QR work is the ginormous Pakistani diaspora across the north and EY because of the ownership of Manchester City.
@Walter--all good points. Thanks for sharing. You are correct that Manchester isn't well known as a tourist destination. In the States, "Cheshire" probably has more cachet with tourists, even if they don't exactly know where it is. I suspect that if Greater Manchester, Liverpool, and the city of Chester (and maybe even North Wales) got together and marketed themselves, it could be a tourist powerhouse. That seems unlikely to happen, though. And, unlike many of my fellow countrymen, I almost always rent a car and drive while there, which makes getting around easier than relying on public transportation or tours. Oh, well...it was a nice idea while it lasted. 🙂
First ever TATL flights to Ibiza. Feeling hometown pride today.
Which hometown? Newark (or Ibiza)?
(Yeah, I'm sure the folks in the Ironbound are cheering... *wink*)
Ibiza.
It’s a double edged sword of feelings today - excitement as an Avgeek of getting transatlantic service - but aware that Ibiza is about to get even busier with lots of Americans
Actually I am on those flights twice a month on BA and FAs are having a great time and tell me they love it. I guess a LAS or IBZ layover is better than an PHL or ORD or DFW - no offense
Perhaps the 'legacy' flight attendants, who hate being bothered after the service with another request can't stand it. Admittedly there are a few of those.
Willmo, may those visitors spend generously to benefit your local economy; and, perhaps, if you wish, come visit NYC. We're still a welcoming city with a little something for everyone.
For sure - it’s an exciting route, looking forward to flying it.
Re the FAs - I agree - will be an interesting flight to work on. If you search IBZ on this blog up until today, it is always stories of drunk passengers forcing diversions on UK - Ibiza flights. It’s fair to say the island has a certain reputation- or that may just be the British tourists!
¡Gracias por saber que el problema de turistas borrachos existe antes de la comienza de vuelos directos de los EEUU!
I have never visited Ibiza but my first time in Spain was a charter flight from East Midlands Airport on a package holiday to Benidorm. I was the only American on that trip (long story) and clearly, the only one who spoke Spanish.
It wasn't just British tourists there but they seemed to predominate. Each European nationality had its own pubs (I still remember one with a big neon sign, El Duque de Wellington) and the foreign nationals didn't seem to mix much with each other. They definitely avoided mixing with the Spanish locals. My best moment of that trip was convincing a group of English travelers to go into a local bar and try tapas. After a lot of initial reluctance, I translated and everyone had a good time.
Bottom line: I hope the new flights to Ibiza are fruitful for locals and that visitors are respectful and learn something about Balearic culture.
Funny your brag about your Spanish when your first paragraph has several orthographical errors in Spanish... dime de qué presumes y te diré de que careces
@TX...Attempting to write something in Spanish isn't bragging about my Spanish. I was merely trying to be friendly to @Willmo for stating that drunk tourists are already a problem in Ibiza...and not trying to blame it on Americans. I am not fully bilingual or a native Spanish speaker but I do speak Spanish--well enough to have traveled extensively to Spanish-speaking countries and areas where no one speaks English. And, well enough to translate for a group of English tourists in a bar in Benidorm, such that the owner thanked me by topping up my beer for free by asking, ¿más presión?
So, rather than being snarky by telling me you will tell me what I lack, how about actually doing that? That is, I would appreciate knowing what you think was bad spelling, grammar, etc. That, rather than snark, is how I can improve my Spanish.
Más presión? Funny, we don't say that in Spanish. You're right on one thing, you're not bilingual or native speaker, that's quite evident.
@TX--You might not say "más presión" in Texas but that's exactly what the bar owner said to me in Spain. Maybe you need to get out more. And, you still haven't told me what was wrong with what I said in Spanish in the first place. How about a little less arrogance on your part and a lot more helpfulness? I would also point out that you clearly understood what I said in Spanish, even if you didn't find it precisely correct. So, here's a bit more potentially "orthographically incorrect" Spanish that I am certain you will nonetheless understand: Dime otra vez lo que dijiste la primera vez y te mostré que has sido un pendejo.
Can't tell about IBZ, but for Sardinia and Sicily the local 'economy' doesn't benefit regular folks when it comes to employment, wages, services to the public away from the tourist season. The usual interest groups benefit, and their bank accounts are strictly overseas....
This expansion looks strange until you think about what they’re trying to achieve. They’re not trying to compete with Delta and American on another flight to Paris or London…they’re using the A321XLR to make smaller, underserved international markets viable. Cities like Ljubljana, Toulouse, Valencia and Ibiza may not have enough demand for a 787 every day, but they can work with smaller aircraft..and the premium pricing that comes with being the only nonstop option. It’s essentially a bunch of small bets on destinations that are hard to reach today. Some will fail, but the ones that work could give United a market all to itself.
I would rather have fewer flights and lower co2 emissions. Why encourage people to go to Israel during the crisis in Gaza?
Why not (CO2 aside)? Adding a SFO-TLV flight isn't encouraging anyone to go to Israel. It is simply a recognition that people DO go to Israel, i.e., there is market demand. Like all the other services announced in the press release, the flight will last only as long as it works financially.
Okinawa is awesome. Catania feels like a shot across the bow at Delta. (They fly JFK-CTA).
Delta also flies to Sardinia and Ibiza was the third option in the customer voting last year that was not selected.
Wow, such fantastic adds. Newark is clearly the “favorite child” as hubs go. So excited for the Obia and Slovenia flights.
A little surprised they didn’t add Copenhagen.
And another Tel Aviv resumption, excellent United!! NVIDIA employees will be delighted.
Paris and Milan, very nice adds. Will be interesting to see if the new Azores route and Toulouse service sticks, I’m still shocked by the flight to Santiago de Compostela, yes it’s returning.
OKA is the most surprising to me, but the huge US military base there could make it work. I wonder if this route will affect the military charter services of Atlas and Kalitta.
Lots of new hotels there, including on the luxury side, and it's very much growing with American tourists. On my last trip to Japan, we wanted to end in OKA but couldn't simply because of timing and making the flights work. I think this is a great add, especially for convenience.
Yeah I find OKA a bit surprising, from a tourism perspective I don't see much to bring people from thr mainland US. It's basically known as the vacation spot for Japanese who can't afford Hawaii
That being said I think Okinawa would be a great destination from Guam on the 737 given the military link
United's international network is chef's kiss...can't wait to see what else they have in the cards as they receive more aircraft.
Seeing as how Airbus's North American headquarters is in the DC region, the A321XLR between the two cities is kind of a no-brainer.
Finally TLS from an US carrier but why IAD? We need it from EWR!
Just out of curiosity, with all of this expansion why is it that United won't go back to the Around the World flights they had bought from Pan Am and were running all the way until the late 90s? I think it was LAX-HKG-DEL-CDG-JFK-LAX?
Why would they do that? It was a marketing gimmick based on an old world view of transport. Lost buckets of money. That's why it stopped and why Ua nor anybody would ever do that again
Mostly 321XLR routes. Gross. Hope other airlines don’t follow this trend.
They are not adding Okinawa, they are adding Naha. To say they fly to Okinawa, rather than Naha is like saying the new route DEN CDG is Colorado to Paris rather than Denver to Paris.
There are 13 civilian airports in Okinawa.
The island of Okinawa is roughly the size of metro Denver. The comparison is pretty apt, really.
That's like saying there is no difference in the route being Honolulu or Kona, both the same place?
You may want to get in touch with the airport authorities at several Japan airports, as well as flight crew and tell them to stop putting up signage, and making announcements saying flights are going to Okinawa.
IAH loses out again.
OKA has some large military presence, so this is a good way to connect people one-stop to anywhere in the US. But is UA not cannibalizing ANA market share with the KIX and OKA adds?
As a German/American that lives in the CT/NY/NJ area and that has family just across the border from LUX, I am happy to see this flight added!!! RTL in Luxembourg had been reporting of rumors that a direct flight to NY might be in the works but I wasn’t expecting this news. I hope UA can make this work as I am also a UA elite. Only thing I fear, is that the prices will be ridiculous.
Anything through EWR is pretty much a no thank you until they get their "S" together there. It's harder to get between DC and EWR than it is from EWR to the international location. I've missed more international flights because they can't make a simple connection work between DCA/IAD and EWR.
Agree completely, DCA-EWR is extremely unreliable. I'm surprised more of these flights, especially LUX, weren't run out of IAD given how terrible EWR operations are.
LUX is a freight hub, so it makes sense even with smaller pax load factor
Ljubljana is a fantastic city.
Would love to see some Aeroplan award space open up.
maybe you've been away for the past 18 months but UA doesnt do partner space anymore