Last week I wrote about how MIAT Mongolian is planning on flying to the United States. The airline has now revealed more details about its plans, including which city it intends to fly to, so I wanted to share those updates.
In this post:
MIAT Mongolian plans to fly Boeing 787 to San Francisco
Back in 2019, Mongolia’s national airline, MIAT Mongolian, began the process of filing with the Department of Transportation (DOT) for launching flights to the United States. Those plans were suspended for some amount of time during the pandemic, but in recent weeks the airline has continued trying to get the regulatory approval needed to start this service.
While plans for this were announced a few years ago, the reason this has taken so long is because MIAT Mongolian had ordered two Boeing 787-9s, partly to be able to expand into long haul markets. The airline is expected to take delivery of these two planes in the second quarter of 2023 and first quarter of 2024. The first 787 to join MIAT Mongolian’s fleet has been performing test flights in Charleston, and has the registration code JU-1789.
As noted by @IshrionA, MIAT Mongolian has just revealed where in the United States it intends to fly to. Specifically, the airline hopes to fly between Ulaanbaatar (ULN) and San Francisco (SFO), which is a 5,818-mile journey. It remains to be seen what kind of frequencies the airline will offer, though I’d imagine they’ll be less than daily.
The other challenge is that Mongolia needs to achieve Category 1 status with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which is required for an airline to be able to fly nonstop to the United States. This is something that needs to be done on a government level, and it will require some effort on Mongolia’s part.
It’s anyone’s guess if this route ends up coming to fruition. This might surprise some, but I’m going to put this in the “likely happening” category, given that the airline has in fact ordered 787s, and one of the planes is close to being delivered.
For context on MIAT Mongolian, the airline currently operates a fleet of five planes, including four Boeing 737s and one Boeing 767.
I visited Mongolia several years ago and even flew MIAT Mongolian from Ulaanbaatar to Frankfurt, which was a fascinating flight. But there weren’t many tourists in Mongolia, and most definitely not many from the United States.
Could MIAT Mongolian make flights to the USA work?
Lots of airlines have aspirations of flying to the United States. Sometimes it’s because airlines see an actual business case for it, sometimes it’s for prestige, and sometimes it’s for developing tourism and investment.
This plan on MIAT Mongolian’s part is ambitious, no matter how you slice it:
- There are estimated to be under 20,000 Mongolian Americans, so that’s hardly a large population for establishing air service
- I imagine this route would largely be about developing tourism, in hopes that a nonstop flight to Mongolia will encourage more people to visit this fascinating country
- Mongolia has a pretty robust mining industry, though it’s hard to estimate just how much lucrative business traffic there is between the United States and Mongolia
- I imagine cargo could be another significant factor here, since this would be the only nonstop cargo link between Mongolia and the United States
As much as this seems unsustainable on the surface, perhaps there is some merit to this, in the overall context of attracting more visitors to Mongolia? The airline is government owned, and even if the carrier lost a significant amount of money, that might be more than made up for by the additional incremental tourists.
Bottom line
MIAT Mongolian is moving forward with preparations for launching flights to the United States, ahead of the national carrier taking delivery of two new Boeing 787-9s. The airline hopes to fly to San Francisco, though Mongolia first needs to achieve a Category 1 rating with the FAA. This is one of the more out-there new routes on the horizon, and I’d love to see this launch.
What do you make of MIAT Mongolian launching flights to the United States?
My wife and I want to see Mongolia. Any alternative to a layover in South Korea or equivalent is appreciated.
Super cool to know about! I agree with many other posters, a month I spent in Mongolia during a year of travel 8 yrs ago (mostly hostel-backpacking style) was incredible. It was actually my most expensive month of travel due to the necessary tour if you wanted to see anything in an expedient amount of time (otherwise public bus routes- usually 10-20 hours or more) basically go from regional capital to UB, so a LOT...
Super cool to know about! I agree with many other posters, a month I spent in Mongolia during a year of travel 8 yrs ago (mostly hostel-backpacking style) was incredible. It was actually my most expensive month of travel due to the necessary tour if you wanted to see anything in an expedient amount of time (otherwise public bus routes- usually 10-20 hours or more) basically go from regional capital to UB, so a LOT of backtracking unless you're on a private van. Incredibly worth it (and probably not at all expensive to most here.
Really hope to take my husband one day. Mostly did the "tourist" route (guided tour out of UB), plus a few days backpacking near Lake Khovsgol. If I had a solo/buddies trip again would love to check out the Altai region in the West.
I went to Mongolia about 10 years ago. I would love to go back.
What about the route over Russia. Do any rules about avoiding Russian airspace apply to foreign carriers flying to the USA?
TK and MIAT flights do not use Russian airspace these days
Requiring Category 1 to fly non stop to the US when the likes of Spirit and Frontier are allowed to operate makes the US FAA a joke.
Spirit and Frontier are shit tier airlines because of the passenger experience but their aircraft are very safe.
I would absolutely love this! I've been wanting to visit Mongolia for years but haven't because of the difficulty in getting there (admittedly, I love direct flights).
You probably love nonstop flights. Direct flights are, despite the name, a logistical mess. Plus you get shortchanged on status-qualifying activity.
Problem is they have no partners or code share agreements to speak of. Many airlines that have very few long haul flights are very expensive for taking those flights.
Mongolia's tourist season is very short - by early September when I was there it was already getting cold and most of the yurt camps were already being dismantled. It would make business sense only a few months out of the year. I seriously doubt you could ever fill a plane to Ulanbatar from anywhere in the dead of winter if relying upon tourists.
If they were to fly the 787 to the US say 2x/week, it seems like they could also fly it to a European destination 3x/week.
Mongolia has been a country I've wanted to visit for so long and a direct route from the US would make that so much easier.
it make’s perfect sense. everyone who’s flying to Mongolia from north america would appreciate as right now most would land in Beijing and then to UB. it is maddening to see that you are actually flying over UB but can’t get off right there.
commercially, Mongolia is in a very good spot geographically. it can be developed into a hub.
If they pull this off, it'll really be interesting to see where they go and what (if any) US carrier they pair up with.
If I had to bet, I'd actually say SFO:
1 in every 4 Mongolian-Americans live in California, the majority of them in the Bay area, and the Mongolian consulate is in SFO as well.
Almost a mirror situation for Vietnam, which also chose SFO as its carrier's first US gateway.
But I guess we'll see.
.....update: NAILED IT!
*bows*
Congrats, concordeperson.
Wanna handjob too?
"MIAT Mongolian" is the new "LOT Polish"?
You have no idea what you are talking about buddy.
They are both well run airlines.
I wonder what are the largest markets to Mongolia in North America.
There's such a small number of Mongolians in the US, but the biggest concentration is around Denver. Came out of mining engineers studying at Colorado School of Mines. Fascinating place, flew there on MIAT out of Seoul. I think I'd rather spend a day or two in Seoul or Narita getting over jet lag before flying somewhere as out-there as UB.
Quite sizable Mongolian diaspora live in Arlington. But the number is so small, it doesn't make sense to send direct flight to the US. Mongolian population is nothing like Ethiopian disapora in the DC area
Mongolia is my top 5 country in the world. Highly recommended!
Why? Not snarky just genuinely curious, Ive never heard this from anyone. Ive done some business in Inner Mongolia, within China, and nothing stood out to me, though obviously Mongolia is very different.
I've traveled to both Mongolias, the country is amazing:
- Beautiful landscapes, dotted with temples, yurt camps, and some ancient cities that haven't been excavated.
- UB is chaotic, but everything else is peaceful. Like we would drive around and there would be some wild yaks, hanging out with some horses.
- The people are beautiful
- Huge monuments to Ghengis Khan, set among a beautiful landscape.
- Bones, everywhere
I've traveled to both Mongolias, the country is amazing:
- Beautiful landscapes, dotted with temples, yurt camps, and some ancient cities that haven't been excavated.
- UB is chaotic, but everything else is peaceful. Like we would drive around and there would be some wild yaks, hanging out with some horses.
- The people are beautiful
- Huge monuments to Ghengis Khan, set among a beautiful landscape.
- Bones, everywhere
- UB has a mexican resturant called Mexi-Khan.
Its not for everyone, but I really liked it, and its a special place.
Last time I flew out of CHS, I drove past Boeing on the way to the airport and spotted MIAT's 787 in full livery. I thought that this was something unique that I'd never see again. I may have been wrong about that.
The last place they would fly is LAX. The flights will go to JFK (6,335 miles) and carry diplomats to UN and, with connections, DC.
I love the rando amateur network route planners in the OMAAT comments!
I love that you leave this rando comment on any post about a new route. Very original.
Annoyed, are you a frustrated amateur network route planner?
Amateur network planner Ross was highly confident, and completely wrong!
Probs would do better replacing Finnair for the EU-Asia traffic... but also not exactly a prestigious airport or fleet.