United Airlines is known for having the most interesting route network of any US carrier. Along those lines, in October 2024, United announced what might just have been its most creative international expansion to date, whereby the airline added eight new destinations, ranging from Kaohsiung, to Nuuk, to Ulaanbaatar.
As far as flights originating in the United States go, I’d argue the single most interesting route is the one to Greenland. So there’s a positive update, as the Chicago-based carrier has confirmed that this seasonal route will be making a comeback in 2026.
In this post:
Details of United’s creative route to Greenland
Between June 14 and September 23, 2025, United is operating a seasonal, twice weekly flight between Newark (EWR) and Nuuk, Greenland (GOH). The 1,849-mile flight is operating with the following schedule:
UA80 Newark to Nuuk departing 11:30AM arriving 6:45PM
UA81 Nuuk to Newark departing 9:00AM arriving 10:30AM
United uses a Boeing 737 MAX 8 for the route, featuring 166 seats. Yes, this is the same plane you’ll find on many domestic United routes. It’s configured with 16 first class seats and 150 economy seats. Given that the seats in the forward cabin are just standard domestic first class recliners, the airline is selling those seats as premium economy, rather than as business class or Polaris.
The eastbound flight is blocked at 4hr15min and operates on Tuesdays and Saturdays, while the westbound flight is blocked at 5hr30min and operates Wednesdays and Sundays.
Greenland has seen a huge boost in air travel recently, given that the airport in Greenland’s capital city of Nuuk has been expanded significantly, meaning the airport can finally handle traffic from jets. So not only has Air Greenland shifting much of its operations from Kangerlussuaq to Nuuk, but we’ve also seen new service on other airlines.
Newark to Nuuk service will be returning in 2026
If you’re intrigued by United’s flight to Greenland but weren’t able to take it in the summer of 2025, there’s some good news, as the route will be returning in 2026. Specifically, United has confirmed that the route will resume as of June 13, 2026, with the same general schedule as this summer.
These tickets are already on sale for next summer, with fares starting at around $1,100 roundtrip in economy.
Meanwhile premium economy fares are much higher…
One-way fares are more than half the cost of a roundtrip. Of course you can also connect from elsewhere in the United States, and based on the searches I’ve done, most fares from other markets are comparable to the nonstop.
These flights are also bookable with miles. If you’re booking through United MileagePlus, I currently see one-way rates starting at 40,000 miles in economy, or 180,000 miles in premium economy. The economy award space is at the saver level, so is also bookable with partner mileage currencies.
Is United’s Greenland route profitable?
I know many people have been skeptical of the financials of United’s Greenland flight, and questioned if the route would make a comeback after the first season. I’ve had a different take all along, so I’m not surprised to see this route extended for an additional summer.
For one, this isn’t a terribly costly trip for the airline. This service uses up a single 737 for two days per week. In the summer, long haul demand with wide body jets is through the roof, but domestic travel demand isn’t quite as robust. So there’s not some massive opportunity cost to United in operating this route, as it’s not like United is having to forgo a flight to Athens or Rome in order to be able to offer this.
Next, this route is just about the same length as a Chicago to San Francisco flight. While United might not have as high of a load factor on this service as it would on a hub-to-hub flight, I can bet the average fare paid is considerably higher.
I also think this service reflects that United is in a completely different league than American and Delta when it comes to its international network. At some point expansion isn’t about the direct performance of a single route, but rather about the overall way it contributes to the carrier’s market position.
United has probably received more press for its twice weekly flight to Greenland than just about any other US airline has received for another route. That’s for good reason, because it’s not something we’ve seen a US airline try before. You can’t overstate the power of that, and how it positions United as the global carrier of the country.
Last but not least, I think there’s one major overlooked reason for this service — United MileagePlus. Nowadays the “big three” US carriers are essentially in the credit card business, and they just have a very expensive fleet of aircraft they fly on the side. 😉
For example, United CEO Scott Kirby was asked about the rationale for the Greenland service during the Q3 2024 earnings call, and he said the following:
We spend a lot of time debating how and where we’ll grow. And this announcement has clearly caught the attention of a lot of people, most importantly, our customers, and I think it’s a very exciting announcement. But the backdrop for the announcement is the fact that United Airlines simply has the best global gateways in the business. And those global gateways allow us to fly successfully to a broad range of destinations.
We heavily fly into our partner hubs, which is the traditional model in our business but we’re also able to do just as well financially outside of our partner hubs. And so we look across the globe, we look for new destinations, we look for hot destinations and destinations, most importantly, we can make money in.
We have a really good track record of this, very little of what we’ve added over the last few years we have canceled. And so as we look forward, we look for those new destinations. And at the end of the day, Greenland has got a lot of attention but it is only two 737s per week. So its impact on our system will be small. But its impact on United, our brand and our customer profile and sign-ups for MileagePlus will be great. And there is so much more possible on this front than even I thought it was possible five or six years ago.
This is a great explanation, and is logical enough. Similarly, when Southwest expanded to Hawaii several years back, the airline cited its Rapid Rewards program as one of the major justifications. The airline hoped that increased engagement in Rapid Rewards from being able to fly to Hawaii would in part help justify the service.
So this kind of expansion seems like a brilliant, low-risk gamble, which generates a lot of publicity and helps position United as the most global airline in the United States, if nothing else.
Bottom line
United Airlines’ special Greenland flight is currently operating for the summer of 2025, and it has now been confirmed that it will be returning in the summer of 2026. The route operates from Newark to Nuuk, twice weekly with Boeing 737 MAX 8s. This has to be one of the coolest routes we’ve ever seen a US airline operate, so I’m happy to see this returning for a second season.
What do you make of United’s Nuuk service?
Epic? LOL.. I don’t think so.
I flew this route last week and love it. Greenland is an amazing place and you should visit now before it is loved to death like many other places. I met a lot of interesting frequent flyers from all over the world on the flight. Also, people in Nuuk say the flight has been a real boost to tourism there. The purser told me the flight is indeed profitable because of the cost of the...
I flew this route last week and love it. Greenland is an amazing place and you should visit now before it is loved to death like many other places. I met a lot of interesting frequent flyers from all over the world on the flight. Also, people in Nuuk say the flight has been a real boost to tourism there. The purser told me the flight is indeed profitable because of the cost of the tickets despite the fact it isn’t fully booked. MANY nonrev fly this route too, it was a bit crazy seeing the length of the standby list. Premium Plus was fine for this route. It is a daytime flight both ways and not that long so a standard recliner is more than adequate. It was definitely an elevated level of service compared to most domestic first, eg got the Polaris amenity kit and blankets, good food throughout, etc. Awesome flight and glad UA is bringing it back although I’m now going to be out another 1.5k for flights!
Glad to see it come back. I went to Nuuk in July and it was a great trip. But the bullet and spent 80,000 miles in coach. I monitored first (err premium economy) for an upgrade (UA does upgrade on this route like domestic flights). Upgrades were selling for several thousand so didn’t bite. At checkin an upgrade was offered for $399. I didn’t bite on outbound leg since there was a good bit of...
Glad to see it come back. I went to Nuuk in July and it was a great trip. But the bullet and spent 80,000 miles in coach. I monitored first (err premium economy) for an upgrade (UA does upgrade on this route like domestic flights). Upgrades were selling for several thousand so didn’t bite. At checkin an upgrade was offered for $399. I didn’t bite on outbound leg since there was a good bit of capacity up front. Well I found out 30-40 non revs jumped on the flight the day before and a number of them were up front so I didn’t clear. On way back I was again offered an upgrade for $399 and took it. Good and service up front were good although UA had meals and drink service in the back as well.
Also one more reason it may have come back. Have no way of knowing if this is the case but Greenland is really promoting tourism and I wouldn’t be shocked if they were subsidizing the flight.
I just flew this route last week and am glad the service will return next year. One of the unintended consequences of having a (relatively speaking, for Nuuk) big jet coming and going twice a week is that at those very specific times during the week, taxis become impossible to find. It's a 10-minute drive from the city center to the airport but be prepared to wait 30+ minutes for a taxi even if you booked one in advance.
I flew this route in July on United and the plane was not FULL and about half of the passengers were flying free on a "Buddy Pass". So this is a good perk for United Employes and their family/friends. I dont like paying more to give this perk to United employees. It was an very expensive ticket and service from United staff just average.
I looked at a few dates in July when I was considering a potential trip to Greenland this summer (I’ve been to Greenland before but just the east coast via Reykjavik).
Loads seemed to be very low but the standby list for each flight absolutely massive - so (unsurprisingly) looks like a lot of non-revs.
Having said that, with one way fares never dropping below ~$1k it shouldn’t be particularly difficult to break even with...
I looked at a few dates in July when I was considering a potential trip to Greenland this summer (I’ve been to Greenland before but just the east coast via Reykjavik).
Loads seemed to be very low but the standby list for each flight absolutely massive - so (unsurprisingly) looks like a lot of non-revs.
Having said that, with one way fares never dropping below ~$1k it shouldn’t be particularly difficult to break even with a 737 route that’s the same distance as London to Santorini….
Epic is being the largest or even second largest airline in dozens of non-hub cities, not something UA does much of.
Epic is also all of us laughing at you for your tiny handed incel rants against a corporation while defending another corporation (that also fired you)
pretty much says everything when TD cant muster his usual 5 paragraph diatribe and simply posts a sad one sentence retort. seems like hes ceded that United is now the premium airline of the country LOL
premium is not defined by how many dots an airline can put on its route map using domestic configured aircraft served less than daily on a seasonal basis.
Government contract revenue is not high margin and, in the case of Greenland, sufficiently large to operate it on a year round basis on mainline aircraft.
Like Pan Am, United has long focused on flair rather than what it is most supposed to do - generate the...
premium is not defined by how many dots an airline can put on its route map using domestic configured aircraft served less than daily on a seasonal basis.
Government contract revenue is not high margin and, in the case of Greenland, sufficiently large to operate it on a year round basis on mainline aircraft.
Like Pan Am, United has long focused on flair rather than what it is most supposed to do - generate the highest revenues from ALL forms of the businesses in which engages, the highest profits, and the highest levels of service.
Tim!!!!!
Pan-Am?
Really?
You're comparing flying to Nuuk on a spare 737 with losing monopoly power?
as usual, you jump to conclusions that have nothing to do with what was discussed.
Re-read the history of Pan Am and US global aviation and get back w/ us based on real similarities.
Do explain Tim. This is going to be fun.
Can't wait to see what fluff you're up to this time.
Tim, what are you talking about? Do you know the history of Pan Am?
Pan Am had a large international network with almost no domestic flights. Deregulation came about that allowed the domestic carriers with their huge hubs and fees to start flying international routes, no longer turning them over to Pan Am.
PA bought a huge fleet of 747s that worked well to Europe over the summer but had nowhere to go in...
Tim, what are you talking about? Do you know the history of Pan Am?
Pan Am had a large international network with almost no domestic flights. Deregulation came about that allowed the domestic carriers with their huge hubs and fees to start flying international routes, no longer turning them over to Pan Am.
PA bought a huge fleet of 747s that worked well to Europe over the summer but had nowhere to go in the off-season.
PA overpaid for the acquisition of National to gain a much-needed domestic network, but still left them unable to compete with the large domestic carriers that had a much more well-rounded network and new international flights.
The writing on the wall was there for PA with the purchase of all those 747s and definitely when they purchased NA.
UA is the largest airline in the world by many measures, with an impressive international and domestic network, growing more impressive with almost 30 787s this year and next, and hundreds of new narrowbody planes.
They’re largest in airline revenue, largest in profits from running the airline, and outperform DL financially in NYC, as seen but their huge revenue advantage in the market.
So what are you talking about?
there's pathetic, then there's Tim Dunn posting on a post about United. Just sad and you want to look away but it's also too fun to see him make an idiot of himself.
it is laughable that someone suggests jealousy for anyone other than Max's participation in social media.
eskimo,
Pan Am's route maps were full of dots all over the world that they and others thought were exotic.
Pam Am, just like every other US airline, was and is a for-profit business. Pan Am failed to focus most on the things that actually matter.
Tim, you really didn't disappoint.
Excellent fluff.
Pan Am did focus on profit. Profit from monopoly they have enjoyed for decades.
But in your opinion Tim, what should have Pan Am "focus most on the things that actually matter."
oooh. good comeback, Tim. I hope you didn't spend too long thinking that one up
Maybe you should just grab a mirror and see how ridiculous you look on a post about United crying like you do
I don't run an airline or have tens of billions of dollars in stockholder money in my hands, Max.
UA does and they simply do not manage it as well as others even while incessantly acting like every other airline except them and DL is worthless.
Tim,
You are delusional.
"build a domestic system instead of fixating on "sexy" international destinations."
Yet you tell me to "Re-read the history of Pan Am and US global aviation"?
Go read what @Mark said about Pan Am history. He pretty much sums it up.
Tim Dunn says, "UA does and they simply do not manage it as well as others even while incessantly acting like every other airline except them and DL is worthless."
UAL market cap has nearly tripled since Kirby and his team took over.
DAL market cap is almost flat over the same period, but it is the only airline worth more UAL, for the time being.
I guess the demand wasn’t there to increase the frequency. Would be cool to check out before it gets over commercialized.
Or before it becomes the 52nd state.
UA's Patrick Quayle has become an industry heavy hitter. He is changing airline network planning and UA's image and brand.
Something he couldn't do at American under .....
... Doug Parker. I know, right?
Almost....
It was Vasu.
That's why a huge chunk of legacy AA followed Kirby to UA.
Munoz deserves credit on recruiting Kirby. Both are why UA isn't left behind after Richard Anderson's colossal foundation that Ed inherited.
Just compare Smisek UA and Anderson DL.
Eskimo says, "It was Vasu. That's why a huge chunk of legacy AA followed Kirby to UA."
Interesting take. I also think anyone in the airline business recognized the potential of the UA network if it were only managed properly. Before Kirby and his team showed up UA was considering de-hubbing IAD, DEN and/or LAX. UFB.
Juan Trippe would like to have a word with you.
Juan Trippe would like to have a word with you.
With multiple new flights to Greenland did a feared hotel shortage ever materialize?
It probably will shortly. I certainly hope multiple new hotels are under construction.
there is nothing special about a seasonal narrowbody less than daily flight which likely gets a lot of government contract travel just like the GUM operation.
It’s is more special than adding flights at AUS.
Why, your average American is more likely to fly to Austin than Greenland.
The average American probably can't find neither Greenland nor Austin on a map.
Yes, and they are almost certainly going to fly Southwest or American to get there. Delta is fighting a losing battle.
for those of you huddled behind your cubicles in Chicago,
DL will board more passengers today from AUS than UA will for the entire year from Nuuk or Ulaanbaatar
for those of you huddled behind your mom's basement in Atlanta,
Don't make up your fluffy imagination as facts.
And as Mason has tried to enlighten your basement with actual knowledge.
"board more passengers" is just one of the less useful metrics.
Just like word count or number of paragraphs, bigger doesn't mean better.
"boards more passengers" ranks right up there with "flies the most ASMs" and "burns the most fuel but generates less revenue"
all interesting takes to people that closely watch airlines but has precisely zero relevance to anyone in the real world.
If you ask 1000 travelers at any airport to list 25 of United's destinations, it is doubtful that Nuuk would be on the list for anyone other than the 1 United non-rev.
United's...
"boards more passengers" ranks right up there with "flies the most ASMs" and "burns the most fuel but generates less revenue"
all interesting takes to people that closely watch airlines but has precisely zero relevance to anyone in the real world.
If you ask 1000 travelers at any airport to list 25 of United's destinations, it is doubtful that Nuuk would be on the list for anyone other than the 1 United non-rev.
United's strategy is different but it is hardly original and it is certainly not superior to anyone other than a handful of aviation geeks that make up a fractional percentage of airline revenue.
But Tim....
You're the one who said earlier.
"DL will board more passengers today from AUS....."
Now you admit
"but has precisely zero relevance to anyone in the real world."
So did Tim just undermine Tim's statement all by himself?
But you just defended DL in AUS a few days ago and today it's "zero relevance"?
Come on Tim. This isn't the first time you contradict yourself.
I pointed out that these ridiculous cherrypicked "facts" mean nothing.
But if you want to play childish games, then DL has a larger operation at AUS in one day than UA will have in Mongolia or Greenland in a year.
To somehow think that two foreign destinations for UA is better than a domestic city in the US is the height of arrogance - and proof that some people are incapable of objectively discussing the industry
As Ben points out, that's the great thing about this route. For very minimal risk and cost, United gets a decent stream of government contract travel, and a disproportionate amount of publicity.
It's rare that 4 hour flight on a 737 can be marketed as being exciting/aspirational, but this one can.
Jealous much?
Unless DL did it. Then it would become a beacon of innovation and creativity, right?
Ben, it would be interesting to add a section about the catering on this flight. I have heard the ex Nuuk catering is among the best in the UA system and quite unique!
They have to go hunt reindeer meat for passengers.
One idiot from LAX even thinks that's their only source of survival.
You wrote about most profitable routes of airlines recently. Highlighted was phl to sfo and lax on AA. Sfo and Lax are hubs for united. When I fly united out of PHlL there ate generally more elites then when I fly AA so as a public company why does united not add these routes to compete more with AA?
Why would you eat the elites?
They taste better if they are eaten by a public company?
@Eskimo:
ROFLMAO. Thank you
United does fly from SFO to PHL. They used to have at least two flights per day and today it looks like just one is scheduled. I guess that tells you something…
The cost of premium economy is uncomfortably steep. I do wonder if enough customers will actually be willing to pay those prices.