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.
Unlike American and Delta, United isn’t just adding more service to existing destinations in France and Italy from more hubs. Instead, the airline is adding some legitimately cool, off the beaten track, routes.
United Airlines’ eight new international destinations
United Airlines is adding service to eight new international destinations, seven of which aren’t served by any US airlines.
Let me be clear, we’re not talking eight new routes to existing destinations, but rather eight new destinations that aren’t currently served by the airline. There are new routes both across the Atlantic and in the Pacific region. United’s 2025 summer transatlantic schedule will be the largest in the carrier’s history, with more than 760 weekly flights.
Let’s go over the details, and I’ll rank them roughly in order of cool factor, as I see it (really the top few are the coolest, if you ask me, so don’t judge me on the order in which I rank the destinations at the bottom of the list).
United’s Newark (EWR) to Nuuk, Greenland (GOH) route
As of June 14, 2025, United will launch a 2x weekly summer seasonal service to Nuuk, Greenland. United will be the only carrier to connect the United States and Greenland. This route is possible thanks to Nuuk’s new international airport opening shortly, and this makes it so much easier to get to Greenland. The only other route from North America to Greenland is a turboprop flight from Iqaluit, Canada.
United plans to use a Boeing 737 MAX 8 for the route, given that Greenland is only around a four-hour flight from Newark.
United’s Tokyo (NRT) to Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia (UBN) route
As of May 1, 2025, United will launch a 3x weekly summer seasonal service to Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. United will be the only US carrier to fly to Mongolia. United is shifting around some of its 737s in the Pacific, as the airline reduces service in Guam, and looks to grow in Tokyo. So this is clearly part of that expansion.
The route will be operated by a Boeing 737-800.
United’s Tokyo (NRT) to Kaohsiung, Taiwan (KHH) route
As of July 11, 2025, United will launch daily, year-round flights to Kaohsiung, Taiwan. United will be the only US airline to offer service to Kaohsiung, and it complements the carrier’s existing service to Taipei (TPE). This is intended to give easy, one stop access between the United States and the city.
This route will be operated by a Boeing 737-800, and is part of the carrier’s strategy of expanding 737 service in Japan.
United’s Newark (EWR) to Bilbao, Spain (BIO) route
As of May 31, 2025, United will launch 3x weekly summer seasonal service to Bilbao, Spain. This will make United the only US airline to fly nonstop to Bilbao, which is the largest city in Spain’s Basque Country. This gives easy access to nearby destinations as well, like San Sebastian and Biarritz.
The route will be operated by a Boeing 757-200.
United’s Newark (EWR) to Palermo, Italy (PMO) route
As of May 21, 2025, United will launch 3x weekly summer seasonal service to Palermo, Italy. This will be the first service from a US airline to Palermo, and it will be United’s fifth destination in Italy, after Milan (MXP), Naples (NAP), Rome (FCO), and Venice (VCE). However, Delta does plan to fly to Catania (CTA) as of 2025, the other major airprot in Sicily.
The route will be operated by a Boeing 767-400.
United’s Washington (IAD) to Dakar, Senegal (DSS) route
As of May 23, 2025, United will launch 3x weekly, year-round flights to Dakar, Senegal. Delta already flies to Dakar, so United will be the second US airline to fly there. With this, United will also finally beat Delta in terms of serving more destinations in Africa.
United will use a Boeing 767-300 for the route.
United’s Newark (EWR) to Madeira, Portugal (FNC) route
As of June 7, 2025, United will launch 3x weekly, summer seasonal flights to Madeira, Portugal. United will be the first US airline to fly to Madeira, and in total, United will serve five destinations in Portugal next summer, as this complements flights to Faro (FAO), Lisbon (LIS), Ponta Delgada (PDL), and Porto (OPO).
The route will be operated by a Boeing 737 MAX 8.
United’s Newark (EWR) to Faro, Portugal (FAO) route
As of May 16, 2025, United will launch 4x weekly, summer seasonal flights to Faro, Portugal. United will be the first US airline to fly to Faro, and in total. The route will be operated by a Boeing 757-200. United was actually supposed to launch this route in 2024, but it got delayed, after United was unable to add new routes due to a safety audit.
United Airlines’ expansion to existing destinations
In addition to adding service to eight new destinations, United Airlines will also be adding new routes to some existing destinations:
- As of May 22, 2025, United will begin daily seasonal flights between Washington (IAD) and Venice, Italy (VCE)
- As of May 24, 2025, United will begin 4x weekly seasonal flights between Washington (IAD) and Nice, France (NCE)
Furthermore, United will add year-round, nonstop flights between Tokyo (NRT) and Koror, Palau (ROR). This is an existing seasonal destination, so it’s cool to see that it will be extended.
United is also expanding the length of the season or increasing frequencies for some existing summer seasonal routes, including flights from Newark (EWR) to Athens, Greece (ATH), Dubrovnik, Croatia (DBV), and Palma de Mallorca, Spain (PMI). The same is true for San Francisco (SFO) to Barcelona, Spain (BCN), as well as Chicago (ORD) to Athens, Greece (ATH).
My take on United Airlines’ international expansion
As I’ve long said, United Airlines is in a league of its own when it comes to the creativity and scale of its international network. There’s not even any competition, as American and Delta are so focused on their joint venture hubs, and don’t really think outside the box when it comes to the routes they add otherwise.
Given the amount of summer seasonal expansion we’ve seen from US airlines in recent years, I always think “well, what’s really left to add?” I think this round of additions highlights a level of creativity we’ve never seen before at a US airline. I didn’t think we’d see the day where a US airline flies to Greenland or Mongolia.
United’s SVP of Global Network Planning and Alliances, Patrick Quayle, has simply built a network that’s unrivaled, and it’s nice to see how there’s no end in sight to the growth.
Now, to be fair, are these routes individually likely to be massively profitable, or to have a material impact on United’s bottom line? No, I don’t think Greenland and Mongolia are going to be United’s highest yield destinations.
However, I’d make two points. First of all, United is able to do much of this expansion in a pretty low risk way. I mean, six of the eight routes are operated by narrow body jets, and four of them don’t even have flat beds (the 757s have flat beds, while the 737s don’t). The airline isn’t utilizing that many resources here, and clearly views this as a gamble that’s worth giving a shot.
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.
It’s worth keeping in mind that this expansion is coming at a time when United is limited in terms of its growth, as the airline isn’t growing its fleet much, due to delivery delays at both Boeing and Airbus. So I almost feel like United is intentionally taking a different approach this time around, focusing on breadth rather than depth.
Bottom line
United Airlines has announced an exciting international expansion for 2025, as the airline will add eight new international destinations to its route map. Seven of these destinations aren’t served by any other US airlines, which gives you a sense of just how unique this service is.
What do you make of United’s international expansion for 2025?
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