A bit over a week ago, United Airlines announced an international expansion (after teasing it on social media). I wanted to post a quick update, as two of the three new routes are now bookable, including the most exciting new route.
United adds Newark to Marrakesh route
As of October 24, 2024, United will launch a 3x weekly winter seasonal flight between Newark (EWR) and Marrakesh (RAK) in Morocco. The flight will operate with the following schedule:
UA628 Newark to Marrakesh departing 9:45PM arriving 10:20AM (+1 day)
UA627 Marrakesh to Newark departing 12:20PM arriving 4:25PM
The 3,664-mile route is blocked at 8hr35min eastbound (Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays) and 8hr5min westbound (Sundays, Wednesdays, Fridays). It will be operated by a Boeing 767-300ER, featuring 46 Polaris (business class) seats, 22 Premium Plus (premium economy) seats, 43 Economy Plus (extra legroom economy) seats, and 56 economy seats.
United will become the first US airline to fly to Morocco, and for that matter, will be one of the only airlines to fly across the Atlantic directly to Marrakesh. Air Transat is also launching a seasonal service to there from Montreal as of June 2024.
Currently most of the transatlantic capacity to Morocco is on oneworld member Royal Air Maroc, though the airline routes most of its traffic through Casablanca (CMN), even though that’s not the tourist hotspot.
United has a pretty awesome network to Africa, as the airline flies to Accra (ACC), Cape Town (CPT), Johannesburg (JNB), and Lagos (LOS), in addition to this new route. If nothing else, this is a great use of an aircraft in winter, when demand to Europe is otherwise a bit lighter.
United adds Tokyo Narita to Cebu route
As of July 31, 2024, United will launch daily year-round nonstop flights between Tokyo (NRT) and Cebu (CEB) in the Philippines. The flight will operate with the following schedule:
UA32 Tokyo to Cebu departing 5:25PM arriving 9:35PM
UA33 Cebu to Tokyo departing 9:15AM arriving 3:20PM
The 2,033-mile route is blocked at 5hr10min southbound and 5hr5min northbound. It will be operated by a Boeing 737-800. In addition to serving the point to point market, this will offer easy access to Cebu for those connecting from the United States on United.
As far as service to the Philippines goes, this complements United’s service from San Francisco (SFO), Guam (GUM), and Palau (ROR), to Manila (MNL).
United adds Houston to Medellin route
As of October 27, 2024, United will launch daily year-round nonstop flights between Houston (IAH) and Medellin (MDE) in Colombia. The 2,090-mile route will be operated by a Boeing 737 MAX 8. This expands United’s presence in Colombia, complementing existing service from Houston and Newark to Bogota.
American is currently the only one of the “big three” US airlines flying to Medellin, so United is following American here, for once (though JetBlue and Spirit also fly there). With two of the three carriers now flying to Medellin, I’m curious if Delta adds service as well.
Bottom line
United Airlines will be adding three new international routes, the most interesting of which is a new winter seasonal service between Newark and Marrakesh. It’s awesome that there will finally be a US airline flying nonstop to Morocco, and it’s cool that this service is to Marrakesh rather than Casablanca.
United’s international network is simply unrivaled among the “big three” US carriers, and this is yet another example of that.
What do you make of United’s latest international expansion?
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