A couple of weeks ago we saw American Airlines make a big international route announcement, and it’s expected that they’ll make another route announcement soon.
They’re not the only airline with a big announcement coming, though. On social media United has hinted at announcing new international routes tomorrow at 10AM CT.
New international routes landing tomorrow. Any guesses? pic.twitter.com/xXwDrd9Qh2
— United Airlines (@united) August 21, 2019
United posted a video to go along with it showing San Francisco, Denver, Chicago, and New York, though I’m not sure if that’s just stock footage reflecting their hubs, or if it suggests that we’ll actually see new routes out of all of those cities.
I’m really excited about this announcement. Of the “big three” US carriers, United is by far the most creative when it comes to adding long haul routes. It has been really fun to see the way they’ve grown.
While American shies away from ultra long haul flying, and while Delta is extremely conservative with anything not involving Europe, United really tries all kinds of new things.
They’ve launched some ultra long haul flights, like San Francisco to Singapore and Houston to Sydney, and they’ve also launched some really creative seasonal routes, like Newark to Cape Town. Late last year they announced a big international expansion out of San Francisco, as they’re launching San Francisco to Delhi, San Francisco to Melbourne, and more.
It’s anyone’s guess how exciting this announcement will be. Could we see one (or many) new route that will catch us off guard, or is this most likely just an announcement of some new summer seasonal flying between the US and Europe?
If I had to guess:
- I think some additional summer seasonal flying to Europe is a given, especially to Eastern Europe
- Could we see year-round expansion to Europe out of Denver and San Francisco, since they’ve been growing those markets slowly but steadily?
- Could we see a new route to Asia out of San Francisco, given how United has been building up a greater transpacific hub there?
- With United’s strength in Tel Aviv, and with American having announced a new route from Dallas to Tel Aviv, could we see United launch a Houston to Tel Aviv flight?
What new international routes do you think United will launch?
flights direct to Sevilla from Philadelphia Pa or Newark Nj
@Dave -- "I can’t find any United flights to BKK. When did this happen?"
It doesn't look like any USA airlines have direct operations out of BKK ... AA/DL/HA/UA all use alliance/partner airlines to reach that market. BKK once again failed its ICAO Category 1 rating qualifications this past February ... don't know if that has any bearings on USA airlines missing from there?
www[.]onemileatatime[.]com/thailand-fails-faa-safety-audit/ <== (remove [ ] surrounding "." in URL)
@Dave -- "I can’t find any United flights to BKK. When did this happen?"
It doesn't look like any USA airlines have direct operations out of BKK ... AA/DL/HA/UA all use alliance/partner airlines to reach that market. BKK once again failed its ICAO Category 1 rating qualifications this past February ... don't know if that has any bearings on USA airlines missing from there?
www[.]onemileatatime[.]com/thailand-fails-faa-safety-audit/ <== (remove [ ] surrounding "." in URL)
I can't find any United flights to BKK. When did this happen?
@brad
Fake news. Don't trust everything you read on the internet, especially from bloggers.
A category 2 means that country's FAA equivalent does not meet standards and therefore, operators from those country does not meet standards.
In short, UA can launch SFO-BKK but TG cannot launch BKK-SFO.
Now what most bloggers don't know but airlines do know, is you CANNOT codeshare with airlines from category 2 country. This is probably the reason UA will...
@brad
Fake news. Don't trust everything you read on the internet, especially from bloggers.
A category 2 means that country's FAA equivalent does not meet standards and therefore, operators from those country does not meet standards.
In short, UA can launch SFO-BKK but TG cannot launch BKK-SFO.
Now what most bloggers don't know but airlines do know, is you CANNOT codeshare with airlines from category 2 country. This is probably the reason UA will not fly to BKK as they cannot market anything beyond BKK. Basically UA cannot get TG to feed passengers, not even from within Thailand.
Will united ever fly or stop over to fiji.
Older article, but here's why Bangkok, BKK cannot (currently) be flown direct to/from any US markets until safety re-certification by the FAA. https://leaveyourdailyhell.com/2016/12/19/nonstop-flights-us-thailand/
Newark to Budapest?
@UA-NYC as clueless as ever, sez: "
- DCS you are out of your element here.
- Still to Baghdad Bob pronouncements about Hilton.
- UA has put SFO and EWR up top for general expansion.
- Everything else is second tier as hubs. IAH isn’t the same for them now.
- Show me all the Asia/Europe/Africa expansion out of there…whoops."
It seems like it is time for an another...
@UA-NYC as clueless as ever, sez: "
- DCS you are out of your element here.
- Still to Baghdad Bob pronouncements about Hilton.
- UA has put SFO and EWR up top for general expansion.
- Everything else is second tier as hubs. IAH isn’t the same for them now.
- Show me all the Asia/Europe/Africa expansion out of there…whoops."
It seems like it is time for an another blog entry at 'TravelRealityCheck' to educate the uneducable. I will present incontrovertible evidence that the claim about IAH being a "second tier hub" is **factually ignorant.** Come back here for a link or I will post it elsewhere, even if it would be off-topic because the info I will provide will be of general interest as it will demonstrate, **graphically**, what UA's 'philosophy' is to try to make the most each of its hubs.
It will also conclusively prove who is the real "Baghdad Bob"...
Stay tuned!
CLE – TLV per Dan's Deals
Houston to Tel Aviv to take on AA Dallas to Tel Aviv
BKK, whilst it does have the demand, is mostly price sensitive low-yield VFR (Visiting Family Relatives) with a large backpacker/tourist market. BKK and Thailand in general has very low business demand to make a LAX/SFO-BKK ULR non-stop flight viable.
If there was a customised economy heavy LCC plane that can fly USA-BKK non-stop to suit the low yielding tourist/VFR nature of the Thailand market, UA via a "specialised international Long Haul Low Cost subsidiary" would've...
BKK, whilst it does have the demand, is mostly price sensitive low-yield VFR (Visiting Family Relatives) with a large backpacker/tourist market. BKK and Thailand in general has very low business demand to make a LAX/SFO-BKK ULR non-stop flight viable.
If there was a customised economy heavy LCC plane that can fly USA-BKK non-stop to suit the low yielding tourist/VFR nature of the Thailand market, UA via a "specialised international Long Haul Low Cost subsidiary" would've returned to the Thailand route by now.
As for BNE, it is already saturated with QF/AA and VA/DL. UA also doesn't have an Australian partner, apart from a third party interline agreement with QF. Which would make it difficult on the BNE end (rely mostly on O&D). Most of the business demand ex-BNE would've been absorbed by QF/AA and VA/DL.
I sure wish something would be truly international out of Nashville. So frustrating to always have to connect to other east coast cities to get to Europe!
How about United refrain from letting passengers being beaten the living crap out of.
Should be a route from JFK to LON STN if they had any sense
I would say that is ORD-KIX.
DCS you are out of your element here. Still to Baghdad Bob pronouncements about Hilton.
UA has put SFO and EWR up top for general expansion. Everything else is second tier as hubs.
IAH isn’t the same for them now. Show me all the Asia/Europe/Africa expansion out of there...whoops.
LAX does NOT need to have feeder service. Us Southern Californians travel everywhere and people come to LA to start their US trips thus LAX is the largest O/D airport in the world. LAX will get more United love when the United project is completed.
I did the San Francisco to Singapore and Sydney to Houston flights. They turned on the fasten seatbelt sign at least 15 times. United is not a good airline to fly if you want to sleep. Also the 777 aircraft with ten across in economy is too tight. United, get some Airbus A350's.
It will be EWR-ZAG, all year round..
The last "historic" new route announcement was pretty much a bust, so I guess we'll see if Oscar can do better this time.
Newark to Seville
Wouldn't mind seeing SFO-BLR, or an even longer shot, SFO-MAA! Not sure if they have the aircraft for it though.
With AA also reportedly getting ready to announce their second round of new routes, what are the chances UA and AA announce on the same day? Would they coordinate to separate their announcement dates? Seems like they wouldn’t want to take the wind out of each other’s sails.
@Ryan
I don't understand why connectivity is important when Bangkok and LA are both huge cities with massive populations. I'm sure O&D could account for most of the plane, and regardless, there is still connectivity in LA on United (and from BKK on Thai).
@AlanD absolutely agreed. I know it’s a long shot but i want nothing more than another DEN>Asia route. ICN is a maybe but i think of the Asia hubs UA has a presence at and the best would be HKG i think. Not sure if they can fit a demand for that route or the right plane but given their HKG presence it might work? Otherwise yes ICN is second closest then PEK or even...
@AlanD absolutely agreed. I know it’s a long shot but i want nothing more than another DEN>Asia route. ICN is a maybe but i think of the Asia hubs UA has a presence at and the best would be HKG i think. Not sure if they can fit a demand for that route or the right plane but given their HKG presence it might work? Otherwise yes ICN is second closest then PEK or even PVG. While im loving DEN>FRA for my flight in October Im hoping DEN isnt just one more European route.
UA-NYC sez: "News flash – IAH just isn’t as important to UA anymore. This isn’t Continental where it was AirEWR/IAH. It is fully second tier now among the hubs."
That is a **factually** ignorant statement.
New routes to South America would be interesting... They could capitalize the slack of uncertainty in the Star Alliance aviation market there...
Would rather they initiate a flight from Denver to Juneau AK before adding more international routes.
Predictions:
SFO-BKK/SGN/CAN/MNL
EWR-CAI/IST/BUD/KRK
ORD-TLV/DEL
DEN-MEX/AMS/MUC
Crossing my fingers for some DEN-Asia expansion.
I tried to watch the video for hints and clues but it gave me a seizure instead.
Chris: As I stated earlier, BKK is impossible due to US regulations blocking Thailand. If it ever does happen, I ma certain it would be SFO and not LAX. One word: Connectivity.
I am thinking Denver is going to be the big winner. To where I have no idea.
@Rafael You MUST live near Campinas because, my god, no one wants to drive there, lol!
Hope more than expectation: ORD-BOM on 77W/77L
***** SFO - CAN *****
Newark to Barbados
SFO to Bali
HNL-MNL, SFO-GUM
The return of EWR to HAM!
Amidst all the speculation about new routes etc there is no speculation that UA will begin to provide a good customer service on the ground or in the air.
Now that would be exciting (if farfetched)!
Perhaps DEN-ZRH
Currently served by Edelwiess but they suffer from capacity issues and therefore cannot expand beyond 2 weekly. So if they (UA, WK and LX) join up, something like 5 weekly should be sustainable year around.
On the domestic UAX front, increased frequency to Santa Rosa, Ca.
They promised to extend the DEN-LHR service to year-round when it returned for year two this year, but backed out of that. Given that Norwegian just switched the LGW to seasonal from DEN, I don’t think the winter demand is there with BA already flying a daily 747.
Norwegian hasn’t confirmed CDG returning for next summer, so I suspect UA might add seasonal service from DEN-CDG. I’d love to see seasonal DEN-DUB since the...
They promised to extend the DEN-LHR service to year-round when it returned for year two this year, but backed out of that. Given that Norwegian just switched the LGW to seasonal from DEN, I don’t think the winter demand is there with BA already flying a daily 747.
Norwegian hasn’t confirmed CDG returning for next summer, so I suspect UA might add seasonal service from DEN-CDG. I’d love to see seasonal DEN-DUB since the EI plans have never come to fruition.
Maybe given the success of DEN-NRT we could finally see DEN-PEK or DEN-ICN?
We desperately need more long haul international here.
IAD - DXB
This is way past due.
I have on strong authority that UA plans announce LAX-BKK nonstop.
How about IAD-PVG or IAD-ICN?
I think IAD-WAW would work well too.
Would love to see EWR TO Marrakech. There have been talks of Seville.
Budapest??
Expecting a new route from SFO, maybe FCO seasonal?
@Too Much Flying
Um. Typo? UA is most definitely not flying from DVD Airport (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andavadoaka_Airport) in Madagascar to GOH. Perhaps you meant IAD or, more likely, EWR?
While a long shot, either one of those would be a really cool route.
Would love to see some new routes out of IAD. United doesn't give it too much international love.
GRU - SFO, it would be great another option of nonstop to the west coast
Houston-Campinas (VCP)
@UA-NYC -- "It is fully second tier now among the hubs."
Nevertheless, it does have one of United's only five currently existing domestic Polaris (VIP) Lounges!
@Tom : it's not that UA is purposely ignoring IAH, and you do realize even if they got all the TPAC love before IAD and DEN did, that would be UA's *FIFTH* TPAC gateway, but since IAD exists, IAH is SIXTH place at best.
IAH-DME
IAH-HKG
SFO-CAN
ORD-BOM
News flash - IAH just isn’t as important to UA anymore. This isn’t Continental where it was AirEWR/IAH. It is fully second tier now among the hubs.
@Econometrics Those were already announced. https://onemileatatime.com/dot-haneda-slots/
UA really needs more nonstop to east Asia from IAH. Air China, EVA, ANA have really good load factors out of Houston and this includes UAs IAH-NRT route as well. My ideal route would be IAH-HKG. Houston is a huge international city with so many Asian cultures so I think it's a natural fit.
Delta flight attendant told me yesterday that they are stopping LAX to AMS. I'm shocked. Is this true?
Did United ever announce the route awards they got for the HND slots?
If not, this could very well be that. ...which would be incredibly overhyped.
Newark to Seville, Spain has been rumored for a long time. I would not be surprised to see this announced tomorrow, they would be the first US flag carrier to Seville.
I believe UA would launch BKK when they can. The US has still banned Thailand from direct flights to the US. Ludicrous.
My friend in the Operations Center at Willis Tower confirmed a new DVD-GOH route. Seems like it might be temporary, but who knows?
SFO-BNE seems like a good bet. There seems to be an almost bottomless well of demand between the Bay Area and Australia right now.
It would be great to have another route to Asia.
I think IAH-TLV is unlikely, at least until they are able to grow frequency on IAD-TLV. ORD-TLV is possible, but only because El Al has announced the same...
@Evan- they just don't have the feed to support anything else from LAX. Almost all the natural feed goes to SFO.
EWR-ZAG, maybe switching EWR-ATH to full year?
It would be useful to know when their Polaris retrofits will be completed.
I've never understood UA's only LAX non-stop to Europe being limited to LHR. Show Los Angeles some love, United!
Secretly hoping for SFO-BRU or IAH-BRU but I guess it won’t happen.
1) Fingers crossed for SFO-AMS to be made year round
2) Resumption of service to Istanbul - to the new IST
3) Resumption of service to Dubai
4) Fingers crossed WestCoast to MXP or FCO - which would be in competition with Air Italy
Some Guesses:
- ORD - TLV
- IAD - TXL (more aspirational than an actual guess)
- SFO - BKK (would have a lot of connectivity with Thai Airways)
- SFO - MNL (this one has no basis, but United already flies their from Guam, and I could see them wanting to compete with PAL on nonstop flights from the US mainland to Manila)
- EWR/IAH - GYE (United hinted at it in the Twitter comments section)
- SFO - FCO
- SFO - NAN
- EWR - DXB
@Ricky lol
Bucharest?
my bet is they're launching SFO-GRU!
US West Coast to GRU in under served in my opinion with only AA's LAX-GRU and Latam's LAS-GRU.
Fingers crossed for the IAD-Middle East routes making a return...
I saw someone post on Twitter saying DC to Greenland
I could definitely see them trying to jump into the BNE market to compete with joint venture expansions DL / VA and AA/QF.
Otherwise, seems like everyone's holding out for SFO-BKK which seems like a stretch!