Denver Airport is one of United’s major domestic hubs, though the airline has limited longhaul service out of the airport. United’s only year-round longhaul flight from Denver is to Tokyo Narita, while they also have a seasonal flight to London Heathrow.
Now United has announced that they’ll launch daily nonstop flights between Denver and Frankfurt as of May 2, 2019, making it their first year-round transatlantic flight from the airport.
This new route will be operated by a Boeing 787-8 with the following schedule:
UA182 Denver to Frankfurt departing 3:40PM arriving 9:20AM (+1 day)
UA181 Frankfurt to Denver departing 11:05AM arriving 1:20PM
The flight will cover a distance of 5,040 miles in each direction, and is blocked at 9hr40min eastbound and 10hr15min westbound.
The new flight is already bookable, though as of now I don’t see much saver level award availability (it’s possible it will be loaded soon, though).
As of now the 787-8 scheduled to operate the route features United’s old business class seats. The plane has a total of 219 seats, including 36 business class seats and 183 economy seats.
United’s old business class product
United already operates more flights to Germany than any other US airline, and this represents their 15th daily nonstop flight between the US and Germany. Their presence in Germany is so strong given their joint venture with Lufthansa.
United currently offers nonstop flights to Frankfurt from Chicago, Houston, Newark, San Francisco, and Washington Dulles.
What’s interesting is that Lufthansa also offers a daily nonstop flight between Denver and Frankfurt using a Boeing 747-400. The two airlines have a joint venture, so for all practical purposes they plan these routes together. I imagine Denver must be performing really well for them to add an additional 787.
While Denver as such is a pretty sizable market, I imagine much of the motivation for this route is that Denver is a great connecting hub for United, so United would rather funnel passengers through this airport than what’s capacity controlled or more prone to delays.
Personally if I were connecting and flying business class I’d avoid this flight, though. Not only will the route have United’s old business class, but it’s also the only hub airport at which United isn’t planning on opening a Polaris Lounge, so business class passengers would just have access to the United Club.
United’s Polaris Lounge Houston
What do you make of United’s new Denver to Frankfurt flight?
(Tip of the hat to Brad B)
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