United Airlines is planning a robust schedule expansion ahead of the anticipated busy winter season. The expansion will be on the trans-Atlantic routes, the airline said to meet the growing customer demands. By next summer, United will fly to 37 cities in Europe, Africa, India, and the Middle East with a total number of scheduled flights more than any other US airline combined.
The airline recently reported a strong summer for European travel with the demand higher than 20% from 2019.
Patrick Quayle, United’s senior vice president of global network planning and alliances, said: “This is a schedule we believe we can operate. We are working closely with airports and other industry members to ensure it isn’t overshooting. We estimate that United’s trans-Atlantic schedule during the peak summer period next year will be 30% larger than 2019 and 10% bigger than 2022.”
United's summer 2023 schedule will include three new destinations, four new city pairs, and additional frequency on other routes, the airline said. The new cities are Dubai in the Middle East; Malaga, Spain; and Stockholm, Sweden.
United is resuming its summer service from Washington-Dulles International Airport to Barcelona from May 5, 2023. A new route to Barcelona is also being launched from Chicago O'Hare International Airport. Service from Chicago to Barcelona will begin on May 25, 2023.
It will also bring back destinations including a nonstop flight from its Newark Liberty International Airport hub in New Jersey and Stockholm on a Boeing 757 on May 27. It last served that city in 2019. The airline is also making a return to Sweden, after cutting its EWR-ARN flights in September 2019. Beginning on May 28, United will fly from Newark to Stockholm once daily.
Sources have confirmed that United is planning to introduce new routes to Japan. Tokyo Haneda will see four new routes from the United and one resumption. In 2023, United is launching flights to Haneda from Los Angeles, Chicago, Newark, and Washington DC. United is also planning to launch some flights to China.
Patrick added: “Next summer United is offering the best of both worlds: we're making it easier for our customers to visit the most popular cities in Europe, but we're also expanding our reach to give travellers access to new places they haven't yet experienced. We expect another busy summer for international travel and are proud to build on our industry-leading global network to offer our customers the widest range of destinations and most convenient travel options.