In a groundbreaking move, United Airlines has announced plans to add 10 new international cities and three additional routes to their network in 2027. This expansion is being hailed as the largest in the airline’s 100-year history.
The new destinations include Okinawa, Japan from San Francisco, Toulouse, France from Washington Dulles, and eight cities from Newark: Luxembourg City, Marseille, France, Ibiza and Valencia, Spain, Terceira, Portugal, Ljubljana, Slovenia, and the Italian cities of Olbia and Catania.
According to United, eight of these destinations are not currently served by any other U. S. airline, and seven have no nonstop service to the U. S. This expansion will provide travelers with more options and increase connectivity to these international destinations.
The new route between San Francisco and Okinawa will begin on March 27 and operate three times a week until October 27, using a Boeing 777-200 aircraft. This will be followed by daily, year-round service between Newark and Luxembourg starting on April 2 and daily, year-round flights between Washington Dulles and Toulouse on April 26, both using United’s new Airbus A321XLR.
During a press conference, Patrick Quayle, United’s senior vice president of global network planning and alliances, stated that the Toulouse route was designed to connect Airbus’ North American headquarters near Dulles with their global headquarters in France.
In addition to these new routes, United will also be adding four weekly flights between Newark and Ljubljana on May 12, three weekly flights to Olbia on May 27, and four weekly flights to Catania on May 28, all using Boeing 767 aircraft. They will also be offering four-times-weekly service from Newark to Ibiza starting on May 31, three weekly flights to Valencia on June 2, and daily service to Marseille on June 4, all operated by the A321XLR. The final new destination, Terceira in Portugal’s Azores, will receive three weekly Boeing 737 MAX 8 flights from Newark between June 9 and September 5.
United will also be adding daily, year-round service from Los Angeles to Osaka, Japan starting on March 27, using a Boeing 787-9 aircraft. This will complement their existing flights to Osaka from San Francisco and Guam. Quayle noted that the favorable exchange rates and broader interest in Japan are contributing to the demand for U. S. travelers.
The airline will also be launching daily, year-round service between Denver and Paris on May 27, and three weekly flights between Washington Dulles and Milan starting on May 28. Quayle also mentioned that Milan is the largest unserved international market from Dulles.
It’s worth noting that this expansion will not come at the expense of existing international routes. Quayle assured that everything is coming back and no routes will be dropped to fund this expansion.