United Airlines already has the most extensive international route network of any US-based carrier, and its global network has just gotten even more ambitious with new routes to Adelaide, Bangkok, and Ho Chi Minh City.
Announcing the expansion at a special ceremony at San Francisco International Airport on Wednesday, United chief executive Scott Kirby laid out plans to become the only US airline to serve the capital cities of Thailand and Vietnam, as well as the only US airline to offer non-stop flights to Adelaide.
Starting from October 26, United will serve Bangkok and Ho Chi Minh City as tag flights from Hong Kong, offering one-stop connections from Los Angeles and San Francisco, while Adelaide will start as a standalone non-stop service from San Francisco beginning on December 11.
Undeterred by the possibility of an economic slowdown, United’s senior vice president for global network planning, Patrick Quayle, sounded upbeat about the airline;’s latest expansion.
“At United, we’re changing the way people think about where they travel – by offering the greatest access to see and explore the world, whether it’s for relaxation, adventure or business,” Quayle commented.
“We offer more than the best schedule and travel options – we connect customers to sought after destinations and opportunities to explore new, vibrant cities.”
United’s presence in Australia
With the addition of Adelaide, United will become the only US carrier to serve four major Australian cities with non-stop flights from the United States. The Adelaide route will be a winter-seasonal route, flying three times per week from San Francisco on a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner.
The airline already Sydney, Brisbane, and Melbourne.
United’s presence in the Pacific
With the new flights announced on Wednesday, United will now serve 32 destinations across the Pacific – a feat that the airline says cements its status as the world’s largest airline measured in available seat miles.
The new service to Bangkok will be operated as a short two-and-a-half-hour tag flight from Hong Kong, which United flies to from both Los Angeles and San Francisco.
The flight to Ho Chi Minh City will also operate as a tag flight from Hong Kong with a slightly shorter flight time of around two hours. Both flights will operate daily on a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner.
In addition, United will add a second daily flight between San Francisco and Manila in the Philippines aboard a Boeing 777-300, with both a daytime and evening departure available. The second daily service will also commence in October.
This is certainly a turnaround for United, given the fact that the carrier was temporarily barred from launching new routes last year when the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) opened a safety probe following a slew of mishaps and accidents.
Thankfully, the FAA didn’t take long to give United a clean bill of health and the prohibition on new route launches was lifted in May 2024.
The probe meant that United was forced to delay the start of a highly anticipated new route to Cebu, Philippines until October 2024, while a summer seasonal route to Faro, Portugal, was pushed back to this year.
