United Airlines is preparing a major push for London, with the airline announcing five extra flights, making a total of 22 flights a day between the USA and London.
United Airlines Boeing 767-300ER with departing Chicago O’Hare- Image, Economy Class and Beyond
The five extra flights to London Heathrow are
- 2 x flights from Newark, NJ. The sixth and seventh daily flights from New York/Newark, each of which will be operated by United’s premium Boeing 767-300ER and allow for hourly service in the evening.
- 1 x Additional daily flight from Denver, CO, with the second flight being operated by a Boeing 787-9
- 1 x additional flight from San Francisco, CA, with three flights a day, the additional flight being operated by a Boeing 787-9
- 1 x new flight from Boston, MA utilising a Boeing 767 Premium (with 46 Polaris Business Class, 22 United Premium Plus seats)
- In addition, the London from Los Angeles service will go back to operating daily.
The new flights begin in March of 2022.
United will offer 22 flights per day from the U.S. to London, and more flights between New York City and London than any other U.S. carrier.
For United Airlines, London was the most booked international destination for United’s business customers in October, and the airline expects this trend to continue into 2022.
United currently operates a total of seven flights to Heathrow from the U.S.: two daily flights from New York/Newark and Washington D.C., and one daily flight from Chicago, Houston, and San Francisco. In December, service will increase to 10 daily flights, with additional flights from New York/Newark and Chicago, just in time for the winter holidays.
In Quotes
Patrick Quayle, senior vice president of international network and alliances at United said:
“For nearly 30 years, United has provided a critical link between the U.S. and London, maintaining service throughout the pandemic and strategically growing our schedule to keep our customers in these key global business centers connected,” said
“London is an integral part of United’s network and we remain confident demand will continue to grow, particularly as international business travel returns in 2022.”
Filling those seats
It seems that United Airlines is forecasting that its passenger base wants to connect with London – be it for business or pleasure. And United is giving options to those passengers who want to travel – either directly, or through its major hubs.
For passengers, a choice of times to travel is always welcome.
The hard part as usual will be ensuring those seats are all filled on those flights. The load factors on these flights will be interesting to watch.
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The Boston add is interesting…United is a small player in BOS, only offering flights to their hubs and a few seasonal flights to Florida. I’m not sure they have enough local presence in Boston to fill the seats with so little connecting traffic. On the other hand, Star doesn’t have any nonstop flights to London from BOS, although there are several connecting opportunities over European partner hubs or UA’s own hubs in the US.
Maybe a half-arsed attempt to get a foot in the door before JetBlue adds service to LHR or LGW? Or just another “throw an arrow at the map and give it a try?” Or just slot utilization?
Good question. I suspect it’s a mixture of getting in where they can muscle some corporate sales, as well as attack those who serve BOS.
Intresting times