1 week Ago By Rytis Beresnevičius
During the upcoming summer season, United Airlines has added capacity and new routes to several long-haul international destinations from San Francisco International Airport (SFO) as it continues to grow its international network on the West Coast of the United States. At the same time, while frequencies have not been reduced on any international long-haul routes, some connections with a stage length of over 4,000 kilometers (2,159 nautical miles) will have fewer seats year-on-year (YoY) in July. Adding four new long-haul routes from San Francisco According to data from the aviation analytics company Cirium’s Diio Mi airline planning tool, United Airlines will operate at least four new routes in July that it had not flown in July 2024.
The four routes, two of which are one-stop itineraries, are all over 4,000 km (2,159 NMI). This includes new direct flights from San Francisco to Panama City Tocumen International Airport (PTY) and to San Jose Juan Santamaría International Airport (SJO). The other two are one-stop itineraries from the Californian city, namely flight UA837 to Kaohsiung International Airport (KHH) via Tokyo Narita International Airport (NRT) and flight UA587 to Montréal–Trudeau International Airport (YUL) via Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD).
United Airlines also serves Montreal directly, offering flight UA2070 to its customers. In July, the four routes, as well as the direct connection to Montreal, will be flown daily, according to Cirium’s Diio Mi. This includes flights from Tokyo-Narita to Mongolia and Taiwan.
Capacity adjustments At the same time, some routes will see slight adjustments in terms of capacity during the month, with either more or fewer seats offered according to what can be only assumed to be demand or other operational reasons as United Airlines switches aircraft types that will fly some of these itineraries in July. On flights to Sydney Airport (SYD) and Beijing Capital International Airport (PEK), the carrier reduced the number of weekly departing seats by 21.1%.
Both routes, which were flown by Boeing 777-300ER aircraft in July 2024, will now see 777-200ERs, which, compared to the former, have 74 fewer seats, including ten fewer business class and 64 fewer economy class seats. In July 2024, United Airlines’ double-daily flights from San Francisco to Frankfurt Airport (FRA) were both operated by the 777-300ER, with the route now switching to one itinerary, flight UA926, being flown with a 777-200ER. On flights to London Heathrow Airport (LHR), instead of the July 2024 trio of 777-200ER, 777-300ER, and 787-9 aircraft, the airline will now use its 777-200ER and 787-9s to operate the triple-daily itinerary, with the former aircraft type being assigned to flight UA901 and UA948.
This will result in 8.4% fewer seats YoY. Lastly, instead of the 777-200ER and 787-9 operating the double-daily flights to Seoul Incheon International Airport (ICN), in July, United Airlines will utilize the 787-9 on the UA805 and UA839 itineraries to the South Korean capital.
The map above displays all of United Airlines’ international long-haul routes that have a scheduled stage length of more than 4,000 km (2,159 NMI) in July. The carrier will offer nearly five times more seats than its competitors at the hub this summer. Adding further long-haul connections Nevertheless, San Francisco will receive additional long-haul connections when the current summer season ends, as on April 2, the airline announced three new routes and an increase in frequencies on one.
This includes new flights to Adelaide Airport (ADL) and new fifth-freedom flights from San Francisco and Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) to Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK) and Ho Chi Minh City Tan Son Nhat International Airport (SNG) via Hong Kong International Airport (HKG). At the time, United Airlines said that the sale of tickets to Adelaide, as well as the additional daily connection to Manila Ninoy Aquino International Airport (MNL), were on sale, while flights to Bangkok and Ho Chi Minh City via Hong Kong were still pending government approval (so is the second-daily flight to Manila, yet United Airlines is already selling tickets). Flights to Bangkok and Ho Chi Minh City should begin on October 26, while the new flight to Adelaida will begin on December 11.
The second daily departure from San Francisco to Manila is scheduled to start on October 25. In addition, United Airlines announced daily flights to Bangkok and Ho Chi Minh City, both served via Hong Kong..
