United Airlines Announces 10 New International Routes for Summer 2027
by Daniel McCarthy
Photo: United Airlines
United Airlines is readying the largest international expansion in its history, rolling out 10 new international routes to Europe and Asia for next summer, along with the debut of a new aircraft.
Most notably, of the 10 cities included in the expansion, eight are not currently served nonstop by any other U.S. airline. They go beyond the overcrowded, large European cities, deeper into countries that travelers return to. Patrick Quayle, Senior Vice President of Global Network Planning and Alliances, United, said the goal is to build “a global network with the breadth and reach to set travel trends and inspire even the most discerning travelers to discover somewhere new.”
The expansion will start next spring from three U.S. airports-Newark Liberty (EWR), United’s long-standing New York City-area hub; Washington Dulles (IAD); and San Francisco (SFO).
From EWR, United will start flying to Luxembourg City (LUX), Marseille (MRS), Ibiza (IBZ), Valencia (VLC), Terceira (TER), Ljubljana (LJU), Olbia (OLB), and Catania (CTA).
From IAD, United will fly to Toulouse (TLS).
And from SFO, it will fly to Okinawa (OKA).
At the same time, United will expand some of its more popular international service and restart older routes. That includes new daily nonstop service from Los Angeles (LAX) to Osaka (KIX), new three-times-weekly service from IAD to Milan (MXP), new daily nonstop service from Denver (DEN) to Paris (CDG), and three-times-weekly service from SFO back to Tel Aviv (TLV).
The expansion is being carried by the addition of a new fleet of Airbus A321XLR aircraft to United’s fleet. United will fly the A321XLRs to new destinations like Ibiza, Luxembourg, Marseille, Toulouse, and Valencia on the jets, which are essentially a Boeing 757 replacement for the airline.
The A321XLR is a single-aisle jet that includes United Polaris, Economy, and Economy Plus cabins, along with a walk-up snack bar in Economy. While the jets cannot go to every destination that United’s wide-body aircraft can, they can reach near-in destinations in Europe and Africa.
