United Airlines Adds San Francisco to Brisbane Flight

Starting in October, United Airlines will offer nonstop service between Brisbane and San Francisco, an addition it says makes it the first U.S. airline to add a transpacific destination since the start of the pandemic.

United, which also currently flies to Sydney from San Francisco and Los Angeles along with Melbourne, will operate the Brisbane service three times weekly on a 787-9 Dreamliner that includes 48 lie-flat Polaris business class seats along with 21 Premium Plus seats, and 39 Economy Plus seats.

From Brisbane, guests will be able to connect to 20 other Australian cities via United’s partnership with Virgin Australia.

"With United's strong history in Australia – and now with a great partner in Virgin Australia – it's the ideal time for United to expand service to Brisbane as demand for travel continues to grow," said Patrick Quayle, senior vice president of international network and alliances at United.

"Throughout the pandemic, we've looked for strategic ways to grow our international network, and we're proud to be the first U.S. airline to put a new dot on our route map across the Pacific." 

United is the longest-serving U.S. carrier in Australia, first starting direct service to Sydney in 1986. The carrier first began offering nonstop service to Melbourne from Los Angeles in 2014.