United Airlines Strengthens Global Network, Adding New Nonstops to Africa, India and Hawaii

CHICAGO, Sept. 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- United Airlines today announced plans to expand its global route network with new nonstop service to Africa, India and Hawaii. With these new routes, United will offer more nonstop service to India and South Africa than any other U.S. carrier and remains the largest carrier between the U.S. mainland and Hawaii.

Starting this December, United will fly daily between Chicago and New Delhi and, starting in spring 2021, United will become the only airline to operate between San Francisco and Bangalore, India and between Newark/New York and Johannesburg. United will also introduce new service between Washington, D.C., and Accra, Ghana and Lagos, Nigeria in late spring of 2021. In the summer of 2021, United will fly nonstops four times weekly between Chicago and Kona and between Newark/New York and Maui. And starting this week, United, the airline offering more nonstop service to Israel than any other U.S. carrier, begins new nonstop service between Chicago and Tel Aviv, the only carrier to offer this service.

United's newly announced international routes are subject to government approval and tickets will be available for purchase on united.com and the United app in the coming weeks.

"Now is the right time to take a bold step in evolving our global network to help our customers reconnect with friends, family and colleagues around the world," said Patrick Quayle, United's vice president of International Network and Alliances. "These new nonstop routes provide shorter travel times and convenient one-stop connections from across the United States, demonstrating United's continued innovative and forward-looking approach to rebuilding our network to meet the travel needs of our customers."

Offering nonstop service to three new destinations in Africa

United will become the only U.S. carrier serving Accra nonstop from Washington, D.C. and the only airline to serve Lagos nonstop from Washington, D.C., with three weekly flights to each destination beginning in late spring 2021. The Washington metropolitan area has the second-largest population of Ghanaians in the United States, and Lagos is the largest Western African destination from the United States. Now, with 65 different U.S. cities connecting through Washington Dulles, United will offer convenient one-stop connections to Western Africa.

United already provides seasonal, three-times-weekly service between Newark/New York and Cape Town. By adding new daily nonstop flights between Newark/New York and Johannesburg in spring 2021, the airline will operate more flights to South Africa than any other U.S. carrier, and will offer the only roundtrip, nonstop service from the United States to Johannesburg by a U.S carrier. These routes also offer easy connections for customers traveling to South Africa from more than 50 U.S. cities.

New nonstops to India from two U.S. cities

United has served India with nonstop service for 15 years and now builds on its existing service to New Delhi and Mumbai with two new routes. Beginning December 2020, United will introduce new nonstop service between Chicago and New Delhi and, for the first time ever, United customers will be able to travel nonstop between San Francisco and Bangalore starting spring 2021. Chicago has the second highest population of Indian-Americans in the United States, and customers from more than 130 U.S. cities can connect on United through O'Hare International Airport. Service from San Francisco to Bangalore connects two international technology hubs, broadening United's west coast service to India, which also includes San Francisco to New Delhi.  

New nonstop service between Chicago and Tel Aviv

Beginning, Thursday, Sept. 10, United will start brand-new three-times-weekly nonstop service between Chicago and Tel Aviv. In addition to Chicago, United currently operates nonstop service between Tel Aviv and its hubs in Newark/New York and San Francisco and will resume service between Washington and Tel Aviv in October. The airline operates more nonstop service between the United States and Israel than any U.S. airline.

United expanding Hawaii service to the Midwest and East Coast

As customers look to resume leisure travel options, United will make it easier than ever to travel nonstop to Maui and Kona for the 2021 summer season. With the addition of new flights between both Newark/New York and Maui and Chicago and Kona, United will provide customers in the Midwest and U.S. East Coast with even faster and more convenient service to the Hawaiian Islands than any other airline.

The United Travel Experience

United's new trans-Atlantic flights will operate with Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft featuring United Polaris® business class, a premium travel experience that prioritizes relaxation and comfort with features that include everything from custom, luxury bedding from Saks Fifth Avenue and restaurant-quality, multi-course inflight dining to premium amenity kits and full flat-bed seats.

United's new service between Chicago and Kona will operate with Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner aircraft and service between New York/Newark and Maui will operate with Boeing 767-300ER aircraft.

Committed to Ensuring a Safe Journey

United is committed to putting health and safety at the forefront of every customer's journey, with the goal of delivering an industry-leading standard of cleanliness through its United CleanPlus^SM program. United has teamed up with Clorox and Cleveland Clinic to redefine cleaning and health safety procedures from check-in to landing and has implemented more than a dozen new policies, protocols and innovations designed with the safety of customers and employees in mind, including:

• Requiring all travelers – including crew members – to wear face coverings.
• Using HEPA filters – in the air and during the entire boarding and deplaning process - to circulate air and remove up to 99.97% of airborne particles.
• Using electrostatic spraying before departure for enhanced cabin sanitation.
• Using ultraviolet lighting technology on pilot flight decks to further disinfect the aircraft interior.
• During check-in, requiring customers to acknowledge they do not have COVID-19 symptoms.
• Offering customers a touchless baggage check-in experience.
• Boarding fewer customers at a time, from the back of the plane to the front, to allow for more social distancing.

About United

United's shared purpose is "Connecting People. Uniting the World." For more information, visit united.com, follow @United on Twitter and Instagram or connect on Facebook. The common stock of United's parent, United Airlines Holdings, Inc., is traded on the Nasdaq under the symbol "UAL".

SOURCE United Airlines