United Airlines expands European network with seven new routes

Data from Cirium’s Diio Mi tool shows that United has scheduled 719 weekly departures from the US to Europe in June. This places it ahead of Delta Air Lines with 670 direct weekly flights and American Airlines with 483 weekly departures on transatlantic routes.

On June 8th, United launched a flight to Madeira using a Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft. The airline became the only one offering direct service between Madeira and the US after Azores Airlines ended its seasonal services.

Throughout May, other new destinations were launched: Bilbao on May 31st using a Boeing 757-200; Faro on May 16th also using a Boeing 757-200; and Palermo on May 21st using a Boeing 767-400ER.

United added another route in June with Denver International Airport to Rome Leonardo da Vinci Fiumicino Airport starting on May 1st with a Boeing 787-9 aircraft. Phil Washington, CEO of Denver International Airport, noted that this route would provide “an important, convenient direct connection to Italy.”

However, United removed its seasonal route from Newark to Tenerife South Airport due to less-than-ideal load factors ranging between approximately 64% and peaks of over 80%.

In total for June, United Airlines offers flights on 80 routes to 32 cities in Europe. Of these departures, London Heathrow is served by nearly one-fifth of them.

Financially, United reported $13.2 billion in total operating revenue for Q1 with $1.8 billion earned from Atlantic market operations—an increase compared to last year despite carrying fewer passengers due to higher yields per passenger.