United Airlines has real claim to being the U.S. global carrier. They’re already the only U.S. airline flying to the Philippines – having launched Manila service – and now will fly to Cebu there as well (via Tokyo). They’ll add service to Morocco – direct to Marrakesh – and to Medellin, Colombia. Fifth freedom flying from Japan and love for their Houston hub make these adds even more interesting.
Beating American Airlines To Morocco
Before the pandemic American Airlines announced service to Casablanca, which they never launched. They would have connected up with oneworld carrier Royal Air Maroc there. But they retired their Boeing 757s and 767s and no longer have the cheap lift to experiment with international routes. On the other hand, United is growing its long haul fleet. And they’ll fly to Marrakesh.
Newark – Marrakesh will launch October 24 three times weekly using a Boeing 767-300ER with 46 business class seats. While American doesn’t fly to Africa at all, United also serves Accra, Ghana; Lagos, Nigeria; and both Cape Town and Johannesburg.
There had been rumors of Cairo, connecting up with Star Alliance member EgyptAir, but that airline already flies from the New York area and from Washington Dulles. The major reason I think for that guess was United’s new routes promotion with a heavy Indiana Jones theme and presence of a Star partner there.
Always in our new routes era.
New York/Newark – Marrakesh, Morocco
Houston – Medellin, Colombia
Tokyo/Narita – Cebu, PhilippinesFor details including start dates: https://t.co/r0bmhdPGKG pic.twitter.com/hIVNPDVXOx
— United Airlines (@united) March 7, 2024
I Wasn’t Expecting Cebu Service
United has an extensive Pacific network, from its acquisition of Pan Am’s network and from Continental’s Micronesia operation. They’re the only U.S. airline still operating fifth freedom flights over Tokyo.
And they’re adding their second destination in the Philippines – this time not a U.S. non-stop but rather a flight from Tokyo Narita to Cebu starting July 31.
The roughly 2,000 mile flight will be operated with a Boeing 737 – a distance of roughly a cross-country flight in the U.S. They’ll offer their own connections (and others) from their U.S> network to Tokyo Narita, which is great for connections but less good for flights into Tokyo itself.
View From Hilton Cebu Resort
Medellin Isn’t What You Think It Is
Medellin and Cali are good food cities. Colombia is still at just 75% of Mexico’s PPP income per capita, and while growing has struggle with coffee, gem and precious metal exports. It still has guerrillas and drug lords, and Medellín is deep in the country’s interior, but things are much better there than they once were. Ex-FARC guerrillas have become tour guides.
United’s new Houston – Medellin service will operate daily with a Boeing 737 starting October 27, adding to existing Houston and Newark – Bogota flying. It’s an international add from Houston! A hub that until recently hasn’t seen significant growth.
Also interesting is their expanded pacific service. a Second LAX-HKG is the most interesting. Plus a second SFO-ICN, and resumption of LAX-PVG.
Will the Marrakesh one be an Express?
Houston has multiple terminals under construction with little room for growth until they are finished. However UA has added Georgetown, Guyana, Tulum, Mex. and Ontario, Cali. from IAH in recent months along with the new MDE service.
It is their main Latin hub and doing great so I don’t understand Fatty’s odd hyperbole in the post.
That’s a truly global airline! Delta dismantled its hub at Narita and stopped flights to MNL, SIN…
I’m feeling more and more guilty every time I fly Delta (which is much less this year tbh). Im probably better of just picking a star alliance program and rolling with it.
MDE has good food and perfect weather. Much fewer food options in CLOS but CLO is hotter and has the best carnivals around Christmas and is much less touristy than MDE.
Why do you have guilt flying an airline that is not as large as a competitor?
DO you have guilt shopping at Target vs Wal-Mart, Whole Foods vs Kroger (or their family of stores), etc?
And you do realize that DL had a larger profit on its international network in the first 3 quarters of 2023 than UA?
What exactly is the purpose of AA, DL, UA and WN etc?
If you feel guilty about anything, you should feel guilty that UA burns more fuel than DL to generate the same number of seat miles and certainly much less revenue.
AA claims to be the world’s largest airline or they did at some point …but I’ve been critical of their long haul service. Ever since I flew to London from Chicago on a 777….but had to go that route to avoid old 767’s …when I got there I saw shiny, beautiful jumbo jets of other international airlines sitting next to these dirty looking small aircraft and was frankly embarrassed. International travel on one ticket is more than just convenience …or ability, there is also prestige. It is absurd that AA retired it’s 330 fleet and canceled slots for 350’s secured by US Airways ….honestly they also need a jumbo fleet if they want to compete with the likes of BA, Emirates or most of the prestigious carriers on the ultra long haul routes. Yeah and they needed the older capable craft for experimental or seasonal routes….they failed to add XLR’s and 350’s on this latest order.
Not sure RAK will succeed. Americans go to Morocco but not in droves and RAK is more of a playground for Europeans. The 767 feels like it is too much plane for this route.
Love it ! Great seeing UA continue to expand internationally. The NRT to Cebu flight is creative – out of the box thinking . I left AA a while ago because of their refusal to address their product and their woefully uncompetitive million miler program.
I went all in with UA – signed up for PassPlus account and acquired UA personal and business credit cards .
I could not be happier with my decision . Truly enjoying being a UA loyalist .
@ Gary — Nice. Good to see United continue to offer such varied nonstop destinations from the US. AA and DL would never try this. This is a further confirmation of United’s network superiority.
again, Gene, why does UA exist?
Putting dots and lines on a route map is nowhere to be found in its charter or bylaws
United could build up a NRT hub again.
Cool new routes by UA. I’m really surprised by the NRT-CEB route since it’s obviously a Guam crew and it seems like NH would be the better airline for the route but… NH doesn’t fly it and it seems strange to operate a flight that no Japanese airline flies (that I can tell…).
I assume the JV wouldn’t apply for UA on this since it’s not US-Japan traffic
Does anyone know when tickets for these new routes will go on sale? I checked and it seemed UA did not have them yet.
The NRT to Cebu flight will be very attractive for US BPO firms & clients. Cebu is a major hub for this work.
@ Tim — Why do you exist? To come on here and ruin the experience for everyone else by being a jerk?
On one thread, you tell me not to reply to you and here you ask a direct question.
Can you make up your mind?
Do you get your kicks out of UA’s route announcements or how big their route network is?
Seriously. Get. A. Life.
Why don’t you ask the person who posted before me why Delta is even part of this discussion?
You and others throw all kinds of crap into the discussion into yours is called out as incorrect and meaningless
@ Tim — You refused to be peaceful, so I am not going to sit idly by while you respond to comments where I did not address you or mention your name. Don’t address me, and I won’t address you.
Except you explicitly, did mention my name. You think you have the right to dictate how the conversation will go and you better get another think coming. if you want to throw irrelevant information into the conversation, I can do the same
@ Tim Dunn You’re big mad. Never seen someone so upset at another airline’s choices that don’t affect you. If you don’t like United, it’s okay, they’ll be just fine.
Keep it to yourself and keep climbing you Red Triangle Warrior. LOL keep climbing… keep climbing…LOL.. whew.
NOW back to this amazing expansion everyone..
Why would UA add at NRT when I thought they were shifting everything to Haneda?
Medellin is known in spanish as the “City of Eternal Spring””. Incredible climate.
UA Haneda service is by BUS to plane (1 United flight/day gets left w/out HND gate).
Not my cup of tea, climbing aboard an overcrowded BUS and then up the stairs — especially in the rain. 🙁 (Note, Finnair also failed to pay NHD enuf and has BUS to gate/daily – no jetway @HND)
@ Tim — If you read the above posts, YOU are the one who used my name first. I look forward to the day you are banned.
“ Seriously. Get. A. Life.”
—Tim Dunn
Oh tim… you sit by your computer all day and every weekend waiting to reply to anything negative about delta… a company that fired you…
No plans ever on a Friday or a weekend
Perhaps learn what a life is before you suggest one to others.
You sure do make people laugh though…
Get some perspective and a life
It’ll help your weekend life too
And yeah, tim
Your reason comprehension is horrible as usual. You called out Gene. Gene said nothing about you initially. He responded to your rant.
It would be helpful if you tried to read other people’s responses before you reply ignorantly, as usual
Poor Max and Chuckie,
If relishing the “joy” of the route announcement mattered:
1. You should have chatted with UA maintenance to have made sure the bolts on all of the wheels on that 777 were totally tightened.
2. You should have told the NTSB that they should not have said anything about the UA MAX 9 that lost rudder control, according to the UA pilots.
3. You should have told UA management that they shouldn’t told their pilots that they were going to stop hiring pilots.
4. You should have told the media that they should not have attached footage of fire! coming out of the engine of a UA 737 yesterday or sometime recently.
5. You should have not allowed the FAA to say it would be investigating 1 and 4.
Sorry. I get the “joy” of celebrating a special day but UA – parts of the company internally but UA made lots of news today.
Not a word of it outside of internet chat forums talked about route expansions.
I have a feeling that the footage from ABC News had a far greater impact than all of the airline fankids on airline chat forums.
Life happens.
Gene,
get over yourself.
You do not and will not dictate what anyone else has to say on this or any other forum.
Period.
End of story.
Every time I see a Tim Dunn comment, my brain just switches off and I don’t actually bother to read the words any more- it’s
“blah blah blah”
“Delta!”
“Other airlines bad!”
“blah blah blah”
It’s sad, because he seems to have some industry insights, and might even possibly have something intelligent to say. But it all really gets lost in the verbal diarrhea, and constant bashing of non-Delta airlines.
I’ll vote with Gene and say, there’s little value in what he writes (OK, admittedly, I just don’t read it any more) and this forum would be better without him.
Tim: “Why do you have guilt flying an airline that is not as large as a competitor? And you do realize that DL had a larger profit on its international network in the first 3 quarters of 2023 than UA?”
Everybody needs to acknowledge Tim is correct here: we should be choosing our airline based on which one makes the most profit off of us, not the one with the biggest network, coolest destinations, or best loyalty program to let us take advantage of that network. I don’t know about you guys, but I’m personally offended when an airline doesn’t charge me enough to make a big juicy profit.
@ Tory — Well said!
nobody except a bunch of avation geeks choose their airline based on all of the cities they fly to around the world.
UA is run by a bunch of avgeeks that appeal to avgeeks.
No, people don’t select their airline based on the finances of their suppliers but you and many others think the only way to see the world is through the lens of UA’s world-dominating vision.
People do purchase based on service quality and, as much as there are some that argue endlessly otherwise, Delta runs a measurably better airline – and has been awarded for it.
Delta doesn’t try to achieve goals that don’t matter to anyone except avgeeks and THAT is how it manages to make a whole lot more money than American or United on their international route systems.
Pan Am also had the mindset of carrying the flag to every corner of the world – and we all know what happened to Pan Am.
and United’s press for Wednesday was all about a wheel falling off one of their 777s as it took off, video of fire coming from the engine of one of its 737s, and accounts that the NTSB is investigating a UA 737MAX 8 that had a stuck rudder which the NTSB said was tied to a United specific configuration.
And in the midst of all of this news, United told its pilots that it was halting pilot hiring.
Sorry but this just didn’t turn out to be a great day to get all wrapped up in a United route announcement.
So sorry, Gene, that life gets in the way of your “experience”
I flew United transpacific 20x round trip last year. Truly impressed with service in J. Night and day from pre pandemic days when I dreaded having to fly them. Will be trying out the new Cebu flight soon.
@Jake-1….THANK YOU. At the end of the day, THIS is what matters to us at United. That you choose us again and again when you have other choices. That you’re happy with the service we provide and you’re excited about the new places we can take you when you’re ready. Can’t wait to see you on Cebu!
@Tim Dunn “Pan Am also had the mindset of carrying the flag to every corner of the world – and we all know what happened to Pan Am.”
That’s not what went wrong with Pan Am.
When they had a virtual monopoly on international air travel, and were effectively carrying U.S. foreign policy, their business model made sense. But with deregulation and increasing competition on international routes, their lack of a domestic route network became a problem. Other airlines no longer fed their international flights. Their acquisition of National didn’t make sense as a way to scale up a domestic operation. Terrorist attacks hurt them as well.
They were an airline built for the regulated era during which they were the ‘chosen instrument’ of the U.S. government, ill-suited to a shift in the landscape.
and yet United doesn’t make as much money as Delta does and Delta doesn’t try to position itself as the US flag carrier.
You can argue about what went wrong w/ Pan Am vs. United but the fact is that United clearly operates large parts of its network at less-than-average profitability.
The evidence that is the case is that Delta was profitable flying the Pacific before covid while United lost money – unthinkable for the largest company in a market. It became clear where when China dramatically cut back access to its markets and, to nobody’s surprise, United’s Pacific network became profitable.
United is a company that is driven by ego and a need to claim superiority over others but do so in metrics that don’t matter to anyone but insiders and avgeeks.
It also isn’t lost that a large part of UA’s exec leadership was at UA and did the very same thing to AA. It has only been since that group of leaders left that AA has been able to at least begin to fix its network. AA hasn’t gotten it all figured out but AA is being run much more based on reality and recognition of who they are than UA which continues to want to be something which doesn’t matter to anyone except their own ego.
@Tim Dunn learns how mathematical average works, “United clearly operates large parts of its network at less-than-average profitability.”
the question is does UA understand the principle which I have understood for some time.
I also understand business. The largest company in a market segment – either the Pacific – where UA has been the largest carrier by a significant measure for years – and the Atlantic – where UA rushed in to take DL’s place as the largest carrier post pandemic “because we didn’t ground aircraft during the pandemic as AA and DL did” – should not trail in profitability.
somewhere in those 2 massive parts of UA’s international regions, UA is running many flights that are not profitable. Neither I or anyone else know exactly where those are but UA’s own acknowledgement within the past 3 months that it would not be growing the Atlantic because margins are too low is recognition that they can and should do a lot better financially.
Touting the number of destinations and international ASMs you fly is meaningless – no customer cares and it is simply a point of pride among UA execs which they want to use to rally the troops around something that UA is actually winning at.
Notwithstanding Mr. Dunn’s determination to be right and to dominate this thread, let me offer that CEB is probably one of my, if not my favorite place in the World bar none.
I strongly recommend the Shangri-La Mactan resort. An older property but immaculate. Best is the Ocean wing, but it’s all outstanding. Absolutely beautiful marine preserve where I have seen monster clams, sea snakes, Moray eels, puffer fish, et al…Just up the road is where Lapu Lapu did in Magellan, funnily enough I drove by Magellan’s birthplace two days ago.
There are some very poor people and districts in Cebu but I have never felt unsafe there. The people are universally cheerful and friendly.
Highly recommended, if you didn’t get it.
PS: Great place to spend Christmas. The S-L had local choirs come in to sing around the mosnter Christmas tree in the foyer. It’s Christmas, not Xmas in the Philippines. 🙂
@Woofie Thanks for the recommendation on the Shangri-La Mactan resort. I visit the region and Cebu regularly and have somehow missed this one.
Tim: “Touting the number of destinations and international ASMs you fly is meaningless”
Again Tim is absolutely right: when picking my loyalty airline, why should I care at all which places it can get me to or that I can spend my hard-earned miles going on vacation to?? As long as it can get me to Atlanta or Detroit, I’m good.