United Airlines to Expand International Network in September

United Airlines has unveiled plans to resume service on nearly 30 international routes in September, including flights to Asia, India, Australia, Israel and Latin America.

The airline intends to fly 37% of its overall schedule in September as compared to the same period last year and is a 4% increase in capacity compared to what is planned for August 2020. United is also extending its waiver of change fees and award redeposit fees for reservations through 31 August.

"We continue to be realistic in our approach to building back our international and domestic schedules by closely monitoring customer demand and flying where people want to go," said Patrick Quayle, United's vice president of International Network and Alliances. "In September, we're adding even more options for leisure travelers or those who want to visit friends and relatives, whether that's within the United States or around the world."

Domestically, United intends to fly 40% of its schedule. The airline plans to add more than 40 daily flights on 48 routes to locations including Austin, Texas; Colorado Springs, Colorado; and Santa Barbara, California.

Additionally, United plans to resume service between the U.S. mainland and Hilo and Kauai and increase flying to Honolulu, Kona and Maui in the Hawaiian Islands.

Internationally, United intends to fly 30% of its schedule as compared to September 2019, which is a 5-point increase compared to August. The airline expects to resume service on 20 routes in Latin America and the Caribbean, including to popular vacation destinations like Cabo San Lucas and Puerto Vallarta in Mexico and to San Jose and Liberia in Costa Rica.

United intends to begin new nonstop service between Chicago and Tel Aviv and resume eight routes in the Atlantic and Pacific, including the return of European service from Houston with flights to Amsterdam and Frankfurt.

U.S. Domestic

Travelers in search of more socially distant vacation options like beach, mountain and national park destinations will continue to see opportunities for leisure travel including:

- Increasing opportunities to connect to more than 800 flights from United's mid-continental hubs in Chicago, Denver and Houston.

- Adding more than 40 daily flights on more than 48 routes across the United States.

- Resuming service between the U.S. mainland and Hilo and Kauai in Hawaii.

- Increasing service between the U.S. mainland and Honolulu, Kona and Maui.

Atlantic

Internationally, United is scheduled to fly 30% of its schedule in September compared to the same period in 2019. Across the Atlantic, United plans to offer customers more opportunities to get to Europe and beyond from Chicago, Houston, New York/Newark, and San Francisco. Highlights include:

- Launching brand-new service between Chicago and Tel Aviv (subject to government approval);

- Resuming service between Chicago and Amsterdam;

- Resuming service between Houston and Amsterdam and Frankfurt;

- Resuming service between San Francisco and Munich;

- Increasing to daily service between Chicago and Frankfurt, and between San Francisco and London; and

- Continuing service between the United States and Delhi and Mumbai (subject to government approval).

Pacific

Across the Pacific in September, United plans to re-start thrice weekly service between Los Angeles and Sydney and passenger service between Chicago and Hong Kong (subject to government approval).

Latin America/Caribbean

Throughout Latin America and the Caribbean, United is expanding across each region by adding 20 new routes for September. Highlights of United's schedule include:

- Starting new service between San Juan, Puerto Rico and Chicago and Washington-Dulles;

- Resuming service from Houston to Aguascalientes, Tampico and Veracruz in Mexico;

- Starting new service between New York/Newark and St. Thomas;

- Resuming service between Costa Rica and Houston and New York/Newark;

- Adding more ways to get to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, including resuming service from Chicago, Denver and Los Angeles;

- Resuming service between Denver and Cabo San Lucas; and

- Increasing the number of flights between Houston and Quito, Ecuador.

Safe Journeys

United has teamed up with Clorox and Cleveland Clinic to implement enhanced cleaning and health safety procedures from check-in to landing and has put in place 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 and potentially revoking travel privileges for those who do not follow this requirement;

- Using electrostatic spraying on all mainline aircraft before departure for enhanced cabin sanitation;

- Adding a step to the check-in process, based on a recommendation from the Cleveland Clinic, requiring customers to acknowledge they do not have symptoms for COVID-19 and agree to follow our policies, including wearing a mask on board; and

- Offering customers a touchless baggage check-in experience at more than 200 airports across the United States.

See also: Airports, Air Travel and COVID19 - Exclusive Interview with SITA's President of Asia Pacific, Sumesh Patel.

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