United Steps Up Its Game in Competition for Jet-Setting US Travelers

You cannoli take so many holidays per year. United Airlines is banking on you picking Sicily.

The Chicago-based carrier, which already offers more international routes than its US rivals, announced three new routes and 10 new destinations on Tuesday, including Catania on Italy’s largest island. Billed as United’s biggest network expansion ever and set to take off in spring 2027, the move highlights how America’s two most profitable airlines are duking it out to attract increasingly globally minded US tourists.

What Do You Have Toulouse?

United has added more than 60 international destinations in the past decade, expanding into less-frequented places like Mongolia, Senegal and Greenland. That global network has proven valuable post-pandemic, with more Americans heading abroad to experience global culture and humblebrag about it on Instagram. National Travel and Tourism Office data shows the number of trips by US citizens abroad was 9.9 million in May, up 4.2% from a year ago. The most common destination after Mexico was Europe, accounting for 26% of departures.

No surprise, then, that United’s latest expansion targets the Old Continent. In addition to Catania, the airline is adding flights from Newark to Slovenian capital Ljubljana, Valencia and the Balearic island Ibiza in Spain, Terceira in Portugal’s Azores islands, Olbia on the Italian island Sardinia and the French seaport of Marseille. A new business route from Newark will fly to financial center (and tax haven, ahem) Luxembourg, while another will connect Washington, D.C., and Toulouse, France. Three direct flights to existing destinations are also being added: Los Angeles will connect with Osaka, Washington, D.C., with Milan, and Denver with Paris. Finally, United is adding a route from San Francisco to Okinawa, Japan. Each one marks a new frontier in a battle with United’s top rival:

• United reported $3.4 billion in profit last year, making it America’s most profitable carrier after Delta, which made $5 billion. But United’s international network, which spans 150 destinations in 75 countries, is the envy of Delta, which has over 100 in 65.
• Earlier this summer, Delta President Peter Carter told CNBC that Delta wants to overtake United’s trans-Pacific dominance at the same time that it launched new routes to Asia. 

Time Travel: The business route to Toulouse, home to the headquarters of aircraft manufacturer Airbus, connects the US capital to a major global aerospace hub and a key United partner. Many of the new routes will use new Airbus A321XLR aircraft, which the airline ordered 50 of in 2019 with the expectation that they would begin flying this year.