United Airlines adds 10 new long-haul destinations and adds more service to 4 others

United Airlines has (again) announced a significant and impressive expansion to its long haul route network with ten new cities in Europe and Asia being added to its route map and four new routes being added to destinations the airline already serves.

These are the routes and schedules United has announced.

United’s 10 new destinations for 2027

Catania

From 28 May 2027, United Airlines will operate a new route between Newark and Catania on the Italian island of Sicily 4x/week, and this is the planned schedule:

UA250 EWR 20:25 – 11:35+1 day CTA (Mon, Wed, Fri & Sun)
UA251 CTA 13:35 – 18:05 EWR (Mon, Tue, Thu & Sat)

The route will be operated by a widebody 767-300ER aircraft which offers lie-flat Business Class seats with 20.6″ of width, Premium Economy seats with 38″ of pitch and 18.7″ of width, Economy Plus seats with 18.5″ of width and 34″ of pitch, and regular Economy Class seats with 18.5″ of width and just 31″ of pitch.

Ibiza

From 31 May 2027, United Airlines will operate a new route between Newark and Ibiza in Spain’s Balearic Islands 4x/week, and this is the planned schedule:

UA549 EWR 23:15 – 13:15+1 day IBZ (Mon, Tue, Thu & Sat)
UA550 IBZ 15:15 – 18:30 EWR (Tue, Wed, Fri & Sun)

The route will be operated by one of United’s new Airbus A321XLR aircraft which feature the following cabins and layouts:

• 20 Business Class: lie-flat Polaris seats set out in a 1-1 herringbone layout.
• 12 Premium Plus (Premium Economy) seats set out in a 2-2 layout which offer 21″ of width and 38″ of pitch (legroom).
• 34 Economy Plus seats set out in a 3-3 layout which offer 18″ of width and 35″ of pitch (legroom).
• 84 regular Economy Class seats set out in a 3-3 layout which offer 18″ of width and just 30″ of pitch (legroom).

Note: The 30″ of pitch in the regular Economy Class seats make this a very tight space to be crammed into on a transatlantic flight. Avoid if possible.

Ljubljana

From 12 May 2027, United Airlines will operate a new route between Newark and Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia, 4x/week, and this is the planned schedule:

UA283 EWR 16:20 – 06:40+1 day LJU (Mon, Wed, Fri & Sun)
UA284 LJU 09:55 – 13:40 EWR (Mon, Tue, Thu & Sat)

Of the newly announced routes, this is the only one set to be operated by a 767-400ER aircraft which offers the following cabins and layouts:

• 34 all aisle access lie-flat Business Class seats with 20.6″ of width
• 24 Premium Plus (Premium Economy) seats with 38″ of pitch and 18.7″ of width
• 48 (assuming the seat map is correct) Economy Plus seats with 18.5″ of width and 34″ of pitch (legroom)
• 125 regular Economy Class seats with 18.5″ of width and just 31″ of pitch (legroom)

Note: Seats 52A, 52B, 53A and 53B (towards the very back of the Economy Class cabin), offer 43″ of legroom, but because this is a long-haul flight, they may be designated as crew rest seats. 

Luxembourg

From 2 April 2027, United Airlines will operate a new daily route between Newark and Luxembourg City, and this is the planned schedule:

UA503 EWR 19:25 – 09:20+1 day LUX (Daily)
UA502 LUX 11:05 – 13:55 EWR (Daily)

Just like the new Ibiza route, the flights to Luxembourg will be operated by United’s Airbus A321XLR aircraft which feature the following cabins and layouts:

• 20 Business Class: lie-flat Polaris seats set out in a 1-1 herringbone layout.
• 12 Premium Plus (Premium Economy) seats set out in a 2-2 layout which offer 21″ of width and 38″ of pitch (legroom).
• 34 Economy Plus seats set out in a 3-3 layout which offer 18″ of width and 35″ of pitch (legroom).
• 84 regular Economy Class seats set out in a 3-3 layout which offer 18″ of width and just 30″ of pitch (legroom).

Note: The 30″ of pitch in the regular Economy Class seats make this a very tight space to be crammed into on a transatlantic flight. Avoid if possible.

Marseille

From 4 June 2027, United Airlines will operate a new daily route between Newark and Marseille on France’s Mediterranean coast, and this is the planned schedule:

UA600 EWR 18:20 – 08:30+1 day MRS (Daily)
UA601 MRS 10:30 – 13:45 EWR (Daily)

The Marseille route is the 3rd (of 5) of these new routes which is set to be operated by United’s Airbus A321XLR aircraft, so these will be the cabins and layouts on offer:

• 20 Business Class: lie-flat Polaris seats set out in a 1-1 herringbone layout.
• 12 Premium Plus (Premium Economy) seats set out in a 2-2 layout which offer 21″ of width and 38″ of pitch (legroom).
• 34 Economy Plus seats set out in a 3-3 layout which offer 18″ of width and 35″ of pitch (legroom).
• 84 regular Economy Class seats set out in a 3-3 layout which offer 18″ of width and just 30″ of pitch (legroom).

Note: The 30″ of pitch in the regular Economy Class seats make this a very tight space to be crammed into on a transatlantic flight. Avoid if possible.

Related: United Airlines claims a new Economy Class innovation, but that’s not the real story (A321XLR)

Okinawa

From 27 March 2027, United Airlines will operate a new route between San Francisco and Okinawa 3x/week.

UA833 SFO 10:35 – 15:50+1 day OKA (Wed, Fri & Sun)
UA834 OKA 17:50 – 12:50 SFO (Mon, Thu & Sat)

The route will be operated by a Boeing 777-200ER, but we don’t know which layout this aircraft will offer as the flights haven’t yet be loaded into the booking engine (so we can’t see the seat map).

We suspect that it will offer the layout with 50 Polaris Business Class seats, 24 Premium Economy seats, 46 Premium Economy seats and 156 regular Economy Class seats, but we can’t be sure.

Olbia

From 27 May 2027, United Airlines will operate a new route between Newark and Olbia on the Italian island of Sardinia 3x/week, and this is the planned schedule:

UA298 EWR 21:25 – 12:00+1 day OLB (Tue, Thu & Sat)
UA299 OLB 14:00 – 18:00 EWR (Wed, Fri & Sun)

Like the new route to Catania, Sicily, the Olbia route will be operated by a United Airlines 767-300ER aircraft which offers:

• All aisle access lie-flat Business Class seats with 20.6″ of width
• Premium Economy seats with 38″ of pitch and 18.7″ of width
• Economy Plus seats with 18.5″ of width and 34″ of pitch (legroom)
• Regular Economy Class seats with 18.5″ of width and just 31″ of pitch (legroom)

Note: Seats 43A and 43B (towards the very back of the Economy Class cabin), offer 43″ of legroom. Book those if you can.

Terceira

From 9 June 2027, United Airlines will operate a new route between Newark and Terceira in Portugal’s Azores 3x/week, and this is the planned schedule:

UA248 EWR 22:25 – 07:40+1 day TER (Wed, Fri & Sun)
UA249 TER 09:40 – 11:45 EWR (Mon, Thu & Sat)

While it’s always nice to have a new route, the bad news here is that anyone booking United’s flights to the Azores will be subjected to flying in one of the airline’s 737 MAX 8 aircraft which offer the following cabins and layouts:

• 16 domestic First Class seats (20.4″ wide & with 37″ of pitch/legroom)
• 54 Economy Plus seats (17″ wide & with 34″ pitch/legroom)
• 96 regular Economy Class seats (17″ wide & with 30″ pitch/legroom)

First Class will be fine (obviously), but the 17″ wide seats throughout Economy Class will make this a very uncomfortable trip for anyone with broad shoulders or who is “of size”. And if you’re not in the Economy Plus seats and you book Economy Class, expect the 30″ of pitch to cause issues if you have long legs or are ~5′ 11″ or taller.

This is a truly hateful aircraft.

Toulouse

From 26 April 2027, United Airlines will operate a new daily route between Washington Dulles and Toulouse in southwest France, and this is the planned schedule:

UA222 IAD 18:10 – 08:15+1 day TLS (Daily)
UA221 TLS 10:15 – 13:20 IAD (Daily)

This is yet another of the newly announced routes which will be operated by United’s Airbus A321XLR aircraft, so these will be the cabins and layouts on offer:

• 20 Business Class: lie-flat Polaris seats set out in a 1-1 herringbone layout.
• 12 Premium Plus (Premium Economy) seats set out in a 2-2 layout which offer 21″ of width and 38″ of pitch (legroom).
• 34 Economy Plus seats set out in a 3-3 layout which offer 18″ of width and 35″ of pitch (legroom).
• 84 regular Economy Class seats set out in a 3-3 layout which offer 18″ of width and just 30″ of pitch (legroom).

Note: The 30″ of pitch in the regular Economy Class seats make this a very tight space to be crammed into on a transatlantic flight. Avoid if possible.

Valencia

From 2 June 2027, United Airlines will operate a new route between Newark and Valencia on Spain’s east coast 3x/week, and this is the planned schedule:

UA690 EWR 23:15 – 13:00+1 day VLC (Wed, Fri & Sun)
UA691 VLC 15:30 – 18:30 EWR (Mon, Thu & Sat)

This is the fifth and final of the newly announced routes which the schedules show will be operated by United’s Airbus A321XLR aircraft, so, once again, these will be the cabins and layouts on offer:

• 20 Business Class: lie-flat Polaris seats set out in a 1-1 herringbone layout.
• 12 Premium Plus (Premium Economy) seats set out in a 2-2 layout which offer 21″ of width and 38″ of pitch (legroom).
• 34 Economy Plus seats set out in a 3-3 layout which offer 18″ of width and 35″ of pitch (legroom).
• 84 regular Economy Class seats set out in a 3-3 layout which offer 18″ of width and just 30″ of pitch (legroom).

Note: The 30″ of pitch in the regular Economy Class seats make this a very tight space to be crammed into on a transatlantic flight. Avoid if possible.

United’s new routes to existing destinations

United is also adding four routes to destinations it already serves, from three of its hubs. The airline counts this as three new routes, because it treats the San Francisco to Tel Aviv service as a restart rather than an addition.

Milan

From 28 May 2027, United Airlines will operate a new route between Washington Dulles and Milan Malpensa 3x/week, and this is the planned schedule:

UA356 IAD 17:40 – 08:15+1 day MXP (Mon, Wed & Fri)
UA357 MXP 10:20 – 13:55 IAD (Tue, Thu & Sat)

The service between D.C. and Milan Malpensa will be operated by a United Airlines 767-300ER which, assuming the current seat maps are correct, will feature the following cabin/seat options:

• 30 lie-flat all aisle access Business Class seats
• 24 Premium Economy seats which offer 18.7″ of width and 38″ of legroom
• 32 Economy Plus seats which offer 18.5″ of width and 34″ of legroom
• 117 regular Economy Class seats which offer 18.5″ of width and 31″ of legroom

Note: Seats 43A and 43B (towards the very back of the Economy Class cabin), offer 43″ of legroom. Book those if you can.

At the time of writing, United Airlines is set to be the only airline offering a non-stop service between DC and Milan.

Osaka

From 27 March 2027, United Airlines will operate a new daily route between Los Angeles and Osaka.

UA801 LAX 14:40 – 18:50+1 day KIX (Daily)
UA802 KIX 20:50 – 15:25 LAX (Daily)

The route will be operated by a Boeing 787-9, but we don’t know which layout this aircraft will offer as the flights haven’t yet be loaded into the booking engine (so we can’t see the seat map).

The addition will make United the only airline serving Osaka from two continental US cities, and it joins the airline’s existing services to the city from San Francisco and Guam.

Paris

From 27 May 2027, United Airlines will operate a new daily route between Denver and Paris Charles de Gaulle, and this is the planned schedule:

UA483 DEN 20:35 – 13:50+1 day CDG (Daily)
UA484 CDG 15:45 – 17:50 DEN (Daily)

The route will be operated by a Boeing 787-9, offering the following cabin options:

• 48 standard Polaris Business Class seats (not the new suites)
• 21 Premium Plus (Premium Economy) seats offering 18.7″ of width and 38″ of pitch/legroom
• 39 (assuming the seat map is correct) Economy Plus seats which offer 17.1″ of width and 34″ of legroom
• 149 regular Economy Class seats which offer 17.1″ of width and 31″ of legroom

The route joins United’s existing Paris services from Newark, Washington Dulles, Chicago and San Francisco.

Tel Aviv

United Airlines says that from 28 March 2027, it will restart its route between San Francisco and Tel Aviv 3x/week.

At the time of writing, the route hasn’t been loaded into the airline’s booking systems, so we can’t see the timings. What we do know, however, is that the route will be operated by a United Airlines 787-9 Dreamliner.

Unfortunately, United operates its 787-9s in two different cabin configurations and it hasn’t specifically said which one will operate on this route, so we don’t know if this route will get the more premium-heavy 787-9s with room for 64 Business Class passengers (in United’s latest suites) alongside 35 Premium Economy seats or the 787-9 with 48 of the regular Polaris Business Class seats and just 21 Premium Economy seats.

We’ll update this article when we know more.

Bottom line

United has announced that it will add Catania (Sicily), Ibiza, Ljubljana (Slovenia), Luxembourg, Marseille, Okinawa, Olbia (Sardinia, Italy), Terceira (Azores, Portugal), Toulouse, and Valencia to its route network in 2027 with five of these cities seeing service from the airline’s new A321XLR aircraft.

As if that wasn’t enough, United has also said that it will add more services to four destinations it already serves with Milan getting flights from DC, Osaka getting a new service from LA, Paris getting service from Denver and Tel Aviv getting service from San Francisco.

That’s an impressive bit of expansion from United and the only fly in the ointment is the fact that the new service between Newark and the Azores will be served by the hateful Boeing 737 MAX 8 which, in Economy Class, is home to seats that are just 17″ wide and which come with just 30″ of pitch/legroom.

That’s an Economy Class flight to avoid if you possibly can as life is just too short to be that uncomfortable when you travel.

What do you think of United’s new routes and the aircraft it plans to use?