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United Airlines has been doing a lot of playing around with plans for its new 787-9 Dreamliners. The airline has made changes to when and how it will be deploying the aircraft with changes to its San Francisco – Tokyo route, its Tokyo – Singapore and its Los Angeles – London route. As if all that route re-jigging wasn’t enough the airline has also announced an increased service to Brussels.
United Airlines ‘s 787-9 Aircraft
United Airlines has followed the lead of most of the other airlines that fly Dreamliners by not including First Class on their 787-9 aircraft. That said, of the 252 seats onboard United’s 787-9, 48 are United BusinessFirst giving a near 4:1 ratio of premium cabin seats to Economy Class seats…and that’s not too bad.
United Airlines 787-9 Dreamliner Seat Map (click to enlarge)
The better BusinessFirst seats appear to be the ones in the middle of the cabin where both seats have all-aisle access while the seats next to the windows require you to step over the person in the aisle seat if you wish to get out.
The Economy Plus seats have a good seat pitch for a cabin that isn’t a full-on Premium Economy cabin (35″) but the seat width is a disappointing 17.3″ which, to my mind, is pretty cramped for long haul flights.
The standard Economy seats have a marginally better seat pitch than a lot of United’s competitors with 32″ of room but, like the Economy Plus seats, the Economy Class seats come with just 17.3″ of width.
All seats throughout the aircraft come with power outlets and USB ports and the whole aircraft comes equipped with WiFi.
United Airlines 787-9 Dreamliner Main Cabin – Image courtesy of United Airlines
United Airlines Brings Forward 787-9 Service To Tokyo Haneda
United was set to commence 787-9 Dreamliner service between San Francisco and Tokyo Haneda from 1 August 2016 but the recently released schedule has seen the airline bring forward that date considerably.
United’s Dreamliner service between San Francisco and Haneda will now commence on 26 March 2016 and will fly on the following schedule:
UA875 SFO 19:20 – 22:35+1 day HND
UA876 HND 00:30 – 17:45-1 day SFO
A quick look at ExpertFlyer shows that the 787-9 is replacing a Boeing 777 aircraft on this route so, if you’re booked on UA875 or UA876 check your seat assignments as they won’t be the same.
Not only won’t seat assignments be the same but the 777 that currently operates on this route has a First Class cabin (which the 787-9 doesn’t have) so you may not even be booked into the cabin you think you are.
(HT: airlineroute.net)
United Airlines To Fly 787-9 Los Angeles – London Route in August/September 2016
Between 1 August and 6 September 2016 United Airlines will not be offering a First Class cabin on its Los Angeles – London route.
During this summer window United are swapping out their 777-200 aircraft that currently operates the route for a 787-9 Dreamliner. The schedule will remain the same…..
UA923 LAX 17:50 – 12:20+1 day LHR
UA935 LHR 14:10 – 17:15 LAX
….but the seating will be very different (once again, check your seat assignments).
Economy Class passengers will be swapping more seat width on the 777 (0.7″ more) for more seat pitch/leg room on the 787 (1″ more in Economy and Economy Plus).
Overall both aircraft have the same number of premium cabin seats (48) it’s just that all 48 seats on the Dreamliner are BusinessFirst seats.
BusinessFirst on the United Airlines 787-9
(HT: airlineroute.net)
United Airlines Adds 787-9 Dreamliner To Narita – Singapore Route But Cancels 787-9 Service From Honolulu.
In what appears to be a change for the summer season only, United Airlines is swapping the 777-200 that currently operates between Tokyo Narita and Singapore for a 787-9 Dreamliner.
Between 27 March and 1 June 2016 this will be another United route that will be operated without a First Class cabin. The schedule won’t be changing…..
UA803 NRT 17:55 – 00:10+1 day SIN
UA804 SIN 06:10 – 14:20 NRT
…but, with the same aircraft swap as the LA-London route, passengers will probably find that their seat assignments are very different and what they gain in seat pitch they lose in seat width.
A further knock-on effect of all these 787-9 route changes is that United has removed the 787-9 from the Honolulu – Tokyo Narita route (originally planned for August 2016). The route will continue to be operated by a Boeing 777-200 aircraft in a 3-cabin configuration.
(HT: airlineroute.net)
United Airlines Adds Second Non-Stop Service Between Newark & Brussels
As part of their trans-Atlantic joint venture with their Star Alliance partners, United Airlines is adding a second daily non-stop service between Newark Liberty Airport and Brussels for the summer season.
The new flights will operate between 5 May and 28 October 2016 and will compliment the existing Boeing 777 service between the two cities.
UA999 EWR 1820 – 0745+1 day BRU (Daily – 777)
UA044 EWR 2150 – 1130+1 day BRU (Daily – 767/757)
UA998 BRU 1100 – 1310 EWR (Daily – 777)
UA045 BRU 1330 – 1605 EWR (Daily – 767/757)
United Airlines 767-300 in Star Alliance Livery – Image courtesy of redlegsfan21 via Flickr
The new flights will be operated by a Boeing 767-300 aircraft during peak months but, between 5 May and 24 Man and between 7 September and 28 October United will employ a 757-200 aircraft instead.
The 757-200’s have 16 flat-bed seats in United BusinessFirst, 45 seats in Economy Plus and 108 regular Economy Class seats.
The 767-300’s have 30 flat-bed seats in United BusinessFirst, 49 Economy Plus seats. and 135 Economy Class seats.
There is no First Class option on this new service.
Featured image: United Airlines 787-9 courtesy of Colin Brown via Flickr
