United Airlines has today shared details about its upcoming schedule. Along with progress on coastal routes, the Chicago-based carrier is will be flying to over 100% of its pre-pandemic schedule to Latin America this spring.
Heading south
According to a statement released this morning, this May, the airline will be exceeding its 2019 schedule to Latin America. There will be more flights to Mexico, the Caribbean, Central America, and South America.
Towards the end of last year, United announced that it is launching new routes to Latin America. Flights include additions to the likes of Cancun, Belize City, San Jose, Liberia, San Pedro Sula, and Santo Domingo. So, these launches contribute to the scaling up in recent months.
Resumptions across the continents
Latin America isn’t the only region that will see progress following the severe downturn since the global health crisis. There will be resumptions between Chicago and Tokyo Haneda. Moreover, passenger services from New York/Newark to Milan and Rome are on the cards, along with the return of trips from Chicago to Amsterdam, Munich, and Tel Aviv.
“In the past few weeks, we have seen the strongest flight bookings since the start of the pandemic,” Ankit Gupta, vice president of United’s domestic network planning and scheduling, said in the statement.
“As we rebuild our schedule to meet that demand, adding in seasonal point-to-point flying is just one of the ways we are finding opportunities to add new and exciting service. And as we have done throughout the entire pandemic, we will continue being nimble and strategic with our network to add the right service to the destinations our customers want to visit.”
In the domestic realm, United is adding 26 new nonstop routes between Midwest cities such as Cleveland, Cincinnati, and Milwaukee and popular vacation spots, including Portland, Maine, and Pensacola, Florida. Resumptions to over 20 other domestic routes are expected. Notably, a launch of an operation from Orange County, California to Honolulu, Hawaii is also being planned.
Positive notions
In total, United plans to serve 52% of its schedule compared to May 2019. In comparison, the figure for May 2020 compared with the year before was 14%.
Overall, the rise in service to Latin America reflects the improvement in flight conditions between the two regions. Many of the stringent travel restrictions such as outright travel bans and blanket quarantine requirements have been dropped for passengers across the network. Testing procedures have largely replaced these measures in several countries. Furthermore, some nations, such as Costa Rica, don’t even require testing to enter.
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The optimism, however, isn’t so strong across the Atlantic. Many Latin American countries and the US are still banning general visitors from Europe. Moreover, numerous European nations still have bans for those flying in from across the pond.
United will undoubtedly be also be keeping an eye on these transatlantic restrictions. It will be keen to continue the ramp-up of more flights.
What are your thoughts about United Airlines’ schedule? Are you looking to fly with the carrier over the next few months? Let us know what you think of the operations in the comment section.
