Remember when the idea of seeing a B737 from a US airline in Europe seemed impossible? Well, that is changing as United has now announced its first route to mainland Europe with a B737-8 MAX to a city you’ve probably never heard of. This is part of a broader summer announcement that has some very smart and measured growth.
United has spent many years making flashier and flashier summer route adds. It’s hard to top last year’s Greenland adventure, but that shouldn’t be the goal anyway. With figurative walls being thrown up by the US government and the economy slowing down, international expansion becomes less and less of a sure thing.
The question then remained, would United go big or would it go more conservative next year? I think it’s done the latter, but it can still get headlines by putting those MAXs to good use. Here are the four new cities, all are being flown from Newark:
- Bari (Italy) 4x weekly on a business-heavy B767-300ER from May 1
- Glasgow 1x daily on a B737-8 MAX from May 8
- Santiago de Compostela (Spain) 3x weekly on a B737-8 MAX from May 22
- Split (Croatia) 3x weekly on a business-heavy B767-300ER from April 30
The airline is also increasing frequency and connecting dots on three other routes, though only one is in Europe:
- Reykjavik/Keflavik 1x daily from Washington/Dulles on a B757-200 from May 21
- Seoul/Incheon 1x daily from Newark on a B787-9 from September 4
- Tel Aviv increases from 2x daily to 18x weekly from Newark, new 4x weekly flights on the B787-9 from March 28
Overall, this is still an impressive list of new flights for a relatively uncertain time. But when you look at this under a microscope, it’s not really as dramatic as it may seem at first blush.
The B767 Looks for Gold on the Med
There is one B767 dedicated to Split some days and Bari the others. This airplane is being pulled off of Newark to Athens (3x weekly) and Frankfurt (4x weekly). Those each still have 1x daily, and we don’t know if Lufthansa might backfill and increase Frankfurt anyway. I like this bet.
This just follows the maxim that if your city touches the Mediterranean, it can support a flight to the US in summer. Nobody flies from the US to Split, and only Neos flies to JFK from Bari. Neos carries primarily Italian origin traffic, so this is a wide open opportunity for United.
These are operated by the “high-J” B767 with a lot of premium seats. This will cater to the cruisers and tours that stop or end in one of these points. Today, they are not easy to access since most of the flights that could connect back to the US are timed for the European traveler. They leave later in the day.
Let me put it another way. In July 2025, there were 2,625 flights from Split to other cities in Europe. Of those, only 875 departed before noon. And of those, only 138 were operated by an airline to its major European hub with connecting options to the US. (And I’m being generous by including Croatia Airlines flights here since they are closely tied with Lufthansa.) Meanwhile, in June and July of this year, there were 182 daily passengers each way between the US and Bari and 278 to Split.
Three flights a week nonstop to Newark? I like its chances.
The MAX is Going to Complement the A321XLR
I don’t think I quite appreciated what the MAX was going to be able to do for United. It is already flying to Nuuk in Greenland along with Madeira and Ponta Delgada (Azores) in Portugal. But now it’s going to stretch even further. Madeira is a mere 3,178 statute miles from Newark. Now we have Glasgow at 3,228 and Santiago de Compostela at 3,310. This shouldn’t be a problem since today United flies the MAX on Anchorage – Newark which is 3,369 miles.
I couldn’t believe that Glasgow had no real US service, but sure enough the only thing it had this past summer was a twice weekly flight to Melbourne (FL) on TUI. That hardly counts. Of course, Edinburgh is a short drive away, but for people who prefer Glasgow, this should be a welcome addition. And since it’s on a MAX, it isn’t a big risk.
As for Santiago de Compostela, well that one is fascinating. If you’ve ever wanted to go to that region in the northwest of Spain, you know it’s a real pain that this past summer only drew about 30 passengers each way per day from the US. The closest airport with Transatlantic service is Porto, a good 2.5 hour drive away, and that doesn’t have much service anyway. Madrid is a hefty six hours away by car, though you can slash it in half on a train.
On a call with the media yesterday, United’s SVP of Global Network Planning and Alliances Patrick Quayle was asked whether these MAX flights were just a placeholder until the A321XLR arrives. He was very clear in saying they were not, and for two reasons. First, the MAX is smaller, but probably more importantly, Patrick highlighted how the MAX only has coach and “premium economy” which is actually domestic first. The A321XLR will have flat beds. These are different airplanes for different markets.
Taking Advantage of Opportunities
Of the rest, Keflavik seems like an easy one to try, and more Tel Aviv service works great… barring more war-related closures. But it was Newark – Seoul/Incheon that I found particularly interesting. New York is the second biggest US market for Seoul outside of LA, but United only serves Incheon from San Francisco twice daily and nowhere else.
In the past, United could at leat rely on its Star Alliance partner Asiana for some feed, but with Korean having bought Asiana, United loses any semblance of a partner. Today, Korean and Asiana each fly 2x daily from JFK but only Air Premia has a single daily flight from Newark. This is a good move for United.
This, again, is in no way as impressive and expansive as last year’s announcement, but it’s still notable enough for me to bother writing a post. I would expect that these new destinations will get some good press for United without committing too many assets to make the routes fly. It’s a creative balance.
