A United Airlines Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner aircraft is seen taking off from Amsterdam Schiphol Airport.
Nicolas Economou | Nurfoto | fake images
united airlines plans to launch flights to Marrakech, Morocco, and Medellin, Colombia, and increase service to Asia, in the airline's latest bet that consumers will continue to pay for trips abroad.
Flights from United's hub in Newark, New Jersey, to Marrakech are scheduled to begin Oct. 24 using a boeing 767-300ER. The airline's Houston to Medellin flight is scheduled to begin Oct. 27 on a Boeing 737, it said Thursday. The airline is also starting year-round service to Cebu, Philippines, from Tokyo's Narita Airport.
“Our play here with these three cities is premium leisure,” Patrick Quayle, senior vice president of network planning and alliances at United, told CNBC. “We see strong businesses [class] demand, and there is a strong correlation between people who buy biz and Premium Select class with the length of the journey.
US airlines have increased their international service in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic and revenue growth from foreign travel has outpaced domestic sales. United's international revenue grew 18% in the final four months of 2023, while domestic ticket sales grew less than 7%.
United also said it will offer four weekly flights between Shanghai and Los Angeles starting August 29.
It will also add a second daily flight between Los Angeles and Hong Kong and, starting October 25, will have second daily flights between San Francisco and Seoul, South Korea, and between Newark and Porto, Portugal.
Don't miss these CNBC PRO stories:
