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There was some very good news buried in Friday’s Premium Plus announcement from United — beginning March 30, 2019, the airline will begin flying a new Boeing 777-300ER on its third longest flight, with daily service between Newark (EWR) and Hong Kong (HKG), replacing the dated 777-200ER currently operating that flight.

United
United’s 777-300ER offers 1-2-1 seating in business class. Photo by Zach Honig.

There will be more seats available throughout the plane — Polaris business class will jump from 50 seats to 60 and economy will increase from 145 seats to 204. There will be 24 Premium Plus seats as well, at the cost of Economy Plus — that extra-legroom coach section will drop from 72 seats to 62 as a result.

United isn’t adding 777-300ERs to the fleet to support this change, however — the airline will remove its largest plane from the San Francisco (SFO)-Beijing (PEK) route, operating a retrofitted 777-200ER there, instead.

United
United’s 3-4-3 economy cabin on the 777-300ER. Photo by Zach Honig.

While this is a positive change for business class passengers — and those booking United’s brand-new Premium Plus product — the 777-300ER is a tighter squeeze in economy, with 3-4-3 seating instead of the 3-3-3 seats on the Newark-Hong Kong route today.

For more on United’s 777-300ER, see:

Zach Honig is Editor-at-Large at TPG, with contributions ranging from articles digging deep on loyalty programs and credit cards to delivery flight coverage to drone photography and much more.

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