United Airlines expands down under with new route to Australia
United Airlines will soon become the first U.S. carrier to add a new transpacific destination since the start of the pandemic.
The Chicago-based airline was set to announce on Wednesday plans to connect its San Francisco (SFO) hub with Brisbane, Australia (BNE), on a new, 7,063-mile nonstop flight.
The route will launch on Oct. 28, and it'll operate year-round on a thrice-weekly basis.
Want more airline-specific news? Sign up for TPG’s free new biweekly Aviation newsletter.
United had been touting the new route on social media with splashy countdown clocks that teased an announcement for 8 a.m. ET Wednesday.
The airline briefed media outlets in advance, including TPG, but details of the new service broke earlier after being announced by airport and regional authorities in Australia on Tuesday evening U.S. time.
Brisbane Airport Corporation CEO Gert-Jan de Graaff lauded United’s arrival as “a gamechanger for the tourism industry,” saying it would dramatically boost international capacity into the Australian state of Queensland that’s home to the airport.
United will use a 257-seat Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner on the roughly 14-hour flight. The aircraft features 48 Polaris lie-flat pods, 21 Premium Plus recliners, 39 extra-legroom Economy Plus seats and 149 standard coach ones. The new flight will go on sale on Wednesday on the carrier's website and mobile app.
The Brisbane flight will join United's existing service to Australia: between Sydney (SYD) and both Los Angeles (LAX) and SFO and between Melbourne (MEL) and SFO. The carrier will also resume flights between MEL and LAX and between SYD and Houston (IAH) during the winter season.
United is already the leader of the U.S. airlines in connecting the mainland with Australia, and the new Brisbane flight further builds on that strength.
Executives at United often note that the carrier was the only one that did not suspend its Australia service during the pandemic — a talking point that Patrick Quayle, senior vice president of international network and alliances for United, repeated to TPG during an interview about the new route.
"We operated to Australia when times were the worst. It wasn't the carrier with the kangaroo on the tail that was flying back and forth between the United States and Australia. It was United Airlines, and it wasn't either one of the other U.S. carriers," Quayle added.
In fact, "I think of us as Australia's national carrier," he added, given that United was the one carrier to continue flying to Australia "even when load factors were like 20%."
As for the reasoning behind the new service, Quayle said it's "unlocked by our new partnership with Virgin Australia."
"We've looked at [adding Brisbane] many times in the past, but it did not work without a partner. And that's the value of what Virgin brings is it creates many more connecting opportunities for our passengers, as well as it gives all the Virgin customers fantastic feed" throughout North America and beyond, Quayle said.
United launched a new codeshare agreement with Virgin Australia on May 23, which marked a major rebound for the Brisbane-based carrier. Virgin entered voluntary administration — similar to Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the U.S. — in April 2020 as travel plunged at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic.
Following its restructuring, a much leaner Virgin Australia was later sold to Bain Capital. As part of the new ownership, a transpacific joint venture between Virgin Australia and its then-U.S. partner, Delta Air Lines, was suspended later in 2020.
Virgin Australia previously flew long-haul routes using Airbus A330s and Boeing 777-300ERs, but reorganized into a domestic carrier flying the Boeing 737 exclusively.
Asked about whether this move to add flights from San Francisco to Brisbane is simply just picking up Virgin's slack (it flew between LAX and BNE before the pandemic), Quayle noted: "I would say this is about trading win-win opportunities for both airlines, and really strengthening both airlines than looking at it as we're taking over Virgin's flight."
Adding Brisbane "diversifies the feed" in Australia, according to Quayle, meaning that customers won't need to fly to Sydney or Melbourne in order to connect to cities that are closer to Brisbane. Virgin Australia offers service from Brisbane to nearly 20 other Australian cities.
Following Australia's reopening, the demand for travel to the country has steadily ramped up, according to Quayle. It wasn't an instant "on-off" switch in terms of demand like the reopening was in other parts of the world, but the carrier is now filling its flights to Sydney and Melbourne, and adding Brisbane is "a gradual phase capacity increase," said Quayle.
Top offers from our partners
How we chose these cards
TPG featured card
Rewards
10X | Earn unlimited 10X miles on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel |
5X | 5X miles on flights booked through Capital One Travel. |
2X | 2 Miles per dollar on every purchase, every day |
Intro offer
Annual Fee
Recommended Credit
Why We Chose It
The Capital One Venture X card is one of the best all-round travel credit cards ever launched. Not only is it offering a tremendous welcome bonus, but cardholders can earn tons of miles on everyday spending and receive a 10,000-mile anniversary bonus to boot. Its annual fee is $395, but cardholders can count on up to $300 in statement credits toward travel booked through Capital One Travel each year and other valuable benefits like access to Priority Pass lounges and Capital One’s own growing family of airport lounges.Pros
- Excellent welcome offer worth 75,000 miles after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first three months.
- Up to $300 in annual travel statement credits toward bookings make through Capital One Travel.
- 10,000 bonus miles (worth $100 toward travel) each account anniversary.
Cons
- The $395 annual fee might be expensive for some, but this card’s benefits provide much more value than that.
- If you don’t travel frequently, this might not be the best card for you.
- Earn 75,000 bonus miles when you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening, equal to $750 in travel
- Receive up to $300 back annually as statement credits for bookings through Capital One Travel, where you'll get Capital One's best prices on thousands of options
- Get 10,000 bonus miles (equal to $100 towards travel) every year, starting on your first anniversary
- Earn unlimited 10X miles on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel and 5X miles on flights booked through Capital One Travel
- Earn unlimited 2X miles on all other purchases
- Unlimited complimentary access for you and two guests to 1,300+ lounges, including Capital One Lounges and the Partner Lounge Network
- Receive up to a $100 credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck®
- Use your Venture X miles to easily cover travel expenses, including flights, hotels, rental cars and more—you can even transfer your miles to your choice of 15+ travel loyalty programs
- Named editors' choice for "Best New Credit Card of 2021" by The Points Guy
- Earn 10 miles per dollar when you book on Turo, the world's largest car sharing marketplace, through May 16, 2023
Rewards Rate
10X | Earn unlimited 10X miles on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel |
5X | 5X miles on flights booked through Capital One Travel. |
2X | 2 Miles per dollar on every purchase, every day |
Intro Offer
Earn 75,000 bonus miles when you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening, equal to $750 in travel75,000 bonus milesAnnual Fee
$395Recommended Credit
Credit ranges are a variation of FICO© Score 8, one of many types of credit scores lenders may use when considering your credit card application.740-850Excellent
Why We Chose It
The Capital One Venture X card is one of the best all-round travel credit cards ever launched. Not only is it offering a tremendous welcome bonus, but cardholders can earn tons of miles on everyday spending and receive a 10,000-mile anniversary bonus to boot. Its annual fee is $395, but cardholders can count on up to $300 in statement credits toward travel booked through Capital One Travel each year and other valuable benefits like access to Priority Pass lounges and Capital One’s own growing family of airport lounges.Pros
- Excellent welcome offer worth 75,000 miles after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first three months.
- Up to $300 in annual travel statement credits toward bookings make through Capital One Travel.
- 10,000 bonus miles (worth $100 toward travel) each account anniversary.
Cons
- The $395 annual fee might be expensive for some, but this card’s benefits provide much more value than that.
- If you don’t travel frequently, this might not be the best card for you.
- Earn 75,000 bonus miles when you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening, equal to $750 in travel
- Receive up to $300 back annually as statement credits for bookings through Capital One Travel, where you'll get Capital One's best prices on thousands of options
- Get 10,000 bonus miles (equal to $100 towards travel) every year, starting on your first anniversary
- Earn unlimited 10X miles on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel and 5X miles on flights booked through Capital One Travel
- Earn unlimited 2X miles on all other purchases
- Unlimited complimentary access for you and two guests to 1,300+ lounges, including Capital One Lounges and the Partner Lounge Network
- Receive up to a $100 credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck®
- Use your Venture X miles to easily cover travel expenses, including flights, hotels, rental cars and more—you can even transfer your miles to your choice of 15+ travel loyalty programs
- Named editors' choice for "Best New Credit Card of 2021" by The Points Guy
- Earn 10 miles per dollar when you book on Turo, the world's largest car sharing marketplace, through May 16, 2023