United's launching nonstop service from Boston to London Heathrow
Can't say I saw this one coming! United Airlines just announced nonstop service between Boston's Logan Airport and London Heathrow. The flight will operate daily with a Boeing 767-300ER.
The airline has not yet committed to a launch date, but has confirmed that it plans to operate the flight with its "high-J" version of the 767, including 99 economy seats, 22 in Premium Plus and 46 Polaris seats in business class — one of which is reserved as a pilot crew rest.
As of now, United plans to launch service sometime later this year. "We will continue to monitor the demand recovery and travel restrictions as we finalize a start date for this service later in 2021," said Patrick Quayle, United's vice president of International Network and Alliances.
The airline confirmed that it plans to operate this new flight without impacting aircraft assignments on other routes. We also know that United intends to fly between Boston and London daily as mentioned above, with the following schedule:
| From | To | Depart | Arrive |
|---|---|---|---|
Boston | London | 10:00 p.m. | 9:35 a.m.+1 |
London | Boston | 5:00 p.m. | 7:30 p.m. |
Interestingly, this route was announced with little fanfare. United didn't have a marketing push at the ready, and there's no mention of the new flight on the airline's social media accounts.
Notably, American Airlines and JetBlue announced a slew of new flights from the New York City area yesterday, including a handful from Newark Airport (EWR) — United's home turf. With JetBlue planning to launch its first long-haul service from Boston (BOS) to an unconfirmed airport in London later this year, featuring its new Mint business-class offering, this surprise United announcement could be seen as a response to JetBlue's massive Newark expansion.
Still, more options mean more competition on the fare front and there's no question that JetBlue plans to shake things up in the transatlantic market — including on especially lucrative East Coast routes.
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