United Launching New Flights to Naples, Prague and Amsterdam
On the heels of American's announcement of a handful of new flights to Europe, United's sharing plans to introduce three new routes of its own — all beginning in 2019.
First up is daily, year-round 787-9 Dreamliner service between San Francisco (SFO) and Amsterdam (AMS), joining existing UA options from Chicago (ORD), Houston (IAH), Newark (EWR) and Washington, D.C. (IAD). The new flight will launch on March 30, 2019, with the following schedule:
- UA968 San Francisco (SFO) 2:55pm Departure → Amsterdam (AMS) 10:20am (+1) Arrival
- UA969 Amsterdam (AMS) 2:50pm Departure → San Francisco (SFO) 4:50pm Arrival
Next are two new routes from Newark, starting with a daily seasonal Boeing 767-300 flight to Naples, Italy (NAP), operating from May 22, 2019 through October 4, 2019 with the following schedule:
- UA964 Newark (EWR) 5:25pm Departure → Naples (NAP) 8:05am (+1) Arrival
- UA965 Naples (NAP) 10:10am Departure → Newark (EWR) 2:05pm Arrival
Finally, beginning June 6, 2019 through October 4, 2019, United will fly daily from Newark to Prague (PRG), also with a 767-300:
- UA188 Newark (EWR) 6:05pm Departure → Prague (PRG) 8:25am (+1) Arrival
- UA187 Prague (PRG) 10:10am Departure → Newark (EWR) 1:30pm Arrival
All three routes will likely be popular with different groups of United loyalists, but I'm perhaps most excited by the new flight to Naples — I've always wanted to visit the Amalfi Coast, and NAP offers direct access. These new flights should be available to book beginning later today.
United has also confirmed plans to resume seasonal flights to more than 20 international destinations next summer, including Newark to Reykjavik (KEF) and Porto (OPO), which launched this year, along with popular flights to Athens (ATH) and Venice (VCE).
It's not yet clear if the airline plans to trim any other routes to facilitate these new seasonal launches, but the extra 787-9 and 767-300s could be freed up during an equipment reshuffling following the introduction of Boeing's extended-length Dreamliner, the 787-10, which is expected to join United's fleet later this year.
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