You can bet that’s the word this week at United Airlines’ headquarters, where the carrier is counting down to next Thursday’s inaugural flight to the remote Asian country.
The addition of Mongolia already was one of the most interesting new routes in recent memory. Making it even more intriguing: United’s Mongolia service is not from a U.S. airport.
It’s part of an updated Asia strategy in which United is leveraging its historical flight rights in Tokyo and Hong Kong to expand its reach farther into Asia.
It’s a move out of the airline industry’s historical playbook. For decades, several U.S. carriers relied on Asian hubs to serve the region. But the practice became obsolete as new, longer-range planes opened up nonstop flights farther into Asia — and as U.S. airlines increasingly relied on alliance partners to connect travelers to far-flung destinations.
For United, reviving the strategy has allowed it to expand its route map — adding flights on its own planes to a slew of new countries that include Mongolia, Vietnam and Thailand. And, of course, it also means that the carrier’s frequent flyers get new destinations for aspirational award redemptions.
Network planners have been busy at other U.S. airlines, too. Here are other recent announcements that have made the headlines here at TPG:
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