UNITED ADDS USA’S 2ND-LONGEST FLIGHT
New Houston-toAustralia route takes 17 hours, 30 minutes
Airlines constantly tweak their schedules, trying to find profitable new routes or pulling the plug on ones that have underperformed. Airports and communities court these new services.
There are dozens of changes to airline routes each month. Here’s a look at some of the most interesting:
HOUSTON TO AUSTRALIA NON-STOP ON UNITED
United Airlines will launch a signature long-haul route from its hub at Houston Bush Intercontinental Airport.
The carrier will add service to Sydney on Jan. 18, flying the 8,596-mile flight on Boeing 787-9 “Dreamliners.” The route would become the second-longest flown by any U.S. airline and would be the only one connecting Houston to Australia. Flight time in the direction of Sydney is scheduled for 17 hours, 30 minutes, and the return to Houston is scheduled for 15 hours, 45 minutes. The only route by a U.S. airline that would be longer would be United’s 8,700-mile Los Angeles-Singapore flight, which is scheduled to begin Oct. 27.
UNITED ALSO ADDS DESTINATIONS IN EUROPE
United will add seasonal service on four new routes to Europe, including two from United’s hub in Newark and one each from its hubs in Washington and San Francisco.
The routes from Newark will begin in May, connecting the city to two new destinations for United: Reykjavik, Iceland, and Porto, Portugal.
United’s new service from Washington Dulles will begin in May, when the carrier adds nonstop service to Edinburgh, Scotland. From San Francisco, United will launch non-stop flights to Zurich, beginning in June.
DELTA SHAKES UP TRANS-ATLANTIC SCHEDULE
Delta is rolling out a bevy of new routes to Europe — and dropping two destinations altogether — as it tweaks its schedule across the Atlantic.
Delta’s seasonal service between New York JFK and both Moscow and Stockholm will not resume next year, ending the carrier’s flights from both cities.
Also next summer, Delta will suspend its year-round service between Newark and Amsterdam and between Philadelphia and London Heathrow. The company’s seasonal Philadelphia-Paris Charles de Gaulle route will not resume in 2018.
“While it is always difficult to suspend service, these moves will ensure Delta’s trans-Atlantic network will continue its multi-year run of continuous growth well into the future,” Delta said in an internal memo obtained by USA TODAY.
Against those cuts, Delta touted new routes it said will expand its trans-Atlantic capacity for the fifth year in a row.
That includes one new destination for Delta: a seasonal route to the Azores, the Portuguese-controlled island chain in the North Atlantic. Flights from JFK to the Azores’ main international airport in Ponta Delgada will start May 24 and run through Sept. 3.
Other trans-Atlantic additions include non-stop service between Los Angeles and Amsterdam and Paris Charles de Gaulle that will launch in June.
Non-stop Orlando-Amsterdam service will start March 30, and Indianapolis-Paris flights will begin May 24.Across the Atlantic, Delta will launch year-round service to Lagos, Nigeria. The service from New York JFK will start March 24, with three weekly flights. Delta serves Lagos with four weekly flights from its hub in Atlanta.
AMID TURF WAR, SOUTHWEST GROWS IN CALIFORNIA
Southwest Airlines moved to beef up its presence in California as it battles an emboldened Alaska Airlines for market share.
Southwest’s biggest increase comes at San Jose, with new daily service to five cities.
Flights to Austin, Boise, Houston Hobby and St. Louis will begin April 8. Flights to Orlando will start May 6.
Sacramento fared well in Southwest’s Golden State expansion, landing three new daily non-stop routes. Austin and St. Louis flights will start April 8, and service to Orlando will begin May 6. Southwest will bring new international service to each of those cities with Saturday-only nonstop service to the Mexican resort destination Cabo San Lucas. Those flights start March 10.