United Airlines is hopeful that it will be able to resume some long-haul direct services in less than a month’s time. The airline has opened up booking for three transatlantic flights to Europe and two additional nonstop flights to South America. This is quite a development considering that at the end of March, the airline temporarily suspended all long-haul international flights.
It wasn’t all that long ago that it was reported that United Airlines was temporarily suspending its long-haul international routes. The motive had been to adhere to developments in government regulations that made travel restrictions even tighter.
At that time, United closed the transatlantic flights that were still operating. This includeed the service between Cape Town in South Africa and Newark in the U.S. In addition, the American carrier made its final flight to Central and South America on 24th March. Its final international long-haul journey over the Pacific was on 25th March.
However, fast forward a few seemingly long weeks and United is already getting itchy feet. It wants its services up and running, but its approach is a cautious one. Nevertheless, United Airlines is gently phasing in routes that are currently suspended. The airline hopes to fly over the Atlantic once again at the beginning of May and will also operate services to two South American cities.
At present, United is looking to reinstate three European routes. On the 4th May, United Airlines will begin to fly between its hub Chicago O’Hare (ORD) and London Heathrow (LHR) again. The route is listed on the United website as a red-eye flown by Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner, flight number UA931.
A 787 Dreamliner will begin flying passengers between the US and the UK.
Additionally, the air carrier will also restart flights between Newark (EWR) and Amsterdam Schiphol (AMS) on the same day. The 4th of May will also see the return of flights to Frankfurt (FRA) from Washington (IAD). All of the above services will operate daily.
However, United Airlines also sees the benefit of restarting routes to South America. On 5th May, a daily flight will depart Houston (IAH) for Bogota (BOG) in Colombia. On the same day, United will fly to Buenos Aires (EZE) from George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston. This service will only operate three times per week. These services complement existing widebody routes to destinations including Sydney, Tel Aviv, and Sao Paulo.Many airlines have cut services throughout April but it was widely accepted that these schedules would change. At this point in time, there is still no concrete evidence as to whether airlines will be able to operate international flights in as little as a month’s time. However, it is possible.
