United Airlines has more flights between the US and Europe than any other operator, with London Heathrow being its number one destination. The carrier’s European dominance has been assisted by the launch of flights to four more cities. In May, it started flying to Bilbao, Faro, and Palermo, followed by Funchal in early June. This became the Star Alliance member’s fifth destination in Portugal, a first for any North American operator.
United now serves a record 32 European airports involving 14 countries. This is the first time its network has exceeded 30 airports across the continent. It would have flown to 33 destinations, but flights to Tenerife South ended in May. They were to resume later this year, but have been removed.
United’s 10 Most-Served European Airports: June
According to United’s schedule submission to Cirium Diio, the airline will have an average of 103 daily departures from the US to Europe in June. Its offering has jumped from 99 daily flights in the same month last year and just 76 before the pandemic in June 2019. United now operates more than one in six US-European services.
Despite the presence of three major Star Alliance hubs (Frankfurt, Munich, and Zurich), London Heathrow is, unsurprisingly, United’s top European market. Its position is from having more routes than anywhere else, and usually higher frequencies, heavily influenced by the huge use of low-capacity, high-premium, 167-seat Boeing 767-300ERs. Newark-Heathrow has seven daily flights alone, partly reflecting the significance of business traffic. That’s more than most of the top 10 airports’ total flights.
| Daily departures: June* | Airport | United’s operations: June (may change at other times) |
|---|---|---|
| 20 daily | London Heathrow | Chicago O’Hare (triple daily 767-300ER), Denver (double daily 787-9), Houston Intercontinental (double daily 777-200ER), Los Angeles (daily 787-9), Newark (seven daily 767-300ER), San Francisco (triple daily 777-200ER/787-9), Washington Dulles (double daily 777-200ER) |
| 10 daily (some days have nine) | Frankfurt | Chicago O’Hare (daily 787-10), Denver (daily 787-9), Houston Intercontinental (daily 777-200ER), Newark (11 weekly 767-300ER/777-300ER), San Francisco (double daily 777-200ER/777-300ER), Washington Dulles (double daily 777-200ER/777-300ER) |
| Seven daily | Rome Fiumicino | Chicago O’Hare (daily 787-10), Denver (daily 787-9; a brand-new route), Newark (double daily 767-400ER/777-300ER), San Francisco (daily 777-200ER), Washington Dulles (double daily 767-300ER/777-200ER) |
| Six daily | Munich | Chicago O’Hare (daily 787-8), Denver (daily 787-9), Houston Intercontinental (daily 777-200ER), Newark (daily 777-200ER), San Francisco (daily 777-200ER), Washington Dulles (daily 787-8) |
| Six daily | Paris CDG | Chicago O’Hare (daily 787-10), Newark (double daily 767-400ER/777-200ER), San Francisco (daily 777-200ER), Washington Dulles (double daily 767-400ER/777-200ER) |
| Five daily | Amsterdam | Chicago O’Hare (daily 787-8), Houston Intercontinental (daily 767-300ER), Newark (daily 777-200ER), San Francisco (daily 777-200ER), Washington Dulles (daily 767-300ER) |
| Five daily | Dublin | Chicago O’Hare (daily 787-8), Newark (double daily 757-200/777-200ER), Washington Dulles (double daily 757-200) |
| Four daily | Barcelona | Chicago O’Hare (daily 787-8), Newark (daily 777-200ER), San Francisco (daily 777-200ER), Washington Dulles (daily 787-8) |
| Four daily | Edinburgh | Chicago O’Hare (daily 757-200), Newark (twice-daily 757-200), Washington Dulles (daily 757-200) |
| Four daily | Zurich | Chicago O’Hare (daily 767-300ER), Newark (daily 767-300ER), San Francisco (daily 777-200ER), Washington Dulles (daily 767-300ER/767-400ER) |
How Have The Most-Served Airports Changed Compared To June 2019?
Let’s return to before COVID-19 in June 2019 and consider significant changes. Thanks to United’s Barcelona flights doubling to four daily, the ever-popular Spanish city is now in the top 10 list. Its growth was from introducing new routes from Chicago O’Hare (May 2023) and San Francisco (June 2024), with cruise demand partly explaining this. It pushed out Brussels, with United’s offering nearly unchanged in the past six years.
The rest of the top 10 airports have more flights than they did, including , up from 17 to 20 daily. Despite this, United’s share of US-Heathrow flights has only risen from 15% to 16%, influenced by the entry of JetBlue and the expansion of other operators.
The biggest development involves Rome Fiumicino, to which United now has seven daily flights—up from just three in 2019. Demand from North America to Southern Europe remains strong. Indeed, between May 21 and 23 alone, three airlines launched seven US-Italy routes, joined by three more between June 3 and 5.
Frankfurt Has The Most Seats Per Flight
United has an average of 300 seats per flight to Frankfurt, more than to any of the other top 10 destinations and elsewhere in Europe except Brussels (322). Frankfurt’s result is from having triple daily departures on 350-seat 777-300ERs, more than to any other European airport, along with a daily service on the 318-seat 787-10. Its operation at Germany’s busiest airport balances high capacity and many premium seats.
Things are very different at Heathrow, where United has just 218 seats per flight—27% less than at Frankfurt. This is heavily influenced by its seven daily Newark flights on 167-seat 767-300ERs. Despite Heathrow’s renowned slot shortage, United focuses on frequencies to further help achieve higher yields in what is, of course, a hugely premium market. Unsurprisingly, United has far more premium seats to Heathrow than it does to any other non-US airport globally.
Credits: United Airlines
