United Airlines revealed Tuesday its plans to launch a significant expansion of international routes beginning in 2027, adding destinations across Europe and Asia that extend beyond conventional major travel centers. The carrier, which already operates more international service than competing U.S. airlines, said it has added 49 new destinations since 2021 and currently operates as the only U.S. airline with nonstop service to 32 of those locations.
The new routes include service to Ljubljana, Slovenia and Okinawa, Japan, among others. Two routes are specifically designed for business travel: one connecting Toulouse, France—where Airbus is headquartered—to Herndon, Virginia, and another linking Luxembourg to Arlington, Virginia, where Amazon maintains its second U.S. headquarters. United also announced nonstop service from Los Angeles to Osaka, Japan, flights from Denver to Paris, and a restart of service from San Francisco to Tel Aviv, Israel. The carrier previously announced plans to launch San Francisco to Sapporo, Japan service in December.
United CEO Scott Kirby stated that the extended international seasons for these destinations now run through October, which has become one of the carrier’s strongest months. The airline noted that customers increasingly book open-jaw flights, traveling into one city and departing from another without returning to a major hub, which supports the strategy of offering multiple destinations within countries like Portugal, Italy, Spain, and France.
Unitied emphasized that the new routes do not require discontinuing existing service. The expansion reflects changing traveler preferences toward less congested European destinations and emerging international markets. United is currently the second-most profitable U.S. airline after Delta Air Lines, though Delta maintains fewer international routes. Delta announced its own international expansion earlier this year, including new service to Tokyo-Narita International Airport and Manila in the Philippines.
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