United hasn’t stopped with Greenland: More temporary path plans for 2026 and beyond
Think Greenland is an unexpected way for United Airlines? There may be more.
The Chicago-based airline has been running around in terms of attractive new destinations. This spring, flights like Mongolia, Sicily and Senegal in Bilbao, Spain took flights to…not to mention the launch of the Nuuk Non Stop Service last weekend.
Next this fall: New flights from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam and Adelaide, Australia.
More destinations may occur in the coming years.
New aircraft, new route
Next year, Manchester United will receive its first Airbus A321XLR, a new single-bath aircraft that can fly across the Atlantic Ocean, debuted last fall by the Spanish flag carrier Iberia Iberia.
The aircraft’s impressive range and relatively low cost range have made other operators call for aircraft to be “game-changing” which could allow tougher routes to more unwelcome path destinations. A big reason: smaller risks. Airline filling is much easier than the Big Boeing 777’s XLR, and gambling is cheaper if the passengers don’t bite.
American Airlines said its new XLR should eventually open new middle school cities for airlines in Europe and South America – that is, once it first gets enough aircraft to first cover the advanced transcontinental routes its outgoing Quad Beetle A321T currently handles.
Input combined into XLR mixture, of course already yes A obscure place is covered in a long range of borders in Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Arctic.
No tips from Manchester United
Once you get a new versatile aircraft, will Manchester United want to fly any hints? I asked the person who decided.
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“I don’t want to tell you because the other two airlines will copy us,” Patrick Quayle, senior vice president of United Network Planning, said last weekend on the ground in Greenland, referring to the U.S. and Delta Airlines. (I have to ask!)
Quill reiterated: “If I told you the route, they will definitely add them.”
Additionally, United turned its seasonal “route drop” into a splash announcement, sometimes leaving crumbs in the first few days to summon some of the mystery artists have built before dropping the album.
United Airbus A321XLR Program
Quayle does confirm that Manchester United expects to receive its first XLR next summer. Part of the operator’s long-standing aircraft plan (dating back to the first 50 ordering jets in the late decade) is to replace part of its aging Boeing 757 fleet, which operates both domestically and on a handful of short transatlantic routes.
Beyond?
“It will be used for growth – new destinations,” Quill said before referring to Manchester United’s recent wave of new tilt cities. “It’s more about the same type of veins. Creativity.”
Co-CEO Scott Kirby, who recently made a appearance on CNBC, pointed out more specifically that the airline will fly to “smaller cities” in Europe and North Africa. This is not surprising; the bigger problem will eventually be exist Those areas choose to go.
We should note that these planes will be equipped with advanced configurations for Lie-Flat Polaris Pods for long-haul flights.
Away from the unpredictable road
In addition to any aircraft, United executives touted the strategy of launching obscure routes as a backbone of its joint MileagePlus loyalty program, even if there is little data ahead of time to support the flight to the location. The idea: This novel destination will inspire travelers to fly with carriers, earn quality elite identities, earn money and redeeming miles, and perhaps, maybe adding a joint credit card to their wallet to help the process.
Quayle told me that this approach stems from the carrier’s move to launch services to Cape Town in 2019.
“By adding, we introduced this unique view of our passenger combination and what the passenger wanted, and then we started experimenting,” Quayle recalls. “We added a Dubrovnik. We added a Palma [de Mallorca]. Based on these successes, we added the Azores. ”
Sometimes flying to unexpected new places doesn’t work; United tried Bergen, Norway, a few years ago, and eventually quit after a year. But increasingly, United’s fleet (to be fair) also allows more of these calculated risks, which should translate into some interesting new uninterrupted travel options for travelers.
It’s Manchester United’s bet is very comfortable, as evidenced by the first uninterrupted flight between the United States and Greenland in nearly two decades.
“We did more experiments. But most of these experiments have worked,” Kirby said at an industry conference earlier this month, touting that airlines have to try new things. “You built a hotel in Nuuk and you’re a little stuck. Your flight to Nuuk is running and it won’t work and won’t be riding it next season.”
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