United will add a third long-haul route from Sydney from January 2018 when it starts nonstop flights to Houston with Boeing 787-9s.
The Star Alliance member says the new Sydney-Houston service will open up more one-stop options for passengers travelling between Australia and the United States.
“Our Houston hub is stronger than ever and it continues to be an absolutely vital part of our industry-leading network,” United president Scott Kirby said in a statement on Thursday (US time).
“This new route will serve more than 70 cities across North America making one-stop service to Sydney faster and more convenient than ever before.”
The United statement noted a passenger originating in Charlotte and travelling to Sydney on United would currently fly to Chicago and then San Francisco before making the trans-Pacific flight to Sydney.
When the Houston-Sydney services launches on January 18, that passenger would have a one-stop itinerary, transiting over Houston en route to Sydney.
The flights have been scheduled as a lunchtime departure from Sydney and an overnight service from Houston.
Currently, United flies from Sydney to Los Angeles and San Francisco, as well as from Melbourne to Los Angeles, with Boeing 787 equipment.
At 7,470nm, Sydney-Houston will be United’s second-longest nonstop flight alongside its San Francisco-Singapore (7,340nm) and Los Angeles-Singapore (7,621nm) services that are also operated with 787-9s.
The airline’s move to launch flights from Sydney to Houston comes as Qantas evaluates new routes for its soon-to-arrive 787-9s, as well as plans to serve New York and London non-stop from Australia’s east coast with either the Boeing 777-8X or Airbus A350-900ULR.
It will also go head-to-head against Qantas’s Airbus A380 Sydney-Dallas/Fort Worth flight.
Further, United may also take away from passengers from Australia who are travelling to the United States via Air New Zealand’s Auckland hub.
The Kiwi flag carrier has been aggressively targeting the Australian market for its flights to the Americas, where it flies to Los Angeles, San Francisco, Houston, Vancouver and Buenos Aires.
United’s 787-9s feature 48 business, 63 extra-legroom “economy plus” and 141 seats economy seats for a total 252.
Flight Number/Routing |
Days of operation |
Time of departure |
Time of arrival |
UA101 Houston-Sydney |
Daily | 20:00 |
0630+2 |
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Aussieflyer
says:Very good news for the people in the oil industry
Lechuga
says:Great news, still gotta start Mel-Sfo
Craig
says:It will be interesting to see what impact this has on the Australian originating passenger numbers using the ANZ service to Houston.
john doutch
says:Wouldn’t Sydney Houston be the second longest flight as it beats San Fran – Singapore by over 100 nm
australianaviation.com.au
says:Hi John, indeed it is. The story has been updated. apologies for the error
stephen Boyce
says:i would love to see United fly LAX or SFO to Brisbane we need a service in Brisbane. No American airline flies into Brisbane exept Hawaiian from Honalulu
Roger
says:This is very unrelated, but Sydney will be getting Airbus A350-900 services from China Airlines this December.
Oskar
says:And….
Arkair
says:Reported today Air NZ are considering Auckland- Chicago and Auckland- New York nonstop in next few years. Going to be interesting times!
ian
says:stephen Boyce …………. rumour out there of a SFO/BNE service for sometime in 2018, but not nonstop & would have a stop somewhere, but guess they could still call it direct.
Jeff Carswell
says:Another long United flight where one has to suffer substandard cabin service, so count me out.
Jackson Reilly
says:Don’t think this will detract from the Air New Zealand numbers at all. United is a crap airline with no service, Air New Zealand on the other hand!
ESLowe
says:No use to me…I wouldn’t fly United again if they paid me..