United Airlines (NASDAQ:UAL) plans to add 10 new trans-Atlantic routes in 2022, on a bet cooped-up U.S. customers will race to get out of the country to visit Norwegian fjords, Jordan’s archeological sites or the Canary Islands after international travel was largely on pause since the pandemic began.
The additions include five new destinations: three-times-a-week service to Amman, Jordan from Washington, D.C. on May 5 with a Boeing (NYSE:BA) 787-8 and from Newark Liberty International Airport, Bergen, Norway on May 5 with a Boeing 757-200, Palma de Mallorca in Spain on June 2 with a 767-300ER and Tenerife in Spain’s Canary Islands on June 9 on a 757-200. It’s also added daily flights to Ponta Delgada in Portugal’s Azores on May 13, using a Boeing 737 Max.
"We want to return to travel being fun," Patrick Quayle, United’s senior vice president of international network and alliances, said on a call with reporters.
International travel, and trans-Atlantic in particular, has been a pillar of large U.S. carriers’ service but was derailed by the pandemic and accompanying travel restrictions, which are beginning to ease.
United’s trans-Atlantic service brought in just $585 million in the second quarter, about 10% of its revenue, down from nearly $2.1 billion compared with 2021, when it was 18% of its sales.
UAL shares were airborne 55 cents, or 1.1%, to $48.43
