United Airlines Boosts International Schedule in July

United Airlines has announced plans to resume a number of international services in July that had been suspended due to the coronavirus crisis. Among the routes being added to the schedule are San Francisco to Hong Kong, Singapore and Seoul; Washington to London, Munich, Brussels and Zurich; and Chicago to Tokyo.

The carrier is also increasing the number of flights from Houston to over a dozen destinations in Latin America, including Buenos Aires, Lima, Quito, Guatemala City and Panama City. The schedule also adds flights from both Houston and New York/Newark to Caribbean destinations such as Montego Bay, Nassau and Punta Cana.

United has been planning a return to China since early May,  but according to the latest reports, that move is still on hold awaiting the resolution of a dispute between the US and Chinese governments over China’s failure to approve the applications of US carriers to resume flying their Chinese routes.

In a statement, United said adding these flights would still mean the airline is operating about 25 percent of what would be its full schedule in July. That compares to the current capacity which is only running at about 10 percent.

Although July’s modest bump in demand is encouraging, United warns the COVID-19 crisis still poses serious problems for the airline, as previously reported. In announcing the limited return of international service, the carrier cautioned “Travel demand is still a very long way from where it was at the end of last year and the financial impact on our business remains severe.”