United’s international route network is the envy of every carrier and they continue to add more dots across the world.
Today they announced that they will be the first US carrier to offer nonstop service from the US mainland to Manila, Philippines.
United does fly nonstop from their Guam hub and from Palau to Manila, though no US airline has ever flown there from the US mainland.
The Philippines have strict bilateral flight restrictions, but an opportunity opened when Delta killed off its flights from Tokyo and Seoul to Manila.
Manila has long been thought of as too much of a leisure destination to warrant nonstop service to the US mainland. Long routes like this need sufficient business travel to book pricey business class and last-minute seats in order to make them viable.
Incredibly, United will fly their flagship 777-300ER plane from San Francisco to Manila, which indicates that United expects strong premium class demand to Manila. The route will have daily service starting 10/29, with the flight departing San Fransisco after the time change at 11:35pm and arriving into Manila at 6:50am, 2 days later. The return flight leaves Manila at 9:55am, arriving into San Francisco at 6:20am, earlier that same day.
While Manila doesn’t hold much attraction to tourists, the stunning islands of the Philippines have long been on my bucket list. I had a full trip planned to Palawan and Coron earlier this year, but those plans fell through. Maybe United will release some business class saver award space on this route and I’ll be able to revive them sometime? Sadly, that seems like too much to ask for these days, but it is a lot of premium cabin space for United to try to sell…
There are numerous unofficial Chabad Houses that serve the Philippines.
United also announced that they will fly daily nonstop 787-10 service between Los Angeles and Tokyo/Narita starting 10/28. That’s in addition to their existing daily nonstop service between Los Angeles and Tokyo/Haneda.
United will also fly daily nonstop 787-9 service between Los Angeles and Hong Kong starting 10/28 as demand to Hong Kong continues to increase. It’s great to see United’s LA hub get some new flights.
San Francisco-Taipei will go from daily service to double daily service starting on 10/29.
United also notes that starting this winter it will operate 66 weekly flights between the US and Australia/New Zealand with new service that was announced earlier this year.
Will you fly on any of United’s new routes?
Leave a Reply
16 Comments On "United Will Add Nonstop Service To The Philippines And More!"
All opinions expressed below are user generated and the opinions aren’t provided, reviewed or endorsed by any advertiser or DansDeals.
LY also starting Manilla this year 🙂
Now that would be an awesome way to fly to the holy land!
What date does TLV-MNL start?
No date yet
Can u please take out the word unofficial by chabad house
Because?
I guess they can’t fly to China, Hong Kong and Philippines from the east Coast because of the Russian air Blockade, so they add flights from the West Coast to new destinations…
United used to fly non-stop HNL-MNL (not CONUS) In the late 80s early 90s – I flew F once on a UAL 747.on this route.
But there hasnt been a non-stop CONUS-MNL since planes gained the range needed (ER).
Nice, I miss UA 747 F!
Any trip reports for the Philippines?
Should be several on DDF.
Dan can you explain “The Philippines have strict bilateral flight restrictions”?
They don’t have an open skies treaty with the US, so you can only add flights there when a competitor drops a route and makes them available.
United is now the only US carrier with MNL service, with flights from GUM, ROR, and now SFO.
General question, how do zmanim work on a flight like this?
MyZmanim can calculate those for you.
That’s a long trip out there from Cleveland. You’d practically have to leave before Wednesday to get there in time for shabbos.
Sounds good… but it’s actually not a game changer. Because it’s not the “US,” it’s SF… who lives there? It’s still a stop over from major cities. I could make the stop in SF after flying 5 hours, or make the stop in Asia after a longer flight. Meh.