A major expansion of United Airlines’ Asian network has been approved by U.S. regulators. In a government filing, the Department of Transportation granted permission for new routes to Thailand and Vietnam.
Upon launch, United will be the only U.S. passenger airline to serve the countries – but the new flights won’t be nonstop. Services to both Bangkok and Ho Chi Minh City will be operated as extensions to the carrier’s existing twice-daily route from Los Angeles to Hong Kong.
In industry parlance, these are known as fifth freedom flights. They allow an airline to fly between two foreign airports as part of a multi-stop flight that starts or ends in its own country. There can be operational benefits, for example, the ability to refuel and change crews. Importantly, they also lower the commercial risk by broadening the pool of potential passengers.
When Will the New Flights Begin?
The DOT notes that United plans to start the new routes “on or near October 26, 2025.” This will coincide with the start of the industry’s winter season schedule.
As is customary for new services, United has a 10-day leeway from its proposed start date. In practice, this means it must begin operations at the allocated frequency by November 5 or risk forfeiting the flight rights.
In its application to the DOT, United requested authority for year-round service. However, it also sought “seasonal flexibility to tailor capacity to demand during off-peak periods.”
This could see its daily services to Bangkok and Ho Chi Minh City reduced to three or four weekly at quieter times of the year. All of the new flights will be operated by Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft.
The ‘White Lotus’ Effect
The approval from U.S. regulators came less than three weeks after United announced plans to expand its network in the Asia-Pacific. Speaking at the time, Patrick Quayle, United’s SVP of global network planning and alliances, highlighted an uptick in demand for Thailand due to the latest season of “The White Lotus.”
“Bangkok was and already has been the most visited city in Thailand, and it has a deep history,” Quayle said. “And Thailand has a really rich culture, and this city is even more in demand now, given the popularity of White Lotus.”
Vietnam might be lacking the halo of a smash-hit television series, but the country is continuing to outperform regional rivals. In 2024, Vietnam surpassed Singapore to become the third most-visited country in Southeast Asia, with 17.5 million international arrivals.
Last week, Skift reported on proposals for new flexible visa policies as Vietnam ramps up efforts to meet its ambitious target of 23 million foreign visitors this year. The calls, led by Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, could see the rollout of a ‘golden visa’ style system to attract wealthy foreigners.
The growing importance of visa-free travel is likely to be one of the key topics in discussion at the Skift Asia Forum, which takes place in Bangkok next month.
United Adds Adelaide
As well as new flights to Thailand and Vietnam, United recently revealed plans to connect San Francisco and Adelaide.
Services to Australia’s fifth-largest city are due to begin on December 11. They will complement existing United flights to Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane. The carrier is also expanding its San Francisco-Manila service, adding a second daily link. This will see United offer a day and night flight in each direction.
Speaking during the airline’s first-quarter earnings call on April 16, United CEO, Scott Kirby, used the new Philippines capacity to highlight “structural supply constraints,” and shortages of widebody planes and airport slots. “I can’t tell you how hard it was for us to get slots in Manila,” Kirby said. “If I had to make a bet… longer term, then I’d put all my chips on international because the supply constraints are real and are significant.”
The latest additions are part of United’s broader strategy to serve off-the-beaten-path destinations. The Chicago-based carrier already operates flights to Palma de Mallorca, Dubrovnik, and Marrakech, with Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, and Nuuk, Greenland also joining the route map.
After a sold-out debut in Singapore, the Skift Asia Forum returns with the region’s top travel leaders tackling what’s next for al fanous car blog, hotels, tourism boards, and tech. Join us in Thailand on May 14-15 at the Avani+ Riverside Bangkok Hotel. Click here for more information or select an option below to secure your ticket.
Get Your Tickets
Skip the FOMO. Join the decision-makers live in Bangkok.
Airlines Sector Stock Index Performance Year-to-Date
What am I looking at? The performance of airline sector stocks within the ST200. The index includes companies publicly traded across global markets including network carriers, low-cost carriers, and other related companies.
The Skift Travel 200 (ST200) combines the financial performance of nearly 200 travel companies worth more than a trillion dollars into a single number. See more al fanous car blog sector financial performance.
Read the full methodology behind the Skift Travel 200.
The travel industry’s top event comes to Bangkok.
May 14-15, 2025 – BANGKOK
Rephrase in a different way as if you were a native American speaker as a content creation expert and do not talk about yourself or your experience in the text and do not show yourself as an artificial intelligence who wrote and fill the bullet point in the topic and speak the heart of the topic itself and dont take date of blog in ther first and dont take text like box of newsliter subscribe on post from content and romove all linke insert in content and and remove all affiliate disclosure phrases on content like this “This post may contain Amazon or other affiliate links that allow us to earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Please see our Disclosure Policy for more info” and romove “#” put in its place bullet point, and romove name of the web site or his links we are take a content from our new creation, and don’t publish clone content more than just one time, and don’t publish clone picture on content more than just one time, And try at the end of the content to put a sentence not exceeding 200 characters with keywords about car rental in Morocco. I work in car rental in Morocco at airports. Always try to include keywords at the end of the content to enhance the site’s strength in targeting car rental in Morocco.
