United plans new flights to Africa, India, Israel and Hawaii

Despite the global pandemic, United is adding a number of brand new domestic and international flights to its route network, opening additional connections between the USA, India, Israel and Africa, as well as between the mainland USA and Hawaii.

The full list of planned new routes is:

Chicago to New Delhi, India: starting winter 2020
San Francisco to Bangalore, India: starting spring 2021
Newark, New Jersey to Johannesburg, South Africa: starting spring 2021
Washington, DC, to Accra, Ghana: starting spring 2021
Washington, DC, to Lagos, Nigeria: starting spring 2021
Chicago to Kona (Big Island), Hawaii: starting summer 2021
Newark to Kahului (Maui), Hawaii: beginning summer 2021

“Now is the right time to take a bold step in evolving our global network to help our customers reconnect with friends, family and colleagues around the world,” Patrick Quayle, United's vice president of International Network and Alliances, said in a statement.

With these additional routes, United is poised to become the airline with more nonstop services to India and South Africa than any other US-based carrier. It’s the only US airline with flights between San Francisco and Bangalore, as well as between Newark and Johannesburg.

Street art in Johannesburg, South Africa © Oliver Berry / Lonely Planet

United also launched nonstop flights from Chicago to Tel Aviv last week, becoming the only airline to fly this route.

Although the borders of many countries remain closed because of coronavirus, these international routes are anticipating travelers who want to visit family after a long lockdown: the airline says that the Washington, DC, metro area has the second largest population of Ghanaians in the USA and that Lagos is the largest destination in West Africa from the USA.

“These new nonstop routes provide shorter travel times and convenient one-stop connections from across the United States, demonstrating United's continued innovative and forward-looking approach to rebuilding our network to meet the travel needs of our customers,” Quayle said. The new routes are still subject to government approval, and once they get the green light, they will be available to purchase on United’s website and phone app.