United is bringing back its new flagship Hawaii route next summer
United is embracing the island spirit next summer with renewed service on its flagship Hawaii route.
Over the weekend, the Chicago-based carrier extended the schedule for its newest long-haul route between Newark (EWR) and Maui (OGG). The nearly 11-hour flight will now operate between May 7, 2022, and Sept. 4, 2022, on up to five weekly frequencies.
The schedule extension was first seen in Cirium timetables and later confirmed by the airline with the following statement.
We know many customers enjoy Hawaiian vacations in the summer, and we're happy to bring back our New York/Newark to Maui flight next summer.
This move is the latest in a series of boosts for the new United flight that first took off just four months ago on June 3.
In the weeks after unveiling the route in September 2020, the airline quickly increased the frequency and extended the schedule.
It then upgauged the route with its swankiest jet, the "high-J" configuration of the Boeing 767-300ER, which features a whopping 46 Polaris pods, a 22-seat Premium Plus cabin and just 99 coach seats.
Though the airline had first launched this market as a pandemic-era move to capture strong leisure demand, it seems that the airline has hit a home run with the 4,903-mile route. Assuming that demand continues at a strong pace, this new flight could become permanent, even after the pandemic subsides.
In addition to extending the schedule for the Newark to Maui route, United is also bringing back daily service between Washington Dulles (IAD) and Honolulu (HNL) this summer between June 3, 2022, and Sept. 6, 2022.
The airline had originally planned for once-weekly flights during the peak summer season, but that's now been restored to daily service, which mirrors the airline's summer schedule from before the pandemic.
The additional Hawaii flights are the latest in a big growth spurt for United's long-haul network.
Last week, the carrier unveiled its largest-ever transatlantic expansion, with eight routes to five new destinations.
Additionally, the airline's three limited-time long-haul routes that were first launched last summer to destinations open to vaccinated Americans (Croatia, Greece and Iceland) are coming back for another season.
With all these successful new routes, it's perhaps no surprise that Ankit Gupta and Patrick Quayle, United's two senior vice presidents in charge of the network, both received promotions earlier this month.
Gupta "has helped us execute network strategies that would ordinarily take years to develop in a matter of months," while Quayle "continues to reshape our network in the midst of a radically different demand environment, making the most of rapidly changing economic and passenger trends," wrote Andrew Nocella, the airline's chief commercial officer, in a statement announcing the promotions.