Summary
- United Airlines is increasing flights from Washington Dulles to Nigeria this winter, offering daily service to Lagos Airport.
- United is moving several of its Pennsylvania services down from Newark.
- The airline is expanding its routes to include other domestic destinations, like Palm Springs, with daily service beginning in December.
As the summer season in the northern hemisphere begins to wind down, airlines are announcing updates for the upcoming winter season, which starts in October. One such carrier is United Airlines , which announced it is increasing flights from the nation’s capital this winter to key destinations.
All in on Africa
United Airlines has been investing significantly in its hub at Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD) and has now opened bookings for additional flights to Nigeria. Beginning on December 4th, United will boost its service to Lagos Airport (LOS) to daily from the current thrice-weekly.
The route was initially operated between 2010 and 2016 and resumed in 2021 with three Boeing 787 Dreamliner weekly services. United’s Dreamliners are configured to seat 28 passengers in United Polaris business class lie-flat seats, 21 in Premium Plus, 36 in Economy Plus, and 158 people in standard economy seats.
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Rates will vary from route to route, so we used one domestic route and one international route as examples.
The return flight from Lagos will continue to be operated at night, opening up a range of daytime connection opportunities across United’s network from IAD. Speaking to local media, United’s Country Sales Manager Nigeria, Ghana, and South Africa, Oluwatomi Bola-Sadipe, noted the popularity of the 787 used on the route:
“Africa continues to be an integral part of United’s global network and we are delighted to announce an increase of flights from Lagos to Washington Dulles during the winter season with our state-of-the-art 787 Dreamliner aircraft.
“We are proud to not only offer our customers in Nigeria even greater travel choice when booking their next U.S. getaway, but also provide convenient one-stop connections to over 70 destinations across the Americas, including Houston, Chicago, and New York/Newark.
“The revolutionary design of the Dreamliner offers customers many features for increased comfort, such as large windows, spacious overhead storage, and modern LED lighting to simulate a full day, helping passengers adjust their internal clock on the transatlantic flight.”
Photo: Ronen Fefer | Shutterstock
The frequency increase follows the groundbreaking of a new Concourse E at IAD. The 435,000 sq ft expansion will feature 14 gates, all dedicated to United Airlines.
A boost across the board
Lagos is far from the only destination getting a boost this winter. In addition to the African city, United Airlines is boosting flights to a host of domestic destinations. Two airports, Greenville/Spartanburg (GSP) in South Carolina and Piedmont-Triad International Airport (GSO) in North Carolina, are getting three daily flights for the winter season. Last served from Dulles in 2022, both routes will be operated by CommuteAir using a 50-seat Embraer E145.
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The flights will operate through the Spring of next year.
Another new destination for IAD this winter is Palm Springs International Airport (PSP) in California. United will begin a daily Boeing 737 service on December 19th that will run through April 30th, 2025. Patrick Quayle, United’s Senior Vice President of Global Network Planning and Alliances, noted just how fast Dulles is growing as a hub:
“We are thrilled to welcome United Airlines’ new nonstop service between Washington Dulles and Palm Springs,” said Scott
“This service will be the first connection ever between Washington, DC and Palm Springs and create unparalleled access to Palm Springs from the East Coast and Europe through one of United’s fastest growing hubs.
“We pride ourselves in offering unique, world-class destinations and are excited to offer our customers more service to beautiful Greater Palm Springs.”
Photo: MKPhoto12 | Shutterstock
The airline is increasing frequencies on several existing routes as it reallocates aircraft currently serving summer-seasonal destinations. Miami (MIA), Fort Meyers (RSW), and Punta Cana (PUJ) in the Dominican Republic are all getting a second daily flight, while Las Vegas (LAS) and Phoenix (PHX) both receive a third.
The increases come at the expense of additional daily frequencies to destinations primarily in Canada and the Northern US. European destinations Athens (ATH) and Edinburgh (EDI) will not continue into the winter, and Paris (CDG) and Rome (FCO) will both lose their second daily service.
A shifting strategy
In addition to its regional expansion, the Star Alliance carrier is also moving more domestic flights to Dulles. This summer, the airline moved over four regional flights from its hub in Newark Liberty International Airport (ERW). All of them are in Pennsylvania and were previously served from Dulles until 2022, State College (SCE), Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (AVP), Harrisburg (MDT), and Philadelphia (PHL).
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They are among the carrier’s shortest routes from Dulles.
The routes were announced alongside a new link to Mobile (MOB), Alabama. Due to high demand, two international routes have both seen their summer seasonal service extended, with Madrid (MAD) and Lisbon (LIS) both seeing Boeing 767 flights continue through the end of the year. When by Simple Flying for this piece, Richard Golinowski, VP and Airport Manager of Dulles, welcomed the new services as a way to connect the nation with the rest of the world:
“As Washington, D.C.’s gateway to the world, Dulles International welcomes these additional flights. We are looking forward to continued growth as the airport expands to accommodate the needs of travelers to and from the nation’s capital.”
Photo: James Kirkikis | Shutterstock
United Airlines partners are also boosting flights to Washington, DC. New for this year are flights to Zurich (ZRH) with SWISS (now continuing into the winter season), which makes Dulles the second “flagship gateway” in the US after New York JFK to host all of the Lufthansa Group passenger airlines, including Austrian, Brussels, and Lufthansa.
