United adds new Dulles route, bringing its most luxurious aircraft to a new destination

Fresh follows one Exciting long-distance extensionUnited Airlines is back with another network update.

This time, the Chicago-based airline will add a new domestic route and will also deploy its most luxurious aircraft to a new destination, as seen for the first time on Cirium and later confirmed by a company spokesperson.

To start, United will launch flights between Dulles International Airport (IAD) near Washington, DC and Salt Lake City International Airport (SLC) on December 19, 2024. Daily service year-round will depart IAD at 5:30 p.m. and land at SLC at 8:20 p.m., local time. The return flight will depart from SLC at 11:30 p.m. and arrive at IAD at 5:30 a.m. the next morning.

United will deploy a mix of jets on the route depending on the time of year. For example, in January, the airline scheduled the Airbus A319, Airbus A320 and Boeing 737-700 for the 1,827-mile route.

In addition to United, Delta Air Lines also operates flights between IAD and SLC. Salt Lake City is an important hub for Delta, and the carrier flies to both IAD and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) in the Washington metropolitan area. Additional competition from United will help reduce ticket prices in the market.

For its part, United operated its last flights between IAD and SLC in December 2013, Cirium’s schedule shows.

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In addition to the new flight from the Dulles hub, the airline is making a major change to its Boeing 767 deployment schedule. Next summer, the airline plans to fly the Boeing 767-300ER “high-J” between Newark and Athens, Greece, starting March 31, 2025.

This will be the first time United has scheduled a premium Boeing 767 to Athens, and it’s an interesting move for this premium-focused configuration that has historically flown to major business hubs in Europe.

The high-class Boeing 767-300ER has only 167 seats, one of the most advanced heavy-duty configurations offered by a US airline. There are up to 46 Polaris business class cabins (spanning 17 rows), as well as 22 Premium Plus recliners, 43 extra-legroom Economy seats and 56 standard economy seats.

United’s premium Boeing 767 was introduced in 2019 and is designed to fly some of its strongest business-focused routes, such as Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) and O International Airport. Chicago’s ‘Hare (ORD) to London Heathrow Airport (LHR).

Short on time during the coronavirus pandemic, this Boeing 767 J-class variant is a regular sight on flights to Frankfurt, Geneva, London and Paris, among other destinations.

Athens, on the other hand, is more of an entertainment destination, but United seems to think there will be enough demand for high-end entertainment to fill the back of the plane. (This week, the airline removed the variant from flights between IAD and LHR.)

It will be interesting to see what happens, but today, United and Delta are doubling down on premium entertainment. Whether this move will work for United is anyone’s guess, but at the very least, it should make finding a business class upgrade or award seat to Athens next summer a little easier.

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