On November 13, United Airlines inaugurated the first-ever nonstop flights from Houston Intercontinental to Medellín, Colombia's second-most populous city. It is the first time United has flown to Medellín and the first time Texas (and anywhere else west of the Mississippi) has had flights there. American has never flown from Dallas/Fort Worth, with passengers routing via its Miami hub instead.
United's 166-seat Boeing 737 MAX 8s serve the 1,816 nautical mile (3,363 km) route daily. According to Flightradar24, 5.6-year-old N17285, as shown below, had the honor of operating the first roundtrip service.
Houston Intercontinental now has flights to two Colombian cities for the first time since Cali exited Continental's network in 2008. I'm sure United's new route will be included in my next weekly new routes article!
Unsurprisingly, the point-to-point market—those who only flew between Houston and Medellín—is not big. Booking data shows that it only has around 11,600 roundtrip passengers.
It was Houston's seventh-largest South American market, after Bogotá, São Paulo, Lima, Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro, and Santiago de Chile—all of which already have flights from the Texas hub. Of course, Medellín traffic will increase from nonstop service.
Obviously, passengers can connect to numerous cities via Houston. Given the Texas city's geographic location, particularly good targets for United include Los Angeles (43,000 Medellín passengers), Chicago (23,000), San Francisco (19,000), Dallas (14,000), Las Vegas (12,000), Austin (9,000), Denver (8,000), and Phoenix (7,000).
The route is scheduled as follows, with all times local. As you can see, the operating aircraft remains in Colombia for over half a day before flying back to the US:
- Houston-Medellín: UA1675, 16:29-22:05 (4h 36m block time)
- Medellín-Houston: UA1676, 10:45-14:38 (4h 53m)
According to Cirium Diio information, United has an average of 924 daily take-offs and landings at Houston Intercontinental this month. It is the Star Alliance member's third-busiest hub, after Chicago O'Hare (an average of 990 daily movements) and Denver (958).
As 406 of United's 924 Houston flights (44%) are operated by United Express' regional jets, there are just 125 seats/departure. Mesa is the primary operator, followed by CommuteAir and SkyWest. Of all United's hubs, only Washington Dulles (123) and O'Hare (122) have a lower number.
United operates 80% of Houston Intercontinental's flights, making it one of the US's most dominant fortress hubs. Anyone who has been there will attest to that fact. When all Star carriers are included, the share rises to 82%.
While it will vary in other months, United's Houston network in November comprises 151 destinations. Aside from Medellín, they include other additions this year, such as Tulum (March 2024), Georgetown (April 2024), and Ontario (California; May 2024, last served in 2022).
Ninety-five of the 151 destinations are in the US, with flights to 40 states and territories. Some 29 foreign countries are served, including Mexico with 21 destinations, Honduras with three, and two airports in Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, and Germany.
Breaking down the destinations shows that 103 operate at least twice daily. Seventy-five are three+ daily, 52 are four+ daily, and 38 are five+ daily. Some 23 routes have six+ daily flights, while 15 have at least seven daily departures.
Unsurprisingly, the top five markets are all United hubs: Denver and O'Hare (an average of 11 daily flights in November), Newark and Los Angeles (10 daily), and San Francisco (nine daily).
