Last fall, United Airlines made waves when it announced its largest-ever international expansion, adding several under-the-radar destinations to its route map that caught many route analysts by surprise.
These routes primarily served lower-demand destinations, ones which route analysts have continued to be fascinated by.
In the past decade and especially post-C.O.V.I.D, United Airlines has pursued a strategy of serving underserved international destinations, something which the carrier is quick to make a key element of its marketing.
What is fascinating about this strategy is not necessarily that a US airline is choosing to operate flights to historically off-the-grid locations, but more so, the kind of carrier that is choosing to follow it is rather non-traditional.
Airlines that have pursued a business model of connecting underserved destinations have historically been low-cost airlines, such as Azul Linhas Aereas in Brazil or TUI in Europe.
These carriers thrive by operating routes that bypass hubs, offering passengers convenient nonstop service when legacy airlines can only offer connecting flights.
United Airlines, however, raises quite an eyebrow for doing so because it is a full-service network carrier, not one known to focus on offering flights to low-demand destinations.
The carrier's extensive route network today, however, has many routes that one would expect to be operated by a long-haul low-cost carrier.
In this article, we will take a deeper look at the unique nature of United's route expansion, and why the carrier's decision to expand its international network so extensively might have come as such a surprise.
United Airlines, which the carrier claims is the "world's largest airline," flies to more than 360 destinations across the globe and serves more international airports than any other carrier in the United States.
This upcoming summer, the carrier is set to offer more than 800 family flights to more than 140 international destinations, making sure that any passenger should have the chance to travel somewhere they have never been.
The carrier's route expansion also included adding new fifth freedom routes that connect Tokyo Narita Airport (NRT) to Ulaanbaatar and Kaohsiung, two destinations that are currently completely unserviced by US airlines.
The carrier is very excited about its launch of these new fifth freedom routes, something rather unorthodox for a modern long-haul carrier in today's era of ultra-long-haul aircraft.
In a statement, the airline described its latest set of Asian route expansions as follows:
"In addition, United recently made its new direct flights from Tokyo-Narita to Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia and Kaohsiung – destinations no other U.S. airline serves – available for booking, helping to seamlessly connect United’s five hub locations in the continental U.S. and transpacific services to Tokyo for unlimited adventure."
One of the most fascinating things to note about United's current route strategy is that it relies on an extensive amount of demand stimulation, something typically done by low-cost carriers.
Carriers that engage in demand stimulation take a route that currently does not have air service (likely due to a lack of explicit demand for travel to this destination) and launch nonstop flights.
They aim to encourage many passengers to fly to this destination by providing convenient, frequent, affordable and reliable air service, according to the Journal of Air Transport Management.
United Airlines has also engaged in a practice straight out of Ryanair's book to support its latest set of network expansion initiatives.
The carrier has created media buzz surrounding the release of its new destinations, bringing excitement to these routes, something which Ryanair and easyJet have both been historically quick to do. Here's a good example of how the airline does this from its twitter feed:
United Airlines offers flights to dozens of destinations, and it is trying to double down on getting passengers to travel to its off-the-beaten track international destinations.
In order to do this, the carrier has aggressively marketed these new destinations to both the elite MileagePlus loyalty program members and those who have United Airlines cobranded credit cards offered through Chase Bank.
The importance of pushing these routes so far in advance cannot be understated, as the carrier can get a better sense of the amount of revenue it can expect to generate from these routes.
Getting an idea of how an air route will perform long-term is essential for carriers like United that are looking to stimulate demand through aggressive marketing tactics and launching flights to new, previously unserved destinations.
The one thing that must be noted about United's route strategy is that it is extremely unique for a legacy carrier, and that no other airlines are currently following it in this market.
In domestic markets, there is some more reaction to United's latest moves than there is in international markets, as carriers like Spirit Airlines, Southwest Airlines and Breeze Airways have begun to pursue more and more aggressive route stimulating tactics.
However, none of these carriers operate long-haul aircraft, and they are mostly absent from international travel markets except in the Caribbean, Canada or Latin America.
Why the two legacy carriers, American Airlines and Delta Air Lines, have chosen not to challenge American on many of these routes, however, is likely a more interesting question to break down.
American Airlines' decision not to follow United into any of these routes is likely easier to explain. For starters, the airline has been lagging behind United and Delta in terms of financial results, leaving it with limited cash to fund an expansion effort. The carrier has also historically performed weaker than its rivals in key markets.
