United Airlines has unveiled a considerable 11 routes to Europe, all of which will commence next summer. Showing continued highly exciting network creativity, some of the additions are of historical importance. United will either provide the only transatlantic passenger service or such flights will resume after a very long absence.
Five of the upcoming routes will deploy the Airbus A321XLR. Unless things change again, they’ll be the Star Alliance member’s first commercial flights across the North Atlantic on that equipment. American Airlines began transatlantic XLR flights in March 2026.
They are summarized in the following table and shown on the subsequent map. All entries are from just three of United’s hubs: Denver International Airport (DEN), Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR), and Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD).
Only one of the 11 additions has been served by the airline before. That’s IAD to Milan Malpensa, which had United flights between 1992 and 2003. The route will return after a considerable 24 years. As of August 25, and subject to the change, United now plans 43 routes from EWR to Europe next summer, along with 20 from IAD and five from IAD.
Six Of The European Airports Will Now Have US Flights
Toulouse, Ibiza, Ljubljana, Luxembourg, Marseille, and Valencia will now have nonstop flights from the US. All except Ibiza appear to have had them in the past. For example, the capital of Slovenia, Ljubljana, last had US service 36 years ago. Meanwhile, Luxair most recently operated across the North Atlantic in 1999, when it deployed a leased Boeing 767 from the now-defunct CityBird.
The US Department of Transportation (DOT) shows that Toulouse had US flights until 1990, while Valencia did so until 2012 and Marseille until 2014. Delta Air Lines flew between New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) and Valencia between 2009 and 2012. Valencia had 100,000+ indirect passengers to/from the US in 2025, with New York accounting for a quarter of the traffic. The Spanish city has been crying out for nonstop flights.
Olbia, in Italy’s Sardinia, will now have two nonstop routes from the US. United will join Delta, which debuted from JFK in May 2026. It remains to be seen if two carriers are sustainable and what Delta’s response will be to United’s entry. The same is true of Sicily’s Catania, as Delta began JFK-Catania flights in May 2025. United’s arrival will join the Star Alliance member’s service to Palermo, which launched in May 2025. It’ll be the only transatlantic operator with two routes to Sicily.
There’s a new entry. Find out what it is here!
United Will Be The Only US Carrier To Terceira
Terceira is a volcanic island in the Azores, which is a part of Portugal. While nonstop flights have existed to the US (and Canada) for years, they have always been on Azores Airlines (previously called SATA). United will be the first North American operator.
The link from EWR to Terceira will cover just 2,156 nautical miles (3,993 km) each way. Excluding Greenland, which is geographically part of North America, the new route will be United’s shortest service to Europe.
United has flown to the Azores since 2022. Its initial route was from EWR to Ponta Delgada. US flights are also provided by Azores Airlines, which serves Boston, largely for the diaspora. Meanwhile, the Canadian market has hotted up considerably. Not only does Azores Airlines fly from Ponta Delgada to Toronto, but flights on that airport pair were launched by both Air Canada and WestJet in June 2026.
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