United to Start Direct Los Angeles to Manila Flights

[OnMyWay]

Not only Manila, but they are adding capacity to Japan and Hong Kong.  Not a big fan of United, but this should be good for pricing, including all the carriers that have connections to the U.S., via Seoul, Hong Kong, Japan, etc.

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/united-announces-another-pacific-expansion-for-fall-2023-capitalizing-on-unique-international-strength-301879188.html#:~:text=CHICAGO%2C July 18%2C 2023 %2F,Hong Kong%2C Tokyo%2C and Taipei

United Announces Another Pacific Expansion for Fall 2023 Capitalizing on Unique International Strength
United Airlines logo. (PRNewsFoto/United Airlines)
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United Airlines 
18 Jul, 2023, 08:00 ET

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United to become first U.S. Airline to fly direct to Manila from the continental U.S.; adds more nonstops to Tokyo, Hong Kong and Taipei

Airline will serve a total of 15 different long-haul international destinations across the Pacific this winter, more than all other U.S. airlines combined

CHICAGO, July 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Already the largest U.S. carrier across both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, United today adds even more flights to the Asia-Pacific region, becoming the first U.S. airline to fly direct to Manila from the continental U.S. and adding more non-stops to Hong Kong, Tokyo, and Taipei. These new flights will start in October.

In total, the airline will fly long-haul flights to 15 different international destinations across the Pacific this winter. Excluding mainland China flying, United's transpacific network will be 50% larger than all other U.S. airlines combined.

This expansion builds on the continued growth of United's international network. Earlier this year, the airline made the largest South Pacific network expansion in aviation history – adding 40% more flights between the U.S. and Australia/New Zealand. And this summer United is flying its largest-ever schedule across the Atlantic, 32% larger than the airline's 2019 schedule and 10% larger than the next largest U.S. carrier.

"United offers more flights to more destinations across the Pacific than all other U.S. airlines combined," said Patrick Quayle, senior vice president of global network planning and alliances. "United is the flag carrier of the U.S. and we are excited to bring this new service to Manila while expanding access to Hong Kong, Taipei and Tokyo."

Beginning October 29, United will fly between San Francisco and Manila. The airline is already the only U.S. carrier to serve Manila from Guam and Palau, and will soon be the only to offer non-stop service to the Philippines from the continental U.S. Additionally, starting October 28, United will launch new service between Los Angeles and Hong Kong, building on its existing services from San Francisco.

In Tokyo, United will resume non-stop flights between Los Angeles and Tokyo/Narita, adding to its existing service between Los Angeles and Tokyo-Haneda. The airline will also increase flying to Taipei with a second daily year-round service from San Francisco, providing customers new time options to fly between the two cities.

Tickets are now available for sale on United.com and the United app.

San Francisco – Manila, Philippines*

Starting October 29, United will be the only U.S. airline with non-stop transpacific flights to the Philippines, with the launch of its service between San Francisco and Manila. Adding to the carrier's existing service to Manila from Guam and Palau, the new flight will operate daily on a Boeing 777-300ER, the airline's largest airplane.

Los Angeles – Hong Kong*

United is the only U.S. airline to fly non-stop to Hong Kong, and starting October 28, the carrier will increase its service with a new, direct daily flight from Los Angeles. The flight will operate daily on a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner. In total this winter, United will have three daily flights to Hong Kong from Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Los Angeles – Tokyo/Narita

On October 28, United will resume daily, direct service between Los Angeles and Tokyo/Narita on a Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner. With its existing service between Los Angeles and Tokyo/Haneda, United will now connect Los Angeles to both of Tokyo's international airports.

Increased Flying to Taipei*

In addition to adding new routes to its schedule, United will also increase its flying to Taipei, beginning October 29. United is already the only U.S. airline to fly non-stop from the U.S. to Taipei with its daily service from San Francisco and will now serve the destination twice daily. The new flight will operate on a Boeing 777-200ER aircraft.

Australia & New Zealand Expansion

Earlier this year, United announced the largest South Pacific network expansion ever to and from the continental U.S. This upcoming northern winter, United will operate 66 flights between the U.S. and Australia/New Zealand every week. Highlights include:

Becoming the only airline to offer non-stop service to Christchurch, New Zealand with new service from San Francisco*
Building on its position as the largest U.S. airline to Auckland by adding four weekly flights from Los Angeles*
Serving as the largest carrier between the U.S. and Brisbane with a new route from Los Angeles*
Offering daily flights between San Francisco and Brisbane and Melbourne and twice daily flights between San Francisco and Sydney
*flights subject to government approval

About United

At United, Good Leads The Way. With U.S. hubs in Chicago, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, New York/Newark, San Francisco and Washington, D.C., United operates the most comprehensive global route network among North American carriers and is now the largest airline in the world as measured by available seat miles. For more about how to join the United team, please visit www.united.com/careers and more information about the company is at www.united.com. United Airlines Holdings, Inc., the parent company of United Airlines, Inc., is traded on the Nasdaq under the symbol "UAL".

SOURCE United Airlines

[JJReyes]

This is fantastic news!  Philippine Airlines currently is the only carrier with direct flights from the West Coast to Manila.  United Airlines will provide an alternative option with better seats and newer aircrafts.  More important, the new competition may lower prices on this route.

[Lee]

4 hours ago, JJReyes said:

This is fantastic news!  Philippine Airlines currently is the only carrier with direct flights from the West Coast to Manila.

In the past, if the scheduled flight between LA and Manila didn't have enough customers PAL would cancel the flight and put everyone on a flight leaving 12 hours later.

Hopefully UA won't be doing this.

[longway]

I was at the PAL ticket office at NAIA a couple of weeks ago to ask about a flight change. After waiting 1+ hours for an agent (only 3 windows open of 8+ available, not a customer centered business) I finally got to an agent. My Business took a few minutes and then I asked the agent why prices for PAL flights To/from the US had doubled in only 3 months. She told me demand was high so they raised the prices ( Classic Price Gouging). It will be good to see another player in the market, although United and PAL may be affiliated through their air miles programs so I'm not expecting much.

[Lee]

Why it Makes Sense for United Airlines to Offer Direct Flights from the U.S. to Manila

Quote

 

When United Airlines launches a daily service between San Francisco, California and Manila in October this year, it will mark the first time that an American airline is flying direct from the continental United States to the Philippines. 

United already flies to Manila from Guam, which is a US territory, and Palau.

In a news release, United said it plans to launch the service on October 29, 2023 (October 30 in Manila). It will fly the route daily using the largest airplane in its fleet—the Boeing 777-300ER.

It makes sense for United to offer a direct flight between Manila and the U.S. Currently, only Philippine Airlines offers flights from Manila to cities in North America, including Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, and Vancouver. While other airlines fly between the Philippines and the U.S., PAL is the only one with a direct connection from Manila. By launching its own direct service, United hopes to get a slice of this lucrative market, providing competition to the Philippines’ flag carrier.

The new service is part of United’s plan to expand its network in Asia and the Pacific. In addition to SFO-MNL, United said it would resume daily nonstop flights between Los Angeles and Tokyo’s Narita International Airport starting October 28 (complementing its current service between Los Angeles and Tokyo’s Haneda Airport) and will also increase its service between both San Francisco and Taipei in Taiwan and between Los Angeles and Hong Kong. 

For passengers, a new direct service from Manila to one of the largest cities in the West Coast of the U.S. means they now have a choice and are no longer limited to flying PAL.

"We are excited to launch the new nonstop service from Manila to San Francisco to meet strong requests from our customers on both sides of the Pacific," said Wally Dias, United’s regional director of sales for greater China, Korea and Southeast Asia. "With this new nonstop service, we will be able to offer our Manila customers not only the convenient daily nonstop service to San Francisco, but also more than 70 one-stop destinations in the mainland U.S., Canada and Latin America via our hub in San Francisco.

"We have more than 40 years of a long and rich history in the Manila market and the launch of our first trans-Pacific service truly shows our continued strong commitment to the Philippine market," he added.

A casual search to compare fares on roundtrip tickets between MNL and SFO reveals about the same pricing for both PAL and United, although United comes out as slightly more expensive for Business Class seats.

For the Manila to San Francisco leg, United departs at 9:55 a.m. and arrives at 7:20 a.m. while PAL departs at 11 p.m. and lands also on the same day at 8:20 p.m. Meanwhile, for the San Francisco to Manila leg, United departs at 11:35 p.m. and arrives at 6:50 a.m. two days later, with PAL having roughly the same schedule.

Interestingly, sources say the new general manager of United Airlines in the Philippines used to work for Philippine Airlines. Bryan Lim worked for the flag carrier for nine years and was most recently the regional head for the U.S. and Canada until August 2022, according to his LinkedIn page.

 

 

Why it Makes Sense for United Airlines to Offer Direct Flights from the U.S. to Manila (msn.com)

[Youngster]

Great news for me.  I’ve been slowly racking up points on my United Quest credit card with rarely a chance to use.  Looking forward to flying premium economy or business class from/to the States.

[JJReyes]

16 hours ago, Youngster said:

Great news for me.  I’ve been slowly racking up points on my United Quest credit card with rarely a chance to use.  Looking forward to flying premium economy or business class from/to the States.

For those who are thinking about purchasing tickets, at the present time, United Airlines published prices to Manila are higher than Philippine Airlines.  However, United prefers to work with large wholesalers who purchase bulk seats at huge discounts for resale to retail agencies and tour packagers.  For their Japan routes, Kintetsu owns 40% to 60% of all seats, so we prefer to purchase through one of their affiliate retailers.  My plan is to ask around after October.  United may do something similar since the route is direct to Manila and a Philippine wholesaler is logical.  In addition to San Francisco flights, United is planning one for Los Angeles.

Current Philippine Airlines planes on the LAX to MNL route are awful.  Not only are the interiors old but the age of the aircrafts results in many delays due to minor and major maintenance repairs.  There was an announcement that Philippine Airlines signed an agreement to purchase new Airbus planes, but no word on delivery dates.

[Old55]

10 hours ago, JJReyes said:

For those who are thinking about purchasing tickets, at the present time, United Airlines published prices to Manila are higher than Philippine Airlines.  However, United prefers to work with large wholesalers who purchase bulk seats at huge discounts for resale to retail agencies and tour packagers.  For their Japan routes, Kintetsu owns 40% to 60% of all seats, so we prefer to purchase through one of their affiliate retailers.  My plan is to ask around after October.  United may do something similar since the route is direct to Manila and a Philippine wholesaler is logical.  In addition to San Francisco flights, United is planning one for Los Angeles.

Current Philippine Airlines planes on the LAX to MNL route are awful.  Not only are the interiors old but the age of the aircrafts results in many delays due to minor and major maintenance repairs.  There was an announcement that Philippine Airlines signed an agreement to purchase new Airbus planes, but no word on delivery dates.

JJ, once you check prices in October please update your experience in a new thread? 

Consolidator/Bucket Shop tickets are usually a great value. 

United prices may be more than PAL but there's little chance you'll get screwed over making United a better overall value. 

[JJReyes]

43 minutes ago, Old55 said:

JJ, once you check prices in October please update your experience in a new thread? 

Consolidator/Bucket Shop tickets are usually a great value. 

United prices may be more than PAL but there's little chance you'll get screwed over making United a better overall value. 

Online commentators claim the best time period is 30 to 90 days before your desired departure date.  Earlier than that period, pricing assumptions are based on educated guesses.  As the departure date approaches, the airline computers provide better information about load.  If reservations are low, they start lowering prices.  Better to sell seats at a discount than for it to be unoccupied.  Another way is to sell all the empty seats at bulk rates to consolidators/bucket shops.   I will check in October.

[Gator]

47 minutes ago, Old55 said:

United prices may be more than PAL but there's little chance you'll get screwed over making United a better overall value. 

In addition, United has better connecting flights and code share deals for connecting flights. For example, PAL ,despite Tampa being in their drop down list of destinations in the USA, doesn’t offer a connecting flight to or from there. The past few times I’ve had to fly in n out of Orlando. Considering the huge post Covid American Airlines price hike it was worth it.

Incidentally, when I looked at flights leaving from Orlando there was over a 5k USD difference (business class) between PAL and American Airlines for the exact same flights!