August routes roundup: United’s plans for the A321XLR

United Airlines has announced the launch of 13 new intercontinental routes from the United States, some of which will be operated by its state-of-the-art Airbus A321XLR aircraft. All of these new services will begin in 2027, as part of the Northern Summer season.

Catania, Ibiza, Ljubljana, Luxembourg, Marseille, Milan, Olbia, Paris, Terceira, Toulouse, and Valencia will be the European cities served by United Airlines’ new routes. In addition, United will add two new routes to Japan, strengthening its operations in the US-Japan market.

As noted in the press release, these will be the US carrier’s new routes: Denver – Paris Charles de Gaulle, Los Angeles – Osaka Kansai, Newark – Catania (new), Newark – Ibiza (new), Newark – Ljubljana (new), Newark – Luxembourg (new), Newark – Marseille (new), Newark – Olbia (new), Newark – Terceira (new), Newark – Valencia (new), San Francisco – Okinawa (new), Washington, D.C. – Milan, and Washington, D.C. – Toulouse (new).

Los Angeles – Osaka · March 27th, 2027

Daily

To be operated with Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft.

San Francisco – Okinawa · March 27th, 2027

Monday, Thursday, and Saturday

To be operated with Boeing 777-200(ER) aircraft.

Newark – Luxembourg · April 2nd, 2027

Daily

To be operated with Airbus A321XLR aircraft.

Washington – Toulouse · April 26th, 2027

Daily

To be operated with Airbus A321XLR aircraft.

Newark – Ljubljana · May 12th, 2027

Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday

To be operated with Boeing 767-400(ER) aircraft.

Denver – Paris · May 27th, 2027

Daily

To be operated with Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft.

Newark – Olbia · May 27th, 2027

Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday

To be operated with Boeing 767-300(ER) aircraft.

Newark – Catania · May 28th, 2027

Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday

To be operated with Boeing 767-300(ER) aircraft.

Washington – Milan · May 28th, 2027

Monday, Wednesday, and Friday

To be operated with Boeing 767-300(ER) aircraft.

Newark – Ibiza · May 31st, 2027

Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday

To be operated with Airbus A321XLR aircraft.

Newark – Valencia · June 2nd, 2027

Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday

To be operated with Airbus A321XLR aircraft.

Newark – Marseille · June 4th, 2027

Daily

To be operated with Airbus A321XLR aircraft.

Newark – Terceira · June 9th, 2027

Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday

To be operated with Boeing 737 MAX 8.

Along with United Airlines, Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, and Delta Air Lines have confirmed new intercontinental routes from the United States, primarily to Europe, for Northern Summer 2027. Some of these routes will be operated by wide-body aircraft, while others will be served by narrow-body aircraft, including the Airbus A321XLR.

Alaska Airlines

• Seattle (SEA) – Athens (ATH): 3 weekly · May 12th, 2027 · Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner
• Seattle (SEA) – Paris (CDG): 5 weekly · May 25th, 2027 · Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner

American Airlines

Delta Air Lines

The airline will begin its first route between Austin and Europe, becoming the first US carrier to operate long-haul flights to and from the capital of Texas.

• Austin (AUS) – Paris (CDG): 7 weekly · March 27th, 2027 · Airbus A330-300

Starting October 25th, the Indian airline will launch a new route between India and Canada, which will be served on Boeing 777-300(ER) aircraft with a capacity of 328 or 342 passengers in a three-class configuration. According to the carrier’s website, the new Mumbai–Toronto service will operate on the following schedule:

Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday

As you can see in our database, Air India also operates flights to Vancouver (daily from Delhi with Boeing 777-300ER), among other Canadian cities.

For Southern Summer 2026/2027, Aerolíneas Argentinas will initiate three new seasonal routes from Argentina—two from Buenos Aires and one from Córdoba. All of them will be flown by Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft, with two of these routes being offered for the first time (*).

Aerolíneas Argentinas will operate the Buenos Aires – Willemstad (Curaçao) – Oranjestad (Aruba) – Buenos Aires route twice a week, and the Buenos Aires – Oranjestad – Willemstad – Buenos Aires route also two times per week. The airline already serves Aruba’s capital.

The South American low-cost airline will introduce new routes from its two main hubs in the region, Chile and Peru. Five of these six new services will be launched for the Southern Summer 2027 and will be operated by Airbus A320neo and Airbus A321neo aircraft.

Santiago – Punta Cana will be its first international route featuring the Airbus A321XLR, with plans to add the first aircraft to its fleet in Q4 2026.

British Airways will add a new destination in the Canary Islands.

For Northern Winter 2026/2027, the British airline will inaugurate flights from London Heathrow to Fuerteventura, which it will serve twice a week using 180-seat Airbus A320 aircraft. The first flight is scheduled for December 13th.

Evenes (Norway), Kemi, and Kittilä (both in Finland), Brussels Airlines’ new destinations in Europe.

The airline will operate three new routes between Brussels and the Nordic region during the Northern Winter 2026/2027, using Airbus A320neo aircraft configured for 180 passengers. In accordance with its press release, two of these new services will be seasonal.

• Brussels (BRU) – Kittila (KTT): 3 weekly · December 10th
• Brussels (BRU) – Kemi (KEM): 2 weekly · from December 25th to March 10th, 2027
• Brussels (BRU) – Evenes (EVE): 1 weekly · from February 6th, 2027 to March 6th, 2027

As of October 25th, TAP Air Portugal will launch flights to Cape Verde from Porto for the first time. The service will operate twice weekly and will feature Airbus A320neo aircraft with 174 seats.

Thursday and Sunday

The Chinese airline will begin flying between Guangzhou and Jakarta on September 22nd, using 189-seat Boeing 737-800 aircraft. This route will mark 9Air’s entry into Indonesia, its sixth market after China, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, and Singapore.

Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday

Effective October 15th, Aeroflot will operate flights between Moscow Sheremetyevo and Phu Quoc, its third destination in Vietnam following Ho Chi Minh City and Nha Trang. As per its website, services will be flown twice a week using Airbus A330-300 aircraft.

Thursday and Sunday

Currently, the Russian airline operates 20 weekly flights between Russia and Vietnam. Nha Trang is its main destination, accounting for 18 of those frequencies distributed between Irkutsk, Moscow, Novosibirsk, Vladivostok, and Yekaterinburg.

Haikou–Penang, Hainan’s new route.

Starting October 11th, the Chinese airline will launch this new service, which will run twice per week on Boeing 737-800s seating 189 passengers.

Wednesday and Sunday

This will be Hainan Airlines’ first route to Penang. As per our database, the carrier currently operates 16 flights a week between China and Kuala Lumpur (7 Chongqing, 7 Haikou, and 2 Qionghai), its only destination in Malaysia.

VietJet Air arrives at Sydney’s new airport.

The Vietnamese airline will launch the Ho Chi Minh City–Western Sydney route beginning on January 9th, 2027. These flights will complement the existing Ho Chi Minh City–Sydney (SYD) route, currently offered five times a week.

Tuesday and Saturday

Flights on the Western Sydney – Ho Chi Minh City route will be served by Airbus A330-300s.

The Qantas Group’s cargo subsidiary began operations at Sydney’s new airport, marking the start of cargo services in Western Sydney.

On July 13th, Qantas operated a special flight between Sydney and Western Sydney using an Airbus A321-200 (P2F), and the first scheduled flight took place on July 27th. According to our database, the airline operates between five and 10 daily cargo flights from and to Western Sydney airport.

As of October 5th, the Saudi low-cost airline will introduce its first-ever route between Medina and Europe, to be operated by 174-seat Airbus A320neo aircraft.

Monday and Wednesday

Flynas currently operates flights between Jeddah and Belgian capital, offering four weekly frequencies using the same aircraft.

The new Saudi airline continues to launch international routes, all from/to Riyadh, with the aim of developing its intercontinental hub.

As for another new international market, the Philippines will be added to its schedule effective September 9th, with a daily service to be conducted by 290-seat Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft.

Daily

Beginning November 15th, the South African carrier will launch flights between Johannesburg Lanseria and Harare, operated by Embraer 190 aircraft seating 98 passengers. These services will complement the airline’s existing operations on the Johannesburg – Harare route, which currently features 36 weekly flights to and from OR Tambo International Airport (JNB).

Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday

Monday, Thursday, and Saturday

Airlink also operates to Zimbabwe’s capital from Cape Town and Durban, once daily each.

Uganda’s flag carrier will launch a new international route in Africa, to be operated with CRJ-900 aircraft with a capacity of 76 passengers in a two-class configuration.

According to its website, Uganda Airlines will fly daily between Entebbe and Kigali starting November 18th. On this route, the carrier will compete with RwandAir, which currently serves two daily flights with Boeing 737 and Dash 8 aircraft.

Cover photo: © Sakiko Togawa – JetPhotos (Newark, United States)