United will start San Francisco-Tel Aviv flights next year. (Image: Israel Ministry of Tourism)
In international route news, United announced a pair of new long-haul destinations from its San Francisco hub; Delta unveiled plans to add a pair of new Europe routes next year; and a European low-cost carrier suggests it might offer transatlantic fares as low as $69.
In addition to its recently announced plans to serve X’ian, China from San Francisco starting next May, United now says it will add two more very long-haul SFO routes in 2016 — to Auckland, New Zealand, and to Tel Aviv, Israel.
United’s Boeing 787 Dreamliner (Photo: United Airlines)
The carrier said it will use a new 787-9 Dreamliner to fly from San Francisco to Tel Aviv three times a week — a 14- or 15-hour flight, depending on direction — beginning March 30. The Auckland flights will beginning July 1 three times a week with a 787-8, expanding to daily in October 2016 and transitioning to a 787-9. The Auckland flights will take 12 to 13 hours, and will be marketed in partnership with Star Alliance member Air New Zealand.
Delta said it will inaugurate new service next year from two of its Midwestern hubs to Europe. Beginning May 26, Delta will kick off six flights a week from Detroit to Munich, using a 767-400ER; and on the same date, it will begin daily non-stops from Minneapolis-St. Paul to Rome, operating a 767-300ER.
Norwegian’s Boeing 787 Dreamliner (Image: Oakland International Airport)
European low-cost carrier Norwegian could start offering transatlantic air fares as low as $69 one-way in 2017 by targeting service from low-fee secondary U.S. airports, company CEO Bjorn Kjos told Reuters in an interview. He noted that adding on common ancillary fees is likely to being the roundtrip cost closer to $300 — still an amazing bargain considering the price of transatlantic air travel these days. He said Norwegian could manage this by using East Coast airports that don’t currently offer flights to Europe, like Connecticut‘s Bradley International and New York‘s Westchester County Airport.
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I agree, it’s been a hugely successful plane. As for the new routes, however, I think the 787 is only half responsible. The surging economy and plummeting gas prices are the other half of the equation. Will be interesting to see which of these routes survives the next recession.
It has been interesting to watch how the 787 has enabled new
international routes as Boeing predicted. SJC is a great example.
These low fares to Europe totally blow me away. When I was a teenager, I flew to Europe from Chicago roundtrip for $900, which (according to the CPI Inflation Calculator) is $3539 in 2015 dollars. The price of jet fuel has gone up about ten times since then (before inflation). Of course, back then airlines were regulated, there were few hub-and-spoke flights, and relatively little was computerized. Technology and the free enterprise system come in handy sometimes.
FINALLY, competition (or an alternative, at least) to Air New Zealand. I like them well enough, but they’re expensive, probably because they’re usually the only option. Air New Zealand is currently the only airline flying to NZ from the US, apart from Hawaiian’s HNL-AKL route.