United Applies to Serve Tokyo Haneda from Six Leading U.S. Hubs Where Demand Is Highest

Proposed daily nonstop flights from hubs at Newark Liberty, Chicago O'Hare, Washington Dulles, Los Angeles International, Houston George Bush and Guam will maximize choice and convenience for U.S. consumers and businesses

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United Airlines

Feb 21, 2019, 13:00 ET

CHICAGO, Feb. 21, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- United Airlines announced today it has filed an application with the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) for a total of six daily nonstop flights to Tokyo Haneda Airport (HND) from Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR), Chicago O'Hare International Airport (ORD), Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD), Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), Houston George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) and Guam's A.B. Won Pat International Airport (GUM). Pending completion of an aviation agreement between the U.S. and Japanese governments later this year, and slots awarded by DOT, the flights are expected to begin service by the summer of 2020.

United has presented a proposal maximized to meet consumer demand and benefit U.S. travelers. Together, the flights from five U.S. mainland hub cities and Guam will connect Tokyo Haneda with 112 U.S. airports, representing approximately two thirds of U.S.-Tokyo demand, or more than three million annual Tokyo bookings. With United's proposed routes representing five of the six largest metropolitan areas in the U.S. mainland and a combined population of nearly 56 million, the new flights requested in this proceeding will provide consumers with more choices and more convenient options when selecting Tokyo Haneda for their travel plans.

"If awarded by the DOT, these new nonstop flights would expand United's best-in-class Japan route network to better meet demand from U.S. consumers and businesses," said United Airlines President Scott Kirby. "Tokyo is a hub of 21^st century global commerce and innovation and one of the world's most popular tourist destinations. Today's filing demonstrates United's unparalleled commitment to helping more Americans travel between our nation and Japan's capital city. Our proposed flights to Tokyo Haneda will offer an unrivaled experience and maximize choice and convenience for our customers traveling between the United States and Tokyo for the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 and beyond."

United's proposed daily flights from Newark/New York, Los Angeles and Guam would supplement the airline's existing daily flights between those hubs and Tokyo's Narita International Airport (NRT), while United would shift existing daily nonstop Chicago, Washington D.C. and Houston flights from Tokyo Narita to Tokyo Haneda.

United's application will also support American businesses and help grow the U.S. economy by offering direct flights from key business, government and cultural hubs where demand for flights to Haneda, the closest airport to central Tokyo, is the highest. With these new flights in place, United would provide Haneda service from:

The largest market for travel demand between the U.S. mainland and Tokyo (Los Angeles);
The two largest markets for travel demand between the East Coast and Tokyo (Newark/New York and Washington, D.C.);
The two largest markets for travel demand between the central U.S. and Tokyo (Chicago and Houston); and
Guam, a market with significant travel demand from a Japanese tourist base that is critical to the island's tourism industry, economy and job market.

United's proposal would help realize the full potential of these new routes for U.S. consumers and businesses by expanding United's broad-based and end-to-end network between the United States and Japan. United's proposed flights to Haneda would allow U.S. consumers to make connections to 37 points in Japan via United's joint venture partner All Nippon Airways (ANA), strengthening United's existing comprehensive network when combined with nonstop or single-connection service from 112 U.S. airports.

United has proven its long-term commitment to Tokyo as a key gateway in Asia, serving Tokyo from 100 percent of its U.S. hubs. United also serves 31 markets in the Asia/Pacific region, more than any other U.S. carrier, and has successfully launched 11 new nonstop flights from the U.S. mainland to destinations throughout the Asia/Pacific region since 2014.

United's application is in response to the U.S. DOT instituting a competitive route proceeding to allocate slot pairs, with today's application filed under DOT proceeding # DOT-OST-2019-0014. For more information about United's bid, please visit UnitedToHaneda.com.

Every customer. Every flight. Every day.

In 2019, United is focusing more than ever on its commitment to its customers, looking at every aspect of its business to ensure that the carrier keeps customers' best interests at the heart of its service. In addition to today's announcement, United recently released a re-imagined version of the most downloaded app in the airline industry and made DIRECTV free for every passenger on 211 aircraft, offering more than 100 channels on seat back monitors on more than 30,000 seats. The multimillion-dollar investment in improving inflight entertainment options will benefit the more than 29 million people expected to fly United's DIRECTV-enabled planes this year.

About United

United's shared purpose is "Connecting People. Uniting the World." We are more focused than ever on our commitment to customers through a series of innovations and improvements designed to help build a great experience: Every customer. Every flight. Every day. Together, United Airlines and United Express operate approximately 4,800 flights a day to 353 airports across five continents. In 2018, United and United Express operated more than 1.7 million flights carrying more than 158 million customers. United is proud to have the world's most comprehensive route network, including U.S. mainland hubs in Chicago, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, New York/Newark, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. United operates 770 mainline aircraft and the airline's United Express carriers operate 559 regional aircraft. United is a founding member of Star Alliance, which provides service to 193 countries via 28 member airlines. For more information, visit united.com, follow @United on Twitter and Instagram or connect on Facebook. The common stock of United's parent, United Continental Holdings, Inc., is traded on the Nasdaq under the symbol "UAL".

SOURCE United Airlines