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United Airlines has upped the ante for its services into Australia with a new Brisbane-to-Los Angeles service starting today set to make the airline the US carrier with the most flights into Australia and New Zealand.
The non-stop Los Angeles service, via a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, operates three times a week from Brisbane and comes on the heels of the airline recently tripling its flight capacity into Brisbane after upping its three weekly flights to San Francisco into a daily service.
United’s local service expansion includes daily flights to Los Angeles and two services a day to San Francisco from Sydney, as well as daily flights to both San Francisco and Los Angeles from Melbourne.
United Airlines says with the new Los Angeles service to Brisbane, the carrier now has more flights between the US and Australia and the US and New Zealand than any other carrier in the world – including more than all other carriers in the US combined.
The airline will operate 66 flights between the US and the South Pacific region every week by the end of this year, representing a near 50 per cent growth in services over the past year.
United Airlines now operates non-stop services out of Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane to Los Angeles and San Francisco with connections to more than 270 destinations across the Americas.
“At United, we’re very proud to expand our services between Brisbane and the US with our first non-stop service to LA,” says Tim Wallis, the United Airlines regional manager of Australia, New Zealand and Tahiti.
“Australians are in the top-five sources for international visitors to Los Angeles just as Americans are for Queensland, and we’re happy to offer travellers, and our trade partners, even more choice.
“Our strong partnership with Virgin Australia provides excellent connectivity in this part of the world and has helped United be the clear choice for travellers between our two regions.”
Wallis says infrastructure works at LAX Airport have helped improve the transit experience for travellers with US or Latin American connections.
The LA service brings the total number of United Airlines flights between Brisbane and the US to 10 each week.
Brisbane Airport CEO Gert-Jan de Graaff says the timing of the new services aligns with the start of summer holidays in Australia.
“We know a trip to LA and Disneyland has long been a bucket list item for many families,” says de Graaff.
“It is also great news for Queensland exporters and, importantly, it will boost the flow of American visitors to Queensland.”
Brisbane Airport expects one million passengers to travel through the international terminal these holidays, up 46 per cent compared to last year.
“The United Airlines services to Los Angeles and San Francisco will be an important part of that growth,” says de Graaff.
“To see two Dreamliners from United Airlines on our tarmac for the first time is a magic moment.”
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