United Airlines is gearing up for a big 2025 route announcement next week and speculation is already beginning even ahead of the teaser video. Will United restart service to Bangkok or Ho Chi Minh City?
Will United Airlines Resume Flights To Bangkok Or Ho Chi Minh City?
Last week I wrote about the inclusion of the Petronas Towers in the final printed Hempishers magazine as a potential clue for a new long-haul route to Southeast Asia. That still may be a possible destination, but it is just as likely, if not more so, that another destination in Southeast Asia could be announced.
View From The Wing thinks it will be Bangkok (BKK). JonNYC is guessing Ho Chi Minh City (SGN).
Put me down for SFO-SGN
— JonNYC (@xJonNYC) September 29, 2024
Both are cities that United has served in the past…and both from Asia, not the USA.
> Read More: Remembering United’s Bangkok City Ticket Office
United still plans to serve Cebu from its former Tokyo Narita hub on a Boeing 737-800. I suppose it is possible it could start service to Bangkok or Ho Chi Minh City from Tokyo or even Guam. Maybe a Singapore – Guam flight? But that’s not what I am betting.
I’d lean toward Bangkok over Ho Chi Minh City because Vietnam Airlines already flies from San Francisco to Ho Chi Minh City and because, from all I have heard, Air Canada has enjoyed great success on its Vancouver to Bangkok service. Plus, I think United would like to boast it is the first and only US carrier to fly nonstop to Thailand.
As for the teaser video I mentioned above, for the last couple of years, United has offered a “teaser” with some clues (and red herrings) about the new routes the day before the public announcement. You can view 2023 here and 2022 here.
I hope we’ll get another one this year and look forward to making specific predictions based on it, but I do feel hopeful that based on the success of the new Manila route and the overcapacity in Australia and New Zealand, we will see another new long haul to Southeast Asia.
> Read More: United Airlines 777-300ER Business Class San Francisco – Manila
