Summary
- United Airlines began Washington Dulles to Anchorage flights in May.
- It has become the carrier’s second-longest non-stop Boeing 737 MAX 8 route by distance and block time.
- It is longer in distance than some of United’s narrowbody-operated intercontinental routes.
According to ch-aviation, United has 87 737 MAX 8s, the first of which was delivered three years ago, in June 2021. Each of the 87 examples has the same layout. There are 166 seats, 16 in first class, 54 in Economy Plus, and 96 in regular economy.
United: Dulles-Anchorage
On May 23, 2024, United inaugurated Washington Dulles to Anchorage. The 2,916 nautical mile (5,401 km) service on the 737 MAX 8 will operate daily through the summer in both directions until September 2. Hopefully, it will perform well enough to return in 2025.
The start of Dulles-Anchorage came on the same day that United reintroduced Newark-Anchorage. It was first served non-stop in 2013 and switched to the MAX 8 in 2022.
The brand-new route from Virginia is scheduled as follows, with all times local. While entirely random, notice the two IATA codes below.
- Dulles-Anchorage: UA1470, 17:45-21:29 (7h 44m)
- Anchorage-Dulles: UA1698, 20:15-07:17+1 (7h 2m)
Examining booking data shows that Anchorage appears to have been Dulles’ eighth-largest unserved domestic market in 2023. It had approximately 30 passengers daily each way (PDEW), rising to about 53 PDEW between June and August.
When Reagan and Baltimore are included, PDEW rose to 82 for the entire year and to 135 in June-August. As usual, the P2P market will grow nicely now that non-stop flights are available, with transit passengers via Dulles helping with the loads.
Related
Over 2,600 Nautical Miles: Canada’s 7 Long-Haul Boeing 737 Summer Routes
Which do you think made the cut?
United’s 2nd longest MAX 8 service
As shown below, Dulles-Anchorage is second by distance and time between June and September. When all narrowbodies and all domestic and international routes are considered, it falls to 15th in distance terms.
It is longer in distance, but not always by block time, than various narrowbody-operated intercontinental routes. These include Newark to Tenerife South (757-200ER), Porto (757-200ER), Dublin (757-200ER and 767-400ER), and Shannon (757-200ER).
|
Maximum block time* |
Nautical miles (km) |
737 MAX 8 route |
Comments about June-September |
|---|---|---|---|
|
7h 49m |
2,928 (5,423) |
Newark-Anchorage |
Daily; the last flight of the season from Newark is on September 2 |
|
7h 44m |
2,916 (5,401) |
Washington Dulles-Anchorage |
Daily; runs until September 2 |
|
7h 19m |
2,838 (5,256) |
Houston Intercontinental-Anchorage |
Daily; on the MAX 9 but switching to the MAX 8 between August 19-September 25 |
|
6h 48m |
2,473 (4,580) |
Chicago O’Hare-Anchorage |
Daily; year-round |
|
6h 33m |
2,420 (4,482) |
Chicago O’Hare-Fairbanks |
Daily; last flight of the season from O’Hare on October 29 |
|
* Either direction |
What is the longest MAX 8 flight you have been on? Let us know in the comments section.