Summary
- United Airlines is the largest carrier flying between the US and Europe.
- Some 14 European airports have been removed from its network since 2012.
- The most recent elimination was the Norwegian coastal city of Bergen in 2022.
United Airlines
is the largest carrier operating between the US and Europe regarding flights, seats for sale, and available seat miles. That finding is based on examining all planned services using Cirium data between September 2024 and July 2025. Unsurprisingly, booking data shows it is also the largest airline by passengers.
As of September 5, United plans to serve 30 European airports with its frames—but more may be announced soon. Destinations include Faro, which was delayed this year and will begin in May. But which places does it no longer fly to?
Gone: 14 European airports
The following table details them. Notice how many of them were initially served by Continental, from which airline United got its Newark hub. Many routes exclusively or partly used the Boeing 757-200ER, a type still important to United across the North Atlantic. Will any of the destinations mentioned below see its Airbus A321XLRs, of which it has 50 on order?
Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Simple Flying
Passengers can, of course, reach many of the following airports using United’s codeshare partners and fellow Star Alliance member carriers.
|
Airport |
Last served by United |
Route(s) |
Comment |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Belfast International |
2017 |
Newark |
Inherited from Continental; both airlines used the 757-200ER. No longer has any US hub flights |
|
Bergen |
2022 |
Newark |
Lasted one season, albeit amid COVID. Used the 757-200ER. No longer has any transatlantic flights |
|
Berlin Tegel |
2020 |
Newark |
Inherited from Continental. United used the 757-200ER until 2015, which often had to stop in winter to refuel, then the 767-300ER/767-400ER. Tegel closed in late 2020, and United served Brandenburg from March 2022 |
|
Birmingham |
2017 |
Newark |
Inherited from Continental; both airlines used the 757-200ER. No longer has any US hub flights |
|
Copenhagen |
2012 |
Newark |
Inherited from Continental; both airlines used the 757-200ER |
|
Glasgow |
2019 |
Newark |
Inherited from Continental; both airlines used the 757-200ER*. No longer has any US hub flights |
|
Hamburg |
2018 |
Newark |
Inherited from Continental. United used the 757-200ER until 2018 (sometimes stopped to refuel in winter) and 767-300ER/767-400ER. No longer has any transatlantic flights |
|
Istanbul |
2013 |
Newark |
Lasted 15 months using the 767-300ER. Turkish resumed Newark flights in 2021 |
|
Manchester |
2020 |
Newark, Washington Dulles |
Newark was inherited from Continental; United variously used the 757-200ER/767-300ER/767-400ER. Washington Dulles existed from 2012-2016 on the 757-200ER |
|
Moscow Domodedovo |
2012 |
Newark |
Existed 2009-2012. 767-300ER. The Ukraine war means other airlines have ended US flights |
|
Newcastle |
2016 |
Newark |
Existed from 2015. 757-200ER. No longer has any US hub flights |
|
Oslo |
2016 |
Newark |
Inherited from Continental; both airlines used the 757-200ER |
|
Prague |
2019 |
Newark |
Only operated for one season and didn’t return because of COVID. 767-300ER. Prague regained Delta flights from JFK in 2022 |
|
Stuttgart |
2014 |
Newark |
Inherited from Continental; both airlines used the 757-200ER. As Delta is ending Stuttgart flights in October, the German airport will have zero transatlantic service |
|
* Continental sometimes flew the 767 |
A quick look at Manchester
According to the UK Civil Aviation Authority, Manchester had 850,000 roundtrip US passengers in 2023, down by about half from the nearly 1.62 million carried in 2019.
In 2023, non-stop service was provided by Aer Lingus UK (to JFK and Orlando), Singapore Airlines (fifth-freedom flights to Houston, but they end next year), TUI (to Melbourne, Florida), and Virgin Atlantic (to Atlanta, JFK, Las Vegas, and Orlando). No airline or destination was added in 2024, and none are currently planned in 2025.
No US airline serves Manchester with its own metal. Delta did so until 2017 from Atlanta and JFK. Both continue with fellow SkyTeam member, transatlantic joint venture partner, and equity partner Virgin.
American pulled out of Manchester in 2020 (it served Philadelphia and previously flew from Boston, Chicago O’Hare, JFK, and Miami). It did not reveal a return to Manchester in its European route announcement on September 5. It was the same year that United exited the Northwest England airport.
Go further back, and other carriers (many of which no longer exist) served Manchester-US. While not an exhaustive list, they included Air 2000, bmi, Britannia, British Airways (yes, it did have non-stop US flights), Biman Bangladesh, Continental, Excel Airways, First Choice, Jet2 (Christmas flights), MyTravel, Pakistan International, Thomas Cook, Thomson, Travel City Direct, US Airways, XL Airways, and so on.
Will Manchester attract back US carriers or expansion from incumbents? It will partly depend on the passenger traffic and growth, inbound versus outbound demand, seasonality, fares (and yields), the extent and nature of premium demand, freight, airport marketing, airport fees and financial incentives, and more.
Something has gone badly wrong with one or more of these recently, causing such a dramatic reduction in service and traffic. Competing destinations for an airline’s aircraft are, of course, always a factor.