Last week, United Airlines made its summer 2025 route announcement and it shocked many people. The announcement included new routes to Mongolia and Greenland, as well as many other places. But as Emiliano Padilla pointed out on X, passengers will be able to fly from Mongolia all the way to Ponta Delgada on a Boeing 737.

The United island hopper

United Airlines
has a very famous route called the ‘Island Hopper’. Formerly operated by Continental Micronesia, the Island Hopper goes from Guam to Honolulu with several stops, all on Boeing 737-800 aircraft. While United does operate a nonstop flight between the two points on a Boeing 777, a few times a week, it deploys a 737.

United Airlines Boeing 737-800

Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Simple Flying

The nonstop flight takes 7h45m, while the hopper takes 15 hours and stops five times. Each stop is short enough to deplane some passengers and cargo and then load a bit more before turning around and leaving. From Guam, United also operates 737 flights to Tokyo, and that is where some of the new routes come into play.

New routes for summer 2025

In last week’s announcement, United unveiled three new fifth-freedom routes from Tokyo’s Narita Airport. Next year, the Chicago-based airline will begin serving Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, and Kaohsiung, Taiwan. Other American carriers do not serve either of these destinations.

The view right outside the main terminal building of Tokyo Narita Airport.

Additionally, United will begin flying to Koror, Palau. All of these fifth-freedom flights will be served by 737 aircraft. The announcement included several new routes, but the focus of this story is the routes served by the 737s.

Patrick Quayle, United’s Senior vice President of Global Network Planning and Alliances, said,

“No other airline gives customers nonstop access to as many unique international destinations and experiences from the U.S. as United.”

With the addition of Ulaanbaatar to United’s route network, passengers can now fly across most of the world on a United Airlines Boeing 737. On the other end of the routing is Ponta Delgada in the Azores, where United flies during the summer.

Below are all the flights on the itinerary:

Origin

Destination

Aircraft type

Ulaanbaatar

Tokyo Narita

Boeing 737-800

Tokyo Narita

Guam

Boeing 737-800

Guam

Chuuk

Boeing 737-800

Chuuk

Pohnpei

Boeing 737-800

Pohnpei

Kosrae

Boeing 737-800

Kosrae

Kwajalein Atoll

Boeing 737-800

Kwajalein Atoll

Majuro

Boeing 737-800

Majuro

Honolulu

Boeing 737-800

Honolulu

Los Angeles

Boeing 737 MAX 8

Los Angeles

Denver

Boeing 737 MAX 9

Denver

Newark

Boeing 737 MAX 9

Newark

Ponta Delgada

Boeing 737 MAX 8

Continuing from Ponta Delgada

From Ponta Delgada, United does not fly to continental Europe, but should one like to continue their travel on a 737, that is possible. According to data from Cirium, an aviation analytics firm, Ryanair and Smartwings operate 737s to Ponta Delgada.

From the island, passengers would have the option to continue on to Lisbon, Porto, Brussels, Prague, and London (Stansted). From Brussels, one could take a 737 to Rome, and from there to Istanbul. From Istanbul, there are several options for continuing into Asia.

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