New Route of the Day – Americas (4 September 2026): United Airlines between New York EWR and Seoul ICN
United Airlines introduced a new transpacific service between New York EWR and Seoul ICN on Friday 4 September. The 11,100-kilometre journey will be maintained daily with the 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft. The Star Alliance member will compete against a daily Air Premia rotation.
Flight UA285 departs New York EWR at 10:35 local time, arriving in Seoul at 15:20 local time the following afternoon. The return service, operating as flight UA286, takes off at 17:15 local time, arriving back in the US at 18:00 local time the same day.
What they said
Doreen Burse, Senior Vice President of Worldwide Sales at United Airlines, said: “Every new route is more than a new destination on the map, it creates new opportunities connecting people, businesses and communities. United is proud to be the only US airline offering a nonstop link between Seoul and New York. This route is a highly significant milestone in United’s 40-year history in Korea and enables Korean customers to connect through Newark to more than 160 destinations.”
Kim Tae-sung, Director of the Hub Strategy Division at Incheon International Airport Corporation, added: “The launch of this new service will not only provide passengers travelling between the two countries with greater choice, but will also further strengthen Incheon Airport’s competitiveness as a transfer hub connecting Asia and North America.”
United in biggest international expansion in history
United recently unveiled the largest international network expansion in its history, announcing ten new destinations and several additional routes for 2027. The carrier will add flights to Okinawa, Toulouse, Luxembourg, Marseille, Ibiza, Valencia, Terceira, Ljubljana, Olbia and Catania, eight of which will have no nonstop competition from another US airline.
United will also introduce new services from Los Angeles to Osaka, Washington IAD to Milan MXP and Denver to Paris CDG, while resuming flights between San Francisco and Tel Aviv.
The expansion will be supported in part by the airline’s new Airbus A321XLR fleet, which will be deployed on several of the new European routes.
