JayhawkCO

I don't know if I inherently disagree with you, but the fact that, as you said, BKK is more dependent on leisure travelers who are by definition not as schedule sensitive as price sensitive, what does the O/D traffic matter? If it's cheap, people will connect. Only people that care a bunch about schedule make it a point to spend more money on the non-stop. SFO offers more connections.

Chris

channa

Not to mention face less competition.

LASUA1K

Nice addition, but I will continue to fly via HKG or NRT as I prefer the midnight landing in SIN. Allows me a decent night of rest. Landing at 6am is brutal and will basically kill a day for me.

N830MH

Yes, I doubt that. They will consider it. It will be SFO-BKK by operated 777-200ER aircraft.

It will grow more. They can adds more nonstop from SFO only instead of LAX. It's right choice to fly to Asia. It's much better than any other routes.

luckypierre

Wow! UA is really pushing this aircraft..within a couple hundred miles of its stated range. Be interesting to see how this plays out in daily service.

fly18725

I think the flight will carry little or no cargo and may occasionally be weight restricted.

bmwe92fan

+1000 - after flying for 22 hours (from the east coast) last thing I want to do is have a full day of meetings ahead of me...

milypan

They'll probably be making technical stops, just like many of TATL 757 flights.

Or maybe they'll be flying with a lot of empty E- seats, when people learn they don't want to spend 17 hours in a 17" seat.

adambrau

EWR-HKG-SIN is around 22 hours. Faster than connecting in SFO. Problem is that for half the year the SIN-HKG-EWR is below minimum connect so without NRT it becomes a two stop, in which case the nonstop SIN-SFO-EWR is fastest. Hopefully UA will find a way to make SIN-HKG-EWR a year-round option. Not really sure why they haven't done in the past?

uastarflyer

More GF taken away from SIN. And I will miss partaking of NRTs showers and Amazing Beer Machine on my way to/from SIN.

I am booked 5/31 NRT-SIN. I think that is the last NRT-SIN

Longboater

Count me in as surprised with this announcement. No fanfare and after close of business. I guess they are satisfied with how the 789's performance on LAX-MEL to stretch the Dreamliner's range to SFO-SIN. (No doubt low oil prices will help the route's margins.) This route was inevitable with the proper equipment. Nice job on UAL's part to jump SQ potentially starting this route in a few years. I would have thought they would have waited for the A35J before starting the route. I still think the A35J will end up operating this route once enough have been delivered as the plane has several hundred more miles of range and will seat scores more passengers while having greater fuel burn. My main question is how weight restricted will the aircraft be going westbound, especially in the winter. Might have to block off a few dozen seats next winter. Fortunately, the 789's fuel burn is unmatched by any other aircraft in commercial service, save for the few A359s. UAL better be coming up with serious hard and soft product upgrades throughout their longhaul fleet, because SQ is going to counter them on this route.

If SFO-BKK is to be launched, its going to be operated by the 789. It has the range and the fuel efficiency to make it work. The days of 777-200ERs operating across the Pacific are dying due to high fuel burn. (I still find that hard to type.)

kevanyalowitz

Great news. SFO-SIN is far too long of a flight to endure the crappy sCO J seat.

DA201

Love the announcement. I live on the East Coast, but might still take this flight instead of going through HKG purely because the 2-4-2 business class can be terrible unless booked early. I also think this is kind of a defensive move. SQ ordered 7 A350ULR's, which means they could serve 3 cities in the US and have one plane as a spare. SQ currently only serves JFK, LAX, SFO, and IAH. JFK and LAX will get nonstop service, but with the energy industry not doing too well right now, the third nonstop would probably go to SFO. UA beats them to it with this flight. Also makes me wonder if UA and SQ will start codesharing soon.

I think one really important thing about this flight is that it gives many more SE Asian cities a one-stop flight to the US. I also think it will be a test flight for UA. If this flight is successful, then other cities in SE Asia (BKK, SGN, CGK) could see a nonstop service in the future.

Not really surprised UA is turning its NRT hub into US flights only. Giving ANA the connecting passengers is a very smart move, especially since they will (likely) not have as many slots as they do now once they eventually move to HND.

It's really ridiculous how much better of an Asian/Pacific network UA has compared to DL and AA.

uastarflyer

What about me stuck in E+?

The loss of UAUA 772 hurts....literally

username

I think with the increasing aircraft capabilities, Asian carriers becoming more popular with US-based flyers and discount Asian carriers taking lots of intra-Asia traffic, UA has to ditch the NRT hub and do more nonstops. This is the ideal time to try - fuel is low and SQ has not resumed the nonstops.

The benefit is definitely the time saving - especially to cities in southeast Asia not served by UA (e.g. KUL, CGK). I suppose UA would still route people through NRT on NH instead of having through fares through SIN on SQ - as there is no revenue share? NH intra-Asia Y seats are really really unpleasant.

I do think there is probably a decent amount of cargo business - expensive electronics?

Hopefully the mid-flight snack in Y will become free - at least on this route