United plans flights to Greenland, Mongolia and Bilbao

United Airlines is planning an international expansion spanning Senegal to Mongolia and Greenland to Palau in 2025 to attract travelers already tired of the beaten streets of Paris, Rome and Tokyo.

Beginning May 21, United will fly three times weekly between its Newark, New Jersey, hub and Palermo, Sicily; On May 16, it will depart four days a week non-stop to Faro in Portugal's Algarve region. A three-day flight to the Portuguese island of Madeira is planned for June 7th. and on May 31, non-stop flights will begin to Bilbao in northern Spain, destinations that will strengthen existing offerings to Italy, Spain and Portugal.

The inaugural flight between Newark and Nuuk, Greenland, will begin June 14, United said Thursday.

“The savvy traveler has been to Paris, Rome and Madrid so many times that they are looking for something different,” Patrick Quayle, senior vice president of global network planning and alliances at United, told reporters.

By experimenting with routes, United stands out among U.S. and global airlines that have largely stuck to simple additions. The expansion is part of United's “where the puck goes” strategy, Quayle said, as the company wants to ensure it is all things to all travelers, offering destinations from U.S. cities like Corpus Christi, Texas, to Cape Town, South Africa.

United plans to begin daily nonstop service from Washington Dulles International Airport to Dakar, Senegal, on May 23. The flight from Tokyo Narita Airport to Ulaanbaatar (Mongolia) is scheduled to begin on May 1st. United has increased service from Tokyo and will offer nonstop flights from there to Koror, Palau year-round.

Not all goals work. United had suspended its nonstop service to Bergen, Norway, in 2023 due to a lack of demand, but Quayle said the airline has room to expand further to far-flung destinations and a diverse network could help drive signups for lucrative rewards to boost credit cards.

“The more unique content, the more we differentiate ourselves from our competitors and the more people will spend with United,” Quayle said.

United had originally planned to begin service to Faro, Portugal, this year, but had to postpone it due to a safety review by the Federal Aviation Administration, which the agency completed earlier this month without finding “significant safety issues.”

United also plans to expand flights from the West Coast, but did not provide details Thursday.