United Airlines plans to operate more international capacity next year than in 2019, driven by expectations of a strong business travel recovery and relaxed entry restrictions across the Atlantic and Pacific.
United CEO Scott Kirby said the company is targeting 10% higher international capacity in 2022 versus 2019, the first full year before the COVID-19 pandemic crushed demand for long-haul air travel. By contrast, the Chicago-based carrier plans for its domestic capacity to be approximately flat from pre-crisis levels next year, reversing a pandemic-era trend that saw airlines replace missing international traffic with more resilient domestic routes.
Taken together, United is planning for system capacity to be up 5% in 2022 versus 2019 levels.
Kirby said that United’s bookings from Latin America and across the Atlantic “have reacted well” to the Biden administration’s recently announced plan to lower US entry restrictions for vaccinated travelers beginning Nov. 8, with bookings across the Atlantic already back at 2019 levels.
The company’s transatlantic capacity will be further boosted by new flights to Africa and the Middle East, including to Accra (ACC) in Ghana; Muscat (MCT) in Oman; Lagos (LOS) in Nigeria; and Cape Town (CPT) in South Africa, among others.
In the Asia-Pacific region, Kirby said management expects a slower demand recovery, although he said that recent partial re-openings in Australia and Singapore have brightened the management’s outlook.