United Airlines to launch Brisbane-Los Angeles flights

United Airlines will begin flying between Brisbane and Los Angeles from December 2023, adding a new destination for the Virgin Australia partner while also sharpening their shared battle against incumbent Qantas.

United says it will run three flights per week starting December 1 on the Star Alliance member's Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, equipped with lie-flat Polaris business class suites which Executive Traveller has reviewed as “easily among the best from a US carrier” for a winning triple-play of “comfort, privacy and service.”

There'll also be a boost for the popular Brisbane-San Francisco service which launched in October 2022, which moves to a daily schedule from October 29.

"Our enhanced network will make United the largest carrier between the US and Brisbane and provide unparalleled access and connectivity for travellers," said Patrick Quayle, United Airlines’ Senior Vice President of Global Network Planning and Alliances.

United now flies to both its US west coast hubs of Los Angeles and San Francisco from Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, making it the largest US carrier in Australian skies.

“From Australia to anywhere in North America, Los Angeles is the largest destination, the largest terminating point in the United States,” Quayle has previously told Executive Traveller. “In San Francisco, the local market is a lot smaller, but the size of the hub is a lot larger.”

Speaking of Sydney and Melbourne, they're also being ramped up.

Sydney-San Francisco will move to double-daily flights from October 28, while the same date sees Melbourne-San Francisco shift from a Boeing 787 Dreamliner to a larger Boeing 777-300ER – the biggest jet in United's fleet – bringing  almost 100 extra seats each day onto the market.

Of course, there's the added appeal of the Virgin Australia partnership for earning and burning Velocity points (as well as earning Velocity status credits) and enjoying some but not all reciprocal status perks.

For example, under the  terms of the Virgin-United alliance Velocity Gold and Platinum members have access only to United’s own lounges, not those of partners, and as United has no lounge of its own at Brisbane, those high flyers are currently left loungeless before joining the flight.

More to follow...