UNITED AIRLINES CARGO’S COMMITMENT TO EUROPE

The commitment of United Airlines Cargo to its European clients and network was on full display just over a year ago when flight UA973 to Chicago took off from Brussels Airport on March 10, 2022, with the billionth Covid vaccine to be shipped through Brussels Airport on board.

“Since the beginning of the pandemic, United has moved millions of vaccines through Brussels Airport and we’re proud to be a part of this milestone,” said Manu Jacobs, director of specialty products at United at the time. “While the pandemic continues to affect communities around the world, it’s more important than ever that people all over the globe have access to vaccines. Covid has highlighted the need for collaboration to keep our customers and employees safe, and we’re grateful to work with Brussels Airport as we continue to combat this pandemic. The entire United team continues to prioritise moving critical shipments as part of our commitment to supporting the global supply chain.”

Transatlantic leadership

The Chicago-based carrier currently serves 23 European countries, both in the European Union and outside of the trading bloc, as well as Turkey. Only two European countries, Switzerland and the UK, offer non-EU stations.

Specific key cities offer connections with United Airlines Cargo’s tie-ups, including Lufthansa Cargo. Frankfurt, Vienna and Munich are portals in United Cargo’s joint networks.

One key market for United Airlines operations is Spain. According to data compiled by Spanish aviation media player Aviacionline through official Aena Estadísticas, United Airliness moved 7,911 tonnes of cargo between the United States and Spain in the January-September period in 2022. The airline was expected to return to pre-pandemic levels by the end of that year, making this one of the fastest recovering mar- kets in the airline’s transatlantic network.

In return, the United States is one of the most important intercontinental markets for Spanish airfreight. Last year, 74,984 tonnes of air cargo had been moved between both nations according to data compiled by Aena Estadísticas. United has a 7.9% share of this segment and competes with Iberia, American Airlines, Delta, Air Europa and World2fly, notes Aviacionline.

The airline continues its “transatlantic leadership” with the 2023 summer schedule, says the carrier. The summer schedule includes adding new service to two cities – Malaga, Spain and Stockholm, Sweden – as well as six more flights to some of the most popular destinations in Europe, including Rome, Paris, Barcelona, London, Berlin, and Shannon. In total, United will fly to 37 cities in Europe, Africa, India and the Middle East next summer, more destinations than all other US airlines combined.

Patrick Quayle, senior vice president of global network planning and alliances at United, said: “We expect another busy summer and are proud to build on our industry-leading global network to offer our customers the widest range of destinations.”

Along with adding new flights, United will fly nine routes it added in 2022, including direct flights between New York/Newark and Nice; Denver and Munich; Boston and London Heathrow; Chicago/O’Hare and Zurich; and Chicago/O’Hare and Milan, as well as flights to four destinations not served by any other North American airline, including the Azores, Portugal; Palma de Mallorca, Spain and Tenerife, Spain.

Cargo will benefit from United’s new summer 2023 flights. Highlights include the fact that United is adding a fifth Spanish destination to its global network with new direct flights between New York/Newark and Malaga. Starting May 31, there will be three flights per week to Malaga on a Boeing 757-200. This means United flies to more desti- nations in Spain than any other US airline and next summer will offer direct flights to three Spanish cities that no other US airline serves, including Tenerife and Palma de Mallorca.

On May 27, United will return to Stockholm for the first time since 2019 with service from New/York Newark. United first began serving Stockholm, in 2005. It will reconnect the city with daily flights on a Boeing 757-200.

San Francisco will see daily flights to Rome launching on May 25 on a Boeing 777-200ER. United is the only US airline to offer direct flights to Europe from its hub in San Francisco. With flights to Rome, Milan, Venice and Naples, United continues to fly to more cities in Italy from the US than any other airline in the world.

Beginning May 25, United will add more seasonal flights to Shannon, Ireland with new daily flights from Chicago O’Hare. United is the only US carrier to offer direct flights to Shannon with its existing seasonal service from New York/Newark, and also offers direct flights to Dublin from Chicago, New York/Newark and Washington Dulles. United will fly a Boeing 757-200 on this route.

United will begin capital-to-capital service between Washington, DC and Berlin, Germany on May 25. United will be the only carrier to offer non-stop flights between these cities with daily flights on a Boeing 767-400ER. United offers more flights to Berlin from the US than any other airline, with existing year-round flights from Newark.

United will have 23 daily flights to London Heathrow, after adding a second daily flight between Los Angeles and London Heathrow on March 25 on a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner. This new flight builds upon United’s recent London expansion, with additional flights from Newark, San Francisco, and Denver, as well as new flights from Boston.

United is also adding more options for travel between Washington Dulles and Paris Charles de Gaulle with a second daily flight launching June 2, operated by a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner. United currently offers year-round flights to Paris from New York/Newark, Washington Dulles, Chicago and San Francisco.

New EU data requirements

United Airlines Cargo has shared with clients that, effective March 1, 2023, the European Union (EU) introduced new customs requirements. Specifically, airfreight shipments travelling to or through the EU, Switzerland, Norway, and Northern Ireland, will require additional information prior to shipping. This is to comply with the EU’s Import Control System 2 (ICS2), a new, large-scale customs electronic import system intended to enhance safety initiatives and simplify information exchanges.

The carrier says that the additional data capture will likely require process and/or technology changes for most airlines. As such, the EU had agreed to allow extensions for full compliance beyond the March 1 effective date. United is one of several carriers who had requested extensions.

Cool approval

United Cargo has completed the technical approval of the Frankfurt-based DoKaSch Temperature Solutions’ Opticooler RKN, to enhance its temperature-controlled airfreight transportation services catered primarily to the pharmaceutical industries’ global shipments.

On nearly all wide body international flights operated by United Airliness, including those to and from Europe, shippers and forwarders worldwide can now draw upon the readily available and highly reliable temperature-controlled packaging solutions from DoKaSch-TS.