United Airlines is bringing back the 777-200 to its Guam – Tokyo (NRT) route after severely scaling back service earlier this year.
From October 28th, United will use two-class 777-200s (364 seats) on both the morning and evening flights to/from Guam and Tokyo. The afternoon flight will continue to be operated by a 737 with 166 seats.
Patrick Quayle, International Network Vice President, stated:
When we reduced capacity earlier this year, we said we would restore the 777s if market conditions warranted. Following through on that commitment, we are returning the 777 to Guam this winter as demand has begun to recover.
This schedule will remain in effect through March 30, 2019. Beyond March will be a wait-and-see. Demand remains depressed and United will not send empty planes back and forth just for prestige.
Since Delta pulled out of Guam earlier this year, you might think that times would be good for United. But in an era of cheap airfare throughout Asia, perhaps Asian tourists are visiting SE Asia instead. For the same price, I would too…
CONCLUSION
Guam remains a Pacific United hub. It’s nice to see the 777 return to Tokyo routes. But it appears that Guam is in a funk right now. In any case, this news is an upgrade for business class passengers (lie-flat beds) but a downgrade for economy class passengers (narrower seats + pitch).
> Read More: United Airlines Cuts Flights from Guam Hub
image: Raimond Spekking / Wikimedia Commons
NRT ?
Correct.
IOW, the northern summer season is over and UA doesn’t need the capacity on EWR-BCN/MAD, both of which go to 763ER at the end of October. With 3 777s and 3 763ER down throughout the season for Polaris mods alone, UA was in a bit of a longhaul capacity pinch and this was an easy place to trim.
Matthew.. quick question. I’ve previously flown these 777 routes and these UA 777-200s (GUM-NRT and reverse) did not have lie flat seats upfront; they were the older recliner seats. Just wondering if you could confirm that they will be lie flat when the aircraft swap occurs? thx
Hi Troy, I remember those seats well. Those also used to operate between Guam and Honolulu. But UA has retrofitted all these birds to lie-flat beds. Interestingly, the 2-4-2 cabin is now even denser than the 2-3-2 recliners!
Thanks, Matthew!!