United Airlines released a teaser video on Instagram concerning new route announcements coming tomorrow morning. I downloaded the video, isolated some clues, and have a few predictions to make.
United Airlines Route Teaser – What Can We Draw Out Of It?
You may wish to start by watching the full video here:
I took some screenshots and offer brief commentary below each one.
This is ORD, right?
Look at the outline on the map. Could that be the Philippines? United has been battling for another slot there.
Could United be returning to Montevideo or adding a new city in Brazil?
More service to Lima?
Not sure what the 10 is, but +55 is the country code for Brazil.
Baghdad and Baku seem unlikely. Will United return to Bangkok?
Notice the bracelets on VP Patrick Quayle. Ghana and Ivory Coast. Perhaps a tag flight from Newark to Accra via Abidjan?
Both Abidjan and Accra also appear on the mobile phone…
No idea what these numbers represent, but I assume they mean something.
+49 is Germany’s country code. But I don’t think this is it. Instead, maybe this means from the 49th state (Alaska) to the 3rd state (New Jersey)? I also see the lei. Since United already flies Newark – Honolulu, perhaps Newark – Maui will be added?
I can’t figure out what airport that is. Any thoughts?
+234 is the country code for Nigeria. Nigeria is also Africa’s biggest pineapple producer. Maybe we’ll see Newark to Lagos as well?
No idea what this means, but it looks like the Big Island on the map.
This is clearly Vienna, VA, but could it be new Washington Dulles to Vienna service?
Another picture of Africa, though this time the eastern coast, though see below.
I think new service to Africa is a safe assumption.
Hawaii again, no?
CONCLUSION
I’m hoping for service to Bangkok, Accra and Lagos. There are still several countries in Africa I have yet to visit and this would be a great way to get started once again. I’ll share the news at 11:00AM ET tomorrow or earlier if it is leaked out. Stay tuned.
What clues do you discern from the video? What routes are you hoping for?
Are you sure that’s the Philippines? It looks like Nova Scotia with Quebec and a trans Atlantic route out of New York but my geography could be wrong
I’m not sure at all. That was just a guess.
EWR-OGG is 4,903 miles according to Great circle map. That’s the only clue I could put together.
*winner*
Good catch.
This is a stretch, but going to the 4×5 grid of numbers, it is shown over a photo of EWR. Shortly after, they show the number “4903” next to a lei. Hawaii is, in fact, about 4900 miles from Newark. Maybe those are distances? If so, the first vertical number (8297) is the distance from Newark to Bangalore, and Brisbane is 100 miles off from 9792.
And to your theory of Brazil, 10S 55W is latitude and longitude for Brazil.
This virus is endemic now and sick people generally don’t travel. Time to drop the travel restrictions and open up. I have both U.S. and EU passports, so it’s not like I really need this personally, but I think it’s what’s best for the world. It’s a pity that we were driven into lockdowns and border closures, because we chose to follow the model of totalitarian China instead of the liberal model of Sweden.
The 4 numbers on the blue sticky note are postal codes for Italy, Spain, Indonesia and the last one kills it… Arkansas.
Indonesia would be such a great addition to the route map. Can you imagine SFO-DPS? One can dream…
I’d rather fly EVA to DPS even though it means a stop than fly UAL direct or from Guam…
Good money says Brisbane is on the list.
Isnt Thailand off limits due to the safety downgrade?
Perhaps a “subject to governmental approval” route?
There appears to be an aerial view of the Baha’i Lotus Temple in Delhi. If you look at the line connecting it to the top left there is another aerial view of what appears to be the Baha’i Temple in the suburbs of Chicago so ORD-DEL would be my guess.
The weather pattern on the plane wing looks a bit like the flag of Guyana?
Also Scott Kirby on Instagram chimes in with this clue: “I’ve hiked a lot of mountains but the tallest peak on only one continent”
ORD-DEL seems like a good guess. Would love to see something like ORD-DEL-KTM or the restoration of RTW service UA1/2.
Also the airport in the one shot above with the 767-300ER is a curbside view of Terminal 1 at ORD
Oh darn. Yep, I see it now.
My guess: SFO-LIM, ORD-BOM/DEL, SFO-BLR and SFO-BER (maybe BNE) on a 787-9, EWR-ACC and EWR-OGG on a 767-300. I’m most confident about the Newark routes.
Also: IAD-OGG
Did UA Kirby’d err ditch ‘Rhapsody in Blue”?
Well, we were close.
New routes here:
https://liveandletsfly.com/united-airlines-africa-routes/
Max, great job on ORD-DEL and SFO-BLR. Too bad no BER, BNE, BKK…but maybe next time.