United Airlines is adding two new Japan routes, including the first nonstop flight from the continental United States to Sapporo and a new daily Chicago – Tokyo Narita flight that restores another important Asia link from O’Hare.
United Airlines Adds Nonstop Sapporo Flights, New Tokyo Narita Service
United Airlines is expanding its already-large Japan network with two new routes this winter: San Francisco – Sapporo and Chicago – Tokyo Narita.
United Adds San Francisco – Sapporo
Starting December 11, 2026, United will launch 3x weekly seasonal nonstop service between San Francisco (SFO) and Sapporo (CTS), operating through March. United says this will be the first nonstop service between the continental United States and Sapporo.
The route is expected to operate with a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner according to this schedule:
- UA234 San Francisco (SFO) – Sapporo (CTS) dep 10:30 AM arr 2:15 PM+1
- UA235 Sapporo (CTS) – San Francisco (SFO) dep 4:15 PM arr 8:25 AM
Hokkaido, the second-largest and northernmost of Japan’s four main islands that includes cities like Sapporo and Niseko, is a wonderful winter destination, with skiing, hot springs, seafood, Sapporo ramen, and the famous Sapporo Snow Festival. For those who love Japan but want something beyond Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, and the usual first-timer circuit, this is a very cool new option.
The flight from San Francisco will be timed to optimize connections from nearly 80 U.S. cities, taking advantage of SFO as United’s premier Pacific gateway to support a seasonal leisure route that probably would not work as well from anywhere else in the United network.
United Adds Chicago – Tokyo Narita
The second route is Chicago O’Hare (ORD) – Tokyo Narita (NRT), which launches October 24, 2026 and will operate daily year-round, subject to government approval. United says it will be the only U.S. airline flying nonstop between Chicago and Tokyo Narita.
The route is expected to operate with a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner.
United already serves Chicago – Tokyo Haneda, so this is not about simply putting Chicago back on the Tokyo map. Instead, it is about Narita connectivity. United and ANA can use Narita to connect passengers onward across Asia, and United specifically mentions connections to Cebu, Guam, Kaohsiung, Palau, Saipan, and Ulaanbaatar on United, along with ANA connections to cities like Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur.
Haneda is better for Tokyo, but Narita is better as a connecting hub for certain onward markets. United clearly sees value in having both from Chicago, especially as it continues to build out its Pacific network and offer more one-stop itineraries from the Midwest.
United’s Japan Network Keeps Growing
United is already the leading U.S. carrier between the continental United States and Japan. The airline says it carried more than 1.8 million passengers between the two countries in 2025, more than all other U.S. carriers combined.
This winter, United says it will operate up to 13 daily flights from the continental U.S. to four Japanese airports:
- Tokyo Narita (NRT)
- Tokyo Haneda (HND)
- Osaka Kansai (KIX)
- Sapporo (CTS)
Including Guam (GUM), United will serve five airports in four Japanese cities: Sapporo, Tokyo Narita, Tokyo Haneda, Osaka, and Nagoya (NGO).
Patrick Quayle, United’s Senior Vice President of Network Planning and Global Alliances, framed the expansion this way:
“Whether customers are dreaming of skiing in Sapporo, planning a business trip to Tokyo with some exploration added in, or an even bigger adventure across Asia, United gives travelers more ways to get there than any U.S. airline.”
While easy to dismiss as press release fluff, United has been consistently leaning into longhaul and international growth, and Japan remains one of the clearest areas where United has a structural advantage over American and Delta.
Delta has Haneda, but no Japanese partner. American has Japan Airlines, but a much smaller U.S. longhaul network to Japan. United has ANA, a large transpacific network, and hubs like San Francisco and Chicago that can support both local traffic and connecting flows.
CONCLUSION
United is adding two new Japan routes this winter: seasonal San Francisco – Sapporo service and daily year-round Chicago – Tokyo Narita service.
The Sapporo route is the “flashier” addition and gives United a true first from the continental United States to Hokkaido. The Chicago – Narita route is more strategic, restoring a useful Narita link that strengthens United’s ability to connect passengers from the Midwest across Asia with ANA and its own Pacific network.
This is Quayle and his team doing what United does best right now: using its hubs, partnerships, and widebody fleet to add interesting longhaul routes that other U.S. carriers either cannot or will not touch.
images: United
The airport doesn’t have the de-icing capacity for more intl flights lol. I flew JX from CTS-TPE in Jan 2026 and flight was delayed 40 min to de-ice. Same with the BR and CI flights. And everyday too. They need at least more than 1 de-icing truck.
Wow! That is exciting. Haven’t made it to Hokkaido, yet, but a nonstop to Sapporo would make it even easier to get there. Probably the cargo alone would make this routing profitable. Most of the best sushi comes from up-north anyway.
UA is definitely leading the pack among US airlines when it comes to flights between the US and Asia.
CTS is s great add and keeps UA as the biggest kid on the block to East Asia so good for them. As noted AA with JAL is solid but pedestrian, and DL of course us nearly a non-player just trying to dump pax in Korea and be done with it.
As for ORD those NRT yields are garbage so ANA will most likely drop theirs to move that plane somewhere else and with U.S. point-of-sale higher that bodes we’ll for UA vs ANA on the route’s yields.
Matthew, perhaps you can explain why DL managed to make $300 million in 2025 flying the Pacific even though UA had a much larger TPAC system but only made $505 million.
And can you also explain how UA’s larger international system benefitted them given that UA only made $1.4 billion in 2025 international profits while DL made DL made over $2.0 billion.
In fact, there is nothing cool about copying your alliance partner’s strategies so that they don’t show you up but that is the only reason why UA had to add service to CTS.
With $4/gal jet fuel certain throughout the winter, it is doubtful that UA will make money on much of their TPAC system during the dead of winter while flying half of their routes on gas-guzzling 777s.
@Tim, kudos to Delta for being the more profitable carrier (for now), but here I’m just talking about the route addition, which I think is a smart add for UA that will do well. it also generates a lot of free positive press (like any more exotic airline route announcement) and I meant what I said in my story…that skiing has become so expensive in the USA, that it may actually be economical for folks to fly to Japan to go skiing…and that’s what matters to them, not RASM/PRSAM.