The globe-spanning longhaul strategy at United Airlines is reflecting evolving travel trends for summer 2026: frequency cuts on some traditional European routes from Newark paired with a flurry of new destination launches into secondary markets.
United Scales Back Some European Routes For Summer 2026
According to schedule filings flagged by The Bulkhead Seat, United will reduce or cancel a trio planned flights between its Newark Liberty (EWR) hub and Europe next summer.
- Newark – Brussels (BRU): The previously scheduled second daily seasonal flight has been cancelled.
- Newark – Edinburgh (EDI): A planned second daily seasonal flight is also being dropped.
- Newark – Frankfurt (FRA): Service will decrease from 11 weekly flights to 7 beginning March 26, 2026.
Despite these reductions, United states it will still operate around 300 weekly departures from Newark to 36 European cities during peak summer 2026, compared to 304 departures to 32 cities during the same period in 2025.
Why The Cuts?
Several generic factors could help explain the pullback:
- Market saturation: Transatlantic capacity has grown rapidly and some routes may no longer support the yields United hoped for.
- Fleet and staffing balance: United continues adjusting its widebody deployment as it integrates new aircraft and responds to macroeconomic factors.
- Strategic rebalancing: The airline appears to be shifting away from adding frequency on traditional hubs and toward underserved leisure and secondary markets.
Specifically, the cutbacks suggest continued weakness in traditional business hubs (versus leisure). United is also facing aircraft delivery delays and, unlike Delta Air Lines fully pulling out of Brussels from its New York hub, it will maintain service to both destinations. The reductions can be seen as a cost-benefit analysis more than a sign that Brussels or Frankfurt were not working.
United Adds Several New European Cities
While trimming some existing routes, remember that United is also expanding its map with four new European destinations for summer 2026, all from Newark:
- Split (SPU), Croatia – 3x weekly, begins April 30
- Bari (BRI), Italy – 4x weekly, begins May 1
- Glasgow (GLA), Scotland – Daily, begins May 8
- Santiago de Compostela (SCQ), Spain – 3x weekly, begins May 27
These additions underscore United’s continuing strategy of targeting unique, often leisure-driven destinations where it can be first or one of few carriers offering nonstop U.S. service. United now claims to serve more Atlantic cities than any other U.S. airline.
> Read More: United Airlines Adds New Service To Bari, Glasgow, Split, And Santiago De Compostela
CONCLUSION
United’s summer 2026 schedule reflects a more nuanced approach than simple expansion or contraction. The airline is pulling back frequencies where demand or profitability appears softer or where joint-venure partners already provide excellent coverage, while doubling down on new, niche destinations that give travelers more nonstop options. The result is a reshaped European network that trades some redundancy for broader reach.
Don’t forget that EWR will be running at reduced capacity for the foreseeable future due to ATC staffing shortages and the FAA being unable to recruit and certify controllers to work PHL Area C. UA can’t meaningfully increase flights there, so they have to shuffle things around.
Both Brussels and Frankfurt are Star Alliance hubs, It is possible that Brussels Airlines and Lufthansa would add flights to Newark next year, to replace flights cut by UAL.
Does UAL shift planned 2nd Edinburgh frequency to Glasgow?
Serving GLA makes sense – the city is larger than Edinburgh and saves time for residents of SW Scotland.
Glasgow is Scottish big city population is 1.7 million people in Greater Glasgow and West Scotland as well that make sense because Edinburgh is only 446.000 people of Edinburgh population in Scottish capital, Glasgow is most popular area and close Airport from city centre of Glasgow. The Manchester Airport is high population in north of England which is major Airport in greater Manchester UK that why the reason most people travel to Manchester Airport flight to worldwide.
one needs only look at UA’s financial results for the 3rd quarter to see why they are cutting capacity across the Atlantic and elsewhere; their RASM performance was the worst in the industry indicating they have added too much capacity, something I have said for years would be the case.
UA appears to be cutting IAD-DSS (Dakar); UA doesn’t cut flights very often but there are clearly low performing flights that they have to cull just as every other airline does.
The TATL market is increasingly saturated.
and the comment above about EWR capacity is absolutely correct. UA cannot maintain as large of an operation at EWR in light of long standing capacity cuts w/o losing the domestic market.
UA’s passionate interest in Europe requires revisions from time to time… A wise approach.
I wonder if AA’s decision to use the new 321LXR out of JFK to Europe had any bearing on UA’s announcement?
I believe you are talking about the A321XLR…
A possibility, of course… An interesting observation.
United is still a distant 3rd behind Delta and American for me solely because United never readded the EWR direct flight from OKC that they canceled during COVID. No way I’m taking a 2 stop flight to go through EWR for their new destinations.
Strange to operate to both GLA & EDI given that EDI is west of the city on a motorway linking the two and GLA is also west of the city out in the relative wilds.
Nothing Strange about flying to both Gla and Edi both offer a different view Gla Is the gateway to the Highlands and has a large Industrialized appeal and is not out in as you say relative wilds.