• United Airlines has announced 13 new routes across Asia, Europe, Africa and Latin America.
• The expansion includes unique destinations such as Nuuk, Greenland and Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.
• United leverages its fifth freedom rights and crews from Guam for a competitive advantage in Asia.

United Airlines is making bold route decisions as it continues to expand its massive international presence.

The Chicago-based airline announced Thursday 13 new routes across Asia, Europe, Africa and Latin America, starting in summer 2025.

Eight of these are for niche destinations new to United, including Nuuk, Greenland; Dakar, Senegal; and Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. The expansion will further strengthen United’s position as the largest U.S. international airline across the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

Mongolia joins the growing list of United’s “fifth freedom” routes from Tokyo’s Narita International Airport. Other new fifth freedom routes include Kaohsiung, Taiwan and the western Pacific country of Palau from Tokyo. The airline previously announced that Cebu, Philippines, would launch from the Japanese capital later in October.

The so-called fifth freedom of the airspace allows airlines to fly between two countries outside their own, as long as their home country is the starting or ending point. They stem from the 1944 ‘Freedoms of the Air’ agreement of a UN body.

For example, UAE-based Emirates stops in Milan between New York and Dubai, while Singapore Airlines stops in Frankfurt, Germany, between New York and Singapore.

Patrick Quayle, United Airlines SVP of global network planning and alliances, told reporters Tokyo routes could use crews based at United’s Guam hub, giving the airline an edge in Asia.

The airline’s European expansion extends beyond Greenland. It will also launch new flights to off-the-beaten-path destinations in Portugal, Italy, France and Spain, from its hubs at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey and Washington Dulles International Airport.

Quayle said these outlying cities will attract new customers and help United differentiate itself from the competition. They add to a growing list of unique places for United, which flies nonstop to cities such as Dubrovnik, Croatia; Tenerife, Spain; and Ponta Delgada, Portugal, for years.

Here’s the full list of United’s eleven new overseas routes, plus two more to Mexico and Costa Rica:

• Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia to Tokyo: seasonal from May 1, 2025
• Kaohsiung, Taiwan to Tokyo: Year-round from July 11, 2025
• Koror, Palau to Tokyo: all year round from April 2, 2025.
• Nuuk, Greenland to Newark: seasonal from June 14, 2025.
• Palermo, Italy to Newark: Seasonal from May 21, 2025.
• Bilbao, Spain to Newark: Seasonal from May 31, 2025.
• Faro, Portugal to Newark: seasonal from May 16, 2025.
• Madeira, Portugal to Newark: Seasonal from June 7, 2025.
• Dakar, Senegal to Dulles: all year round from May 23, 2025.
• From Nice, France to Dulles: seasonal from May 24, 2025.
• Venice to Dulles: seasonal from May 22, 2025.
• San Francisco to San Jose: daily from May 22, 2025.
• Puerto Escondido, Mexico to Houston: Year-round from April 5, 2025. (operated by regional partner Mesa Airlines).