United Airlines' new routes from Chicago to Zurich and Denver to Munich connect Star Alliance hubs. They follow the reintroduction of Boston to London Heathrow, which has helped the carrier to have 22 departures from London this summer, its best ever.

These developments and many more mean United’s European summer offering totals 8.1 million seats, 15% more than in the summer of 2019 (S19). According to OAG data, United now has 71 Europe routes this summer, up from 62 in S19.

United's new European routes

Operating 1x daily year-round, United Airlines' new routes are as follows:

• Chicago to Zurich: UA3, 15:40-07:35+1, B767-300ER
• Zurich to Chicago: UA12, 09:50-12:35
• Denver to Munich: UA760, 20:20-14:05+1, B787-9
• Munich to Denver: UA761, 16:05-18:35

Zurich uses 167-seat B767-300ERs. They have 46 Polaris suites, 22 in Premium Plus recliners, 43 seats in Economy Plus, and 53 in standard economy. To Munich, 257-seat B787-9s are deployed, with 21 in Premium Plus, 43 in Economy Plus, and 149 in economy.

United already serves Zurich from Newark, Washington, and San Francisco, and Munich from Newark, Washington, San Francisco, Chicago, and Houston. They are all very much 'Star express' services.

Both are already served

SWISS and Lufthansa already serve the two routes, and United's entry means that capacity on them is now far higher than pre-pandemic.

According to OAG, Denver-Munich's seats for sale is up by 80% over S19, while Zurich-Chicago has risen by a modest 19%, helped by being a larger market to begin with. The airlines are clearly very confident.

How will they help?

Aside from point-to-point passengers, booking data shows that Lufthansa, SWISS, and United were especially good at feeding flights over Munich and Zurich in 2019.

The routes were also good for 'bridging' passengers, for example, those who flew Minneapolis-Chicago-Zurich-Nairobi. However, while a decent chunk connected from Zurich over Chicago, not many transited Denver from Munich.

The carriers' schedules supplement each other, as shown below. United's Zurich timings will help to further penetrate traffic over Chicago more than any other, and Munich will be good for traffic over Munich, Denver, and those bridging.

• Chicago to Zurich: United at 15:40-07:45+1; SWISS at 19:10-10:50+1
• Zurich to Chicago: United at 09:50-12:35; SWSS at 13:05-15:55
• Denver to Munich: Lufthansa at 16:10-09:55+1; United at 20:20-14:05+1
• Munich to Denver: Lufthansa at 11:50-14:25; United at 16:05-18:35

Now six United routes to Munich

The launch of Denver means that United now has six routes to Munich and six daily flights. On the day of writing, it has the following. Notice that Lufthansa's departure to Denver at 11:50 fills the gap. There would be little point United leaving around then too.

• 09:35: Newark B767-400ER
• 11:30: Chicago, B787-8
• 11:40: San Francisco, B777-200ER
• 11:55: Houston, B767-300ER
• 12:20: Washington, B777-200ER
• 16:05: Denver, B787-9

OAG shows that Munich is United's third most-served European airport this summer, behind London Heathrow and Frankfurt.