Fun: Guess United Airlines’ New International Routes!

We have some clues about what we should expect from United Airlines tomorrow.

United’s October 2022 international route announcement

The new international routes are expected to be announced tomorrow. In the summer of 2023, these routes are expected to be launched.

For the past couple of years, United has invited the public to guess the routes one day before the announcement, in order to have some fun with it. It's the same every year. Two sets of clues are present here.

Some clues can be found in a video that United has posted to social media. Patrick Quayle made an appearance once again.

United has posted a picture of nine destinations on its website. We have some good hints when you combine the two.

What routes will United announce?

The only thing we can do is speculate, so let's start with the picture. The pictures feature is the best I can say.

• Berlin, Germany
• Barcelona, Spain
• Dubai, United Arab Emirates
• London, United Kingdom
• Malaga, Spain
• Paris, France
• Rome, Italy
• Stockholm, Sweden

I don't know what the castle picture at the top right is. Since United recently announced Newark to DC and Washington to Berlin routes, it is not clear if the Berlin or Dubai announcements will be additional routes.

A few more clues are contained in the video.

• There are two bags in an overhead bin with “LAX” and “LHR” luggage tags, so is the airline adding capacity in that market, or are those unrelated clues, suggesting there will be expansion from LAX and to LHR, but not necessarily between those airports?
• The flight attendant adjusting the seat seems to have four star tattoos, which is the flag of Chicago (at first I thought they were four-leaf clovers, but I don’t think so)
• There’s a picture of a bear and cherry blossom, so it sounds like maybe there will be a California to Japan route, though that’s not transatlantic
• Quayle can be seen drawing a map in a Polaris seat, and it looks to me like a map of Spain with Malaga circled; presumably the “646” area code is a clue, as that’s New York
• There’s someone reading a book with a Swedish flag
• There’s someone looking at the United app with flight number UA507, with a 1:10PM arrival time
• I’m not sure I get the clue with the twins?

Barcelona Airport has already confirmed on social media that United is going to launch a Chicago to Barcelona route. Those two seem almost certain. I am curious about what y'all come up with.

Bottom line

I am curious to see what the airline has in store for us when they announce new international routes on Wednesday. I love the guessing games from United. I would like to know if anyone can guess them.

What routes do you think United will take?