[EWR,DEL]

United will be opening a second daily flight from Delhi to Newark, using a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner. Due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the carrier has had no choice but to open a second flight, especially because it can no longer fly through Russian Airspace, forcing many routes to close. 

United has announced its largest-ever schedule from New Delhi to Newark, offering two daily flights starting October 28. The airline will use a Boeing 787-9, offering daytime services in both directions. With its route to Chicago along with services from Mumbai shut since 2022 due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, United is putting everything into its key route in India with one more daily flight, hoping to help fares and create faster routes for tens of thousands of passengers.

United Airlines has announced plans to add a second daily flight from its home airport in Newark Liberty International (EWR) to Delhi Indira Gandhi International (DEL). The new service will commence with the IATA winter season on October 27th with the following timings:

• UA816: Departs Newark at 09:40 and arrives in Delhi at 11:10 (+1 day); scheduled time of 15 hours
• UA817: Leaves Delhi at 13:15 and lands in Newark at 19:40 (same day); scheduled time of 16 hours and 55 minutes

United will operate this route using the Boeing 787-9, similar to its UA82/83 service daily as well. The aircraft features 48 Polaris business class seats, 21 Premium Plus seats, and 188 Economy seats, including 39 in Economy Plus. Service will be the same on both flights, although the timings are interesting.

UA82/83 has been around for much longer, targeting business travelers looking to fly overnight, departing at 11:30 pm and landing at around 6:30 am, allowing those to attend both work and meetings the same day. However, as the only US carrier providing service and Air India's limited direct flights, prices tended to be high on this route. With a second flight during the day, United can take advantage of the heavy tourism, student demand, and demand from visiting family and friends on North American routes.

Because of this new demand, there should be heavy traffic once winter arrives. Only two other carriers operate direct flights between New York and Delhi. American Airlines offers a once-daily service to JFK with its Boeing 777s, while Air India flies daily to JFK and 3 times weekly to Newark. United is the most established carrier on this route.

While Air India technically has more flights, its older cabins will struggle to attract passengers. However, they will later be replaced with 777s previously owned by Delta Airlines, similar to American Airlines’ setup. American Airlines is relatively new on the route but has also been attracting traffic. For now, there is no shortage of demand for flights to North America, especially due to summer and university travel.

While it is positive to see United increasing its capacity to Delhi, the carrier has limited options right now. With Russian airspace closed to Western carriers, the airline has been forced to close both the Delhi-Chicago and the lucrative Mumbai-Newark routes from its schedules.
 

With the planned Bangalore-San Francisco now closed as well, doubling down on Delhi was the only option the carrier had in the country. Even worse, Star Alliance partner Air India flies unhindered through Russia and is adding new routes to the US.

For now, United remains biding its time, deploying capacity on high-yield routes in India and waiting for when it can make full use of its bilateral capacity. Until then, Air India will be hoping it will offer a competitive product and have enough routes to attract passengers for good on its jets instead.