Polignano a Mare in the Region of Puglia. Italy.
Artur Debat | Moment | Getty Images
United Airlines‘ summer 2026 international travel plan is out, and smaller European cities are in.
Starting April 30, United plans to fly from its hub at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey to Split on the Croatian coast — its second destination in the country. A day later the carrier is launching Newark to Bari in the popular Puglia region of southern Italy on the Adriatic Sea.
May 22 is the scheduled launch of a nonstop from Newark to Santiago de Compostela, in the Galicia region of Spain, the end of the famed Camino de Santiago pilgrimage trail.
The additions show United’s latest bet on high-spending travelers looking for trips beyond major European capitals, and the chance to fly to those places nonstop, without connecting in big hubs. The carrier is vying with Delta for big-spending travelers. Most of the new routes are operated with airplanes outfitted with its ever-growing, lie-flat Polaris cabin.
United executives have long touted its vast international network as a driver for customer loyalty and sign-ups for lucrative travel rewards credit cards.
Delta, for its part, has used a similar strategy and last month announced new nonstops to Malta and the Italian region of Sardinia for next summer.
United’s other additions include a May 21 debut from its Washington Dulles International Airport hub to Reykjavik, Iceland, and a daily, year-round nonstop from Newark to Seoul, South Korea, starting next September. It will also start a Newark to Glasgow, Scotland, flight on May 8, on a Boeing 737 Max 8.
Patrick Quayle, United’s senior vice president of global network planning and alliances, said that destinations the carrier announced last year, including Nuuk, Greenland, will remain in the airline’s schedule for 2026.
United is also planning to add a third daily flight to Tel Aviv from Newark starting March 28.
Majestic landscape of Godafoss waterfall flowing with colorful sunset sky and male tourist standing at the cliff on Skjalfandafljot river in summer at Northern Iceland.
Mumemories | Istock | Getty Images
