United Airlines Grows Asia Network With Fifth-Freedom Flights From Hong Kong

United Airlines continues to expand its Asia-Pacific presence, unveiling two new fifth-freedom routes from Hong Kong International Airport (HKG) and the first nonstop service between the U.S. and Adelaide, Australia.

From Oct. 26, United will commence fifth-freedom flights from HKG to Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK) and Ho Chi Minh City’s Tan Son Nhat International Airport (SGN). Both routes will be operated daily with Boeing 787-9 aircraft that will carry “a mix of local and international travelers,” United said in a statement.

Aircraft used to fly from Los Angeles International and San Francisco International (SFO) airports to HKG will be utilized on the BKK and SGN routes.

From Dec. 11, the Star Alliance carrier will launch northern hemisphere winter seasonal service between SFO and Adelaide Airport (ADL). The route, which will be the only nonstop service to  ADL from the U.S., will be flown 3X-weekly with a 787-9. The airline already serves Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney in Australia.

United’s 787-9s are configured to carry 257 passengers, including 48 in business class. When the new services commence, United will operate 32 Asia-Pacific routes.

Additionally, the airline will increase frequencies on its SFO-Manila route from 1X-daily to 2X-daily from Oct. 25. Flights will be operated with a 777-300ER aircraft.

The fifth-freedom routes from HKG will follow the introduction of fifth-freedom routes from Tokyo Narita Airport (NRT) for the 2025 northern hemisphere summer. These include United flights from NRT to Kaohsiung, Taiwan; Koror, Palau; and Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.

Stephen Morrissey, United’s vice president of international regulatory affairs and policy, recently told the Japan International Transport and Tourism Institute Civil Aviation Symposium in Washington, D.C., that the Chicago-based carrier is seeking to “bring network and connectivity to new destinations” in the Asia-Pacific region, particularly those not served by other U.S. airlines. “We’re trying to drive the future, not wait for it to develop,” he said.

Morrissey said the carrier is embracing fifth-freedom routes to achieve network breadth and reach new passengers. “From United’s perspective, it’s about using all the tools available to us to find customers,” he explained, adding the airline seeks to “find people where they are and get them where they want to go.”