United Airlines Adds More New Routes from Denver Hub

United Continental Holdings has confirmed that United Airlines will expand its network from its Denver International Airport hub with new daily links to Shreveport, La, and Grand Forks, ND, while its existing seasonal route to Anchorage will be expanded to a year-round schedule. The domestic expansion follows just a week after the US carrier revealed plans to launch flights from Denver to Tokyo Narita in spring 2013 using its newly delivered Boeing 787 Dreamliners.

“These new routes cap off a monumental month for Denver, for United and for our customers,” said James Starnes, Director of Domestic Planning for United Airlines. “United is committed to the ‘Mile High City,’ and these new services underscore our commitment to bring to Denver the best network and schedule that any airline offers.”

The new daily non-stop flight between Denver and Shreveport will start on August 28, 2012 and will be operated by United Express carrier ExpressJet using a 50-seat Embraer ERJ-145 regional jet. Shreveport Regional Airport serves north Louisiana, east Texas and southwest Arkansas and the historic city of Shreveport is particularly known for its events, ranging from outdoor festivals and comedy shows to live theatre and symphony performances. There have been no direct scheduled flights between Denver and Shreveport although in the past year an estimated 10,000 O&D passengers flew between the two cities via other US hubs.

The new twice daily non-stop flight between Denver and Grand Forks will start on October 3, 2012 and will be operated by United Express carrier SkyWest using a 50-seat Bombardier CRJ200 regional jet. The Grand Forks area offers a mix of sporting events, a lively arts scene, miles of hiking and biking trails, and a vibrant downtown. United Airlines previously served this market for a six month period between June 1989 and December 1989 using an Aspen Airways BAe 146, but there have been no direct flights since then. In the past year an estimated 4,000 O&D passengers flew between the two cities via Minneapolis/St Paul.

Meanwhile, United Airlines’ seasonal service between Denver and Anchorage, which was only launched on May 1, 2012 and which is operated using a Boeing 737-800 aircraft, will be switched to a year-round service. United and the former Continental Airlines have been serving this market on a seasonal basis for a number of years and have been competing with low-cost carrier Frontier Airlines since it debuted on the route in summer 2004. It too offers just a seasonal service. In the past year an estimated 101,000 O&D passengers travelled on the route with United’s direct flight accounting for a nine per cent share of this traffic.

United currently offers more flights to more destinations worldwide from Denver than any other airline, with nearly 400 peak-day departures to 125 destinations throughout the year. United flies to nearly 50 more cities than the next-largest carrier at Denver International Airport, and is one of Denver's largest private employers, although when you consider just its mainline business it is the number two carrier in terms of seat capacity as the table below showing next week’s planned capacity from the US airport shows…