Thanks to this new agreement, it will be simpler than ever for their passengers to explore the world.
On Wednesday, United Airlines and Emirates revealed a strategic alliance that will dramatically increase the reach of both airlines.
According to the statement, Emirates passengers traveling into Chicago, Houston, or San Francisco — three of United’s busiest hubs — will be able to connect via United to more than 200 American locations on a single ticket beginning in November. An interline agreement will provide service for travelers traveling into the eight more U.S. airports that Emirates serves, including LAX and JFK.
In March 2023, United will also launch a nonstop service from Newark to Dubai from which travelers can use one ticket to continue their journey to more than 100 destinations on Emirates or its sibling airline, Flydubai.
According to ValuePenguin travel expert Sophia Mendel, “Emirates travelers will have easier access to destinations throughout the U.S., while United will offer more accessible routes in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East, as Emirates is already well developed in those regions of the world.”
The alliance is a surprising development given that the United States’ three biggest airlines—United, Delta, and American—lobbied actively for the majority of the past ten years to prevent the entry of Gulf carriers into the country. They terminated any previous connections with the airlines on the grounds that they were receiving improper subsidies from the American government.
But JetBlue defied the trend in 2012 by forming alliances with both Etihad Airways and Emirates. Then, according to Reuters, once tensions subsided in 2018, American Airlines entered a codeshare arrangement with Qatar Airways in 2020, and now United has followed suit with Emirates. JetBlue and Emirates will conclude their cooperation on October 30 as a result of the United contract.
Passengers on United and Emirates can simply take advantage of this new alliance’s convenience in the interim.