In a bid to expand internationally, United Continental Holdings, Inc. UAL has decided to broaden its transatlantic network next year. Toward this end, this Chicago-based carrier not only announced additional flights but also decided to resume nonstop seasonal operations on some routes.
Under its route expansion plan in Europe, the carrier has decided to introduce three new routes, namely San Francisco-Amsterdam, New York/Newark-Naples and New York/Newark-Prague. The year-round flights connecting San Francisco and Amsterdam will operate from Mar 30, marking the carrier’s fifth nonstop service to the Netherlands from the United States. Notably, once the flights become operational, United Continental will be the first U.S. carrier to operate on the route.
The New York/Newark-Naples nonstop flights will operate in the May 22-Oct 4 timeframe to cater to the surge in demand during the summer season. This will be the carrier’s sixth nonstop service to Italy.
These apart, the carrier has decided to introduce summer service in the New York/Newark-Prague route between Jun 6 and Oct 4. Also, United Continental has decided to resume operating nonstop seasonal flights between eight U.S. airports and multiple destinations in Europe, the Caribbean and Mexico from next year.
We note that shares of United Continental have outperformed its industry on a year-to-date basis. The stock has gained 28.9% against the industry’s 13% decline.
The announcement of the new routes and resumption of some are added positives for the stock. Once operational, we expect these latest routes to boost the top line by generating additional traffic.
Notably, United Continental is the third major U.S. carrier to announce changes to its international routes in the past few days after Delta Air Lines, Inc. DAL and American Airlines Group Inc. AAL.
Zacks Rank & Key Pick
United Continental carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). A better-ranked airline stock is SkyWest, Inc. SKYW sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Shares of SkyWest have gained more than 21% year to date.
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