The United Airlines hub in Tokyo’s 
Narita International Airport (NRT) was reestablished in the fall of 2024 with new service to exciting destinations across Asia. Starting with Cebu, Philippines (CEB), last year, the reborn hub has added Ulaanbaatar (UBN) in Mongolia and, on July 11th, Kaohsiung, Taiwan (KHH) will see flights too. As Aeroexplorer recounts, United is betting on underserved locations that both All Nippon Airways (ANA) and Japan Airlines (JAL) don’t provide flights to out of NRT.
Airline Type
Full Service Carrier
Hub(s)
Chicago O’Hare International Airport, Denver International Airport, Guam International Airport, Houston George Bush Intercontinental Airport, Los Angeles International Airport, Newark Liberty International Airport, San Francisco International Airport, Washington Dulles International Airport
Year Founded
1931
Alliance
Star Alliance
CEO
Scott Kirby
Country
United States
Loyalty Program
MileagePlus
Tokyo’s Haneda International Airport (HND) continues to boom during the tourism surge into Japan compared to NRT, which is further from the city centers. United has a strong long-haul, widebody presence that connects international travelers to HND, but amidst the heavy competition for slots, it is looking to maximize the potential that NRT offers.
Passing The Torch: Taking Over Pan Am’s Asia Network
Photo: Ronnie Chua | Shutterstock
In the 1980s, deregulation and shifting economics changed the landscape of American air travel in big ways. One of the most major events was the collapse of famed and beloved Pan American World Airways, or Pan Am for short. United would inherit the Tokyo hub of Pan Am as the rapidly declining company struggled to sustain operations and shed all but its core operations.
As the Cranky Flier tells it, United started out strong with destinations that included the most popular and profitable major cities in the region from its newly commissioned Tokyo base of operations. When Pan Am began its Asia service network, airplanes simply couldn’t cross the expanse of the mighty Pacific Ocean without some key stopovers for fuel. United took up the torch at a time when that was still true, but jets were growing longer legs.
Heading into 2025, United is making moves that mirror that era of its history as it expands all over the globe with over a dozen new destinations. The fresh destinations in Asia are especially noteworthy because they are not being served by an existing hub in the US and because they are historically low traffic. Watching a Boeing 737in United livery pull up to the ramp in Mongolia makes for one of the most interesting and exotic travel destinations possible for a US-based carrier, which is exactly what the airline is betting on to pull in adventurous fliers.
Circling The Wagons: United Pulls Back From Tokyo
Photo: Pratchaya.Lee | Shutterstock
As the 2000s pressed on, United gradually pulled back on its operations based in Narita. The airline was not satisfied with load factors, and one by one, the destinations started to fall off the list. According to the Airline Observer, Seoul Incheon, Korea (ICN) was the last hanger-on in 2017. To optimize the efficiency of Pacific operations, United opted to connect all of its former Narita destinations directly to the continental US via San Francisco, California (SFO).
The airline will be changing the SFO-based service as a result of the new NRT connections, and remains steadfast that it is the best operational strategy overall for regular traffic. The renewed serviced options out of NRT have come about as a result of some uniquely positioned jets and the changing trend of air travel in the post-pandemic era. As American fliers increasingly seek out exotic destinations and premium travel experiences, United is looking to offer something no one else does.
Rising demand for air travel has been a direct result of the end of the Coronavirus travel restrictions, but in an interesting twist, a growing interest in previously unpopular destinations has changed the market in new ways. United has responded by opening over a dozen new international destinations in exotic places, including Nuuk, Greenland (GOH), just last week. United has started moving pieces on the board to create new options for customers, which brings us to the next piece of the puzzle – Guam.
The Guam Quandry: Vital Stop Without Traffic To Match
Photo: EQRoy | Shutterstock
United Airlines has a dominating presence at Antonio B. Won Pat International Airport (GUM) in the US commonwealth territory of Guam. Guam is the largest island in the Micronesian chain of archipelagos. Guam is also home to a major US Air Force base, Andersen Air Force Base (AFB), which is one of the only places you can see a Northrop GrummanB-2 Spirit stealth bomber outside the Continental US. ABC News covered the most recent deployment of the iconic American warplanes just yesterday.
The need for air service to a US territory and major military facility is an obvious reason for United to sustain a healthy operational presence on the remote island. United Airlines is also the largest passenger air service in the world as of 2025, so they have a lot of resources available to position where it’s needed. That being said, the aviation business is one of razor-thin margins and fluctuates sensitively based on general economic trends. United has a dominating presence on Guam, and despite the “island hopper” service, the traffic is lower than ideal.
The moderate demand on United’s relatively over-equipped Guambase is one of the key factors making a return to NRT possible. Repositioning the underladen airliners to Tokyo opens up new travel opportunities for fliers and potentially increases the profitability of jets that are readily available at a time when a unique opportunity exists.
Back In The Game: New Asian Destinations
Photo: Pratchaya.Lee | Shutterstock
In April 2025, United debuted a Guam to Taipei connection alongside its other GUM destinations: Manila, Nagoya, Osaka, and Tokyo. Following the resumption of NRT services with CEB in the Philippines, United is betting big on travel demand to the East Asia and Pacific Island regions. In another unique network branch, United has connected Koror, Palau (ROR) with Narita, Guam and Manila under its new, wider umbrella in the region.
The Narita hub is back in good form with United’s 2025 strategy. The once-abandoned regional base is shaping up as a new gateway to adventure and leisurely exotic destinations. The summer of 2025 is just getting started, and with the ambitious expectations of US airlines across the board, this year could be historic for the legendary airlines.
American Airlines touts “five flights per minute” this summer as their combined international and domestic services are expected to exceed every previous year’s traffic. United has the advantage of being bigger than any other carrier, granting it the resources to reach further and fly more than any competitor. We will have to wait and see just how the season unfolds, but 2025 is set to be an exciting year in the world of commercial aviation.
Narrowbodies Cruising The Pacific: The Boeing 737-800
Photo: Robin Guess | Shutterstock
One of the interesting aspects of United’s renewed Tokyo-based services is the transfer of narrowbody jets from Guam to Narita, which will be the platforms for the new routes. To many unfamiliar with the Asia-Pacific region, a Boeing 737-800 may not sound like a suitable plane to fly over the vast expanses of the Pacific Ocean. Despite the density of national borders and separation by open ocean, most of these destinations actually fall under the distance that a lot of domestic US routes routinely cover.
According to FlightConnections, the new flight to Mongolia is only 1,895 miles and five and a half hours long, no problem for a Boeing 737 Next Generation. That’s about 90 miles shorter than flying from Salt Lake City (SLC) to New York (JFK) back in the Continental US (CONUS). The opportunity to use more fuel-efficient, shorter-field, and lower load-factor risk aircraft to try out new routes is an excellent way to test the waters before United invests more assets in what may or may not be a profitable travel destination.
The next step up from the Boeing 737-700, the 737-800 replaced the 737-400 in Boeing’s catalog. The Airbus A321 is the comparable competitor from across the pond. Many airlines adopted it when it was introduced in 1994 as a replacement for the Boeing 727-200 trijets. The 737-800 has an advertised range of 3,065 NM (6,255 km) with 162 passengers aboard, according to the manufacturer. That kind of range makes United’s new Tokyo connections an easy day’s work for the tried and true jetliner.
United Airlines Opens Bookings For New Tokyo- Ulaanbaatar Boeing 737-800 Flights
United Airlines is opening new nonstop services not served by any other US carrier, such as from Tokyo Narita to Ulaanbaatar in Mongolia.
Looking Ahead: The Opportunities Of A Return To Tokyo
Photo: viper-zero | Shutterstock
United’s return to Narita could be a major game-changer for their international operations and Asia-based service. The year has seen record numbers of fliers and that trend is expected to continue as the peak travel seasons of summer and the holidays are yet to come. As the world’s largest airline grows its portfolio to keep pace with the demand for exotic and remote travel destinations, the global air network keeps getting better.
In April, United debuted even more destinations in Asian and Oceania, including: Bangkok, Thailand (BKK); Adelaide, Australia (ADL); Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam (SGN); and Manila, Philippines (MNL). Patrick Quayle, Senior Vice President, Global Network Planning and Alliances at United, said:
“At United, we’re changing the way people think about where they travel – by offering the greatest access to see and explore the world, whether it’s for relaxation, adventure or business. We offer more than the best schedule and travel options – we connect customers to sought after destinations and opportunities to explore new, vibrant cities.”
The shift to the Pacific that United is performing opens a gateway to adventure and unique experiences never before available to most travelers. Thanks to the once-neglected, forgotten and abandoned Tokyo hub that United held at Narita, a world of exciting new possibilities has been made possible in 2025.
AloJapan.com