18 September: United Airlines will launch nonstop summer seasonal service between its Chicago hub at O'Hare International Airport and Edinburgh, Scotland, beginning 22 May 2014, subject to government approval. This will be the first scheduled nonstop service between the two cities.
The flights will operate five times weekly from 22 May to 11 June, daily between 12 June and 1 Sept and four times weekly between 2 September and 5 October 2014.
"We're pleased to add Chicago-to-Edinburgh nonstop service to United's extensive trans-Atlantic route network," said Brian Znotins, United's vice president of network. "In addition to providing a direct link between the two cities, the new flights are conveniently timed to provide connections in Chicago to and from more than 125 destinations across North, Central and South America and the Caribbean."
The flights will depart Chicago at 6 p.m., arriving in Edinburgh at 7:45 a.m. the following day. The return flights will depart Edinburgh at 10:25 a.m., arriving in Chicago at 1 p.m. the same day (all times local). Flight times are seven hours, 45 minutes eastbound and eight hours, 35 minutes westbound.
The flights will operate using Boeing 757-200 aircraft with a total of 169 seats – 16 flat-bed seats in United BusinessFirst and 153 in United Economy, including 45 Economy Plus seats with added legroom and increased personal space.
United offers more nonstop service to more destinations from its Chicago O'Hare hub than any other carrier and has added 11 new routes from Chicago since the beginning of 2013.
United currently operates year-round nonstop service from its New York hub at Newark Liberty International Airport to both Edinburgh and Glasgow, having started service to Scotland in 1998.
