United’s Dreamliner to fly to Australia

United Airlines will deploy its newest aircraft on trans-Pacific services to Australia later this year.

Commencing on 26 October 2014, the US carrier will start operating its brand new Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner between Los Angeles and Melbourne. The service, which will operate six times a week, will mark first international deployment United’s 787-9s

“We are excited about using the newest version of the Dreamliner, the 787-9, to provide non-stop trans-Pacific service to Melbourne,” said Jim Compton, United’s vice chairman & chief revenue officer.

“Our customers on these new flights will enjoy a more convenient itinerary, as well as improved in-flight comfort and amenities. At the same time, we will seek to make changes to our Sydney schedule which will enable faster connections via our San Francisco and Los Angeles hubs from points throughout the Americas.”

The new Dreamliner flights will depart Los Angeles at 2230 on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, arriving in Melbourne at 0915 two days later. The return leg will leave the Australian city at 1115, getting back into LA at 0650 the same day.

On Thursdays, flights will leave LA and arrive in Melbourne an hour earlier, while on Tuesdays flights depart Melbourne 1515, getting back into LA at 1050 the same day.

The new B787-9 Dreamliner being used on the LA-Melbourne route will offer a total of 252 seats – 48 in business class, 63 in premium economy and 141 in economy. All seats will feature power outlets and on-demand in-flight entertainment systems.

The Dreamliner deployment marks the latest stage of United’s plans to upgrade its Australian routes. The airline will also replace its aging B747-400s with newer B777-200 from the end of March 2014, on its daily flights from San Francisco and LA to Sydney and Melbourne.

United had initially planned to operate its Dreamliners from Houston to Auckland, but shelved the route in 2012 due to Southwest Airlines’ expansion at Houston.