United Keeping Greenland Route For 2026: Smart

Intro

In the past few years, we have seen United go into a league of its own for US carriers when it comes to route expansions. Whether it be the capital of Senegal, Mongolia, or Greenland, they have opened up a route network that no other carrier in North America can compete with. 

Well, United just announced a few days ago that the Newark-Nuuk (Greenland) route would be coming back for 2026. 

The Details 

In 2024, United announced that it would begin serving Newar-Nuuk in 2025 on a summer seasonal basis, 2x weekly. At the time, it became a headline, as the route was so obscure because, outside of Air Greenland (which I flew), few airlines have operated flights into Greenland. 

As of 2026, this route will be coming back on a seasonal basis, with the following schedule: 

UA80: Newark (EWR)–Nuuk (GOH) departing at 11:30 and arriving at 18:45

UA81: Nuuk (GOH)–Newark (EWR) departing at 09:00 and arriving at 10:30 

United operates a 737 Max 8 on this route

United uses a 737 MAX 8 to operate this route, featuring 16 seats on Domestic First, which is labelled as “premium economy” for this flight, and 150 seats in economy. Keep in mind, those ticketed in Premium Economy have access to the United Club upon departure in Newark, but not the Polaris Lounge. 

Why Is This Route Coming Back 

If you have kept up with how this route has been faring, you would know that it is not doing very well in terms of yields. Obviously, Greenland doesn’t appeal to the majority (it should, it’s beautiful), but I believe there are a couple of reasons why this route is returning: 

• For starters, and this is not a belief, CEO Scott Kirby added this 

“We have a really good track record of this, very little of what we’ve added over the last few years we have canceled. And so as we look forward, we look for those new destinations. And at the end of the day, Greenland has got a lot of attention but it is only two 737s per week. So its impact on our system will be small. But its impact on United, our brand and our customer profile and sign-ups for MileagePlus will be great. And there is so much more possible on this front than even I thought it was possible five or six years ago.”

• So, from this, we can clearly tell that this is actually some of the best marketing around. Airlines spend tens of millions of dollars per year on marketing, and the losses from 2 737s per week are marginal in comparison. 

• Secondly, I wonder if this route is incentivized by the government to drive tourism to Greenland. We often see incentives on routes where international carriers don’t fly as much, such as Brisbane… 

• Lastly, there is very little to lose here. The crew spends 1 night in Nuuk, UA doesn’t have to sacrifice a widebody during summer, and 737 Max 8s are relatively economical to fly. 

Yeah, I think this is extremely smart by United. They might be losing money on the route, but they are sure making it back through cheap advertising. 

Final Thoughts

The infamous United Newark-Nuuk route is making a comeback for 2026. While we had heard reports of this route not doing well in terms of loads, it seems that United is thinking globally here, which is smart. With all of the chatter about United flying this route, there is a marginal downside and a potentially terrific upside.