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United Airlines made waves earlier this week by announcing a wide range of new European routes. Many of these will leverage the strength of its next-generation narrowbody fleet by connecting East Coast hubs in the United States to secondary destinations in Europe. In fact, one of these, set to be operated by the Boeing 737 MAX 8, will become its shortest European route.
Indeed, in 2027, United Airlines plans to begin flying from Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) in New Jersey to Lajes (TER) on Terceira in the Azores. The eastbound leg of this route will have the shortest block time of any United flight to Europe, as well as being the shortest by distance. It is worth noting that Greenland is not factored in, as it is geographically part of North America.
United’s New Shortest European Route
United’s new route from Newark to Lajes, announced Tuesday as part of a wider expansion of the carrier’s European network, will begin operations on June 9, 2027. Flights on this new corridor will operate three times a week, with the 737 MAX 8 being United’s jet of choice on the route. With this launch, United will become the only US-based airline flying nonstop to Lajes.
The Azores’ mid-Atlantic location means that Newark-Lajes will become United’s shortest Europe-bound route, both by distance and block time. As for the latter, it will be as low as five hours and 15 minutes. This will put United’s existing Azores-bound route from Newark to Ponta Delgada (five hours and 35 minutes) in second place. Patrick Quayle, United’s Senior Vice President of Global Network Planning and Alliances, spoke about adding the routes.
“Whether it’s a business trip, a dream honeymoon, a bucket-list adventure, or a trip home to see family, we’re making the world feel smaller and connecting cultures at a scale no other airline can match.”
How Are Existing US-Azores Flights Performing?
It remains to be seen whether or not the new United route from Newark to Lajes will be a success. However, data for existing routes between the US and the Azores shows that such flights tend to be relatively well loaded. According to Cirium, an aviation analytics company, United’s flights between Newark and Ponta Delgada (PDL) averaged a load factor of 75.44% in the 12 months to May 2026.
Elsewhere, the highest performer when it came to load factors between the US and the Azores was TAP Air Portugal, which flies from Lajes to San Francisco International Airport (SFO) in northern California. On this route, the Portuguese flag carrier averaged 85.17% load factor over the 12 months to May 2026. That said, it operated only 16 rotations, compared to 114 for United at PDL.
Existing US-Azores Routes | |
|---|---|
Airline | Route(s) |
Azores Airlines | PDL-BOS, PDL-JFK, TER-BOS, TER-JFK |
TAP Air Portugal | TER-SFO |
United Airlines | PDL-EWR |
As detailed in the table above, Azores Airlines is the other major carrier for flights between the US and the mid-Atlantic Portuguese archipelago. Of its four routes, Ponta Delgada to Boston Logan Airport (BOS) was the best performer through May, averaging 83.99%. Lajes to New York-JFK followed at 69.83%, Lajes to Boston at 67.82%, and Ponta Delgada to New York at 66.98%.
United’s Other Short Transatlantic Jaunts
As noted, United’s Lajes launch has pushed Ponta Delgada to second place for its shortest European routes. As far as the remainder of the top ten for next summer (block times may differ in the winter) goes, Newark to Keflavík in Iceland sits third, at five hours and 40 minutes, followed by the route from Washington to Keflavík (new for 2026), at five hours and 55 minutes.
The top five is rounded out by another Keflavík route: it takes six hours and 15 minutes to get there from Chicago. Routes from Newark fill sixth to 10: it takes six hours and 25 minutes to reach Shannon, six hours and 40 minutes to reach Dublin (DUB), and six hours and 50 minutes to reach Funchal, London, and Glasgow. Flights to the latter resumed this year.
