dailynewsnblog
Traditionally, John F Kennedy International Airport (JFK) in New York City has long been seen as the main transatlantic gateway not just for the East Coast of the United States, but, indeed, also the country as a whole. Now, however, it has been overtaken by its New Jersey neighbor, Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR), which will offer scheduled non-stop passenger flights to a grand total of 44 European hubs (vs 44 for JFK).
The presence of 
United Airlines is a driving force behind this momentum, with the Chicago-based ‘big three’ US legacy carrier and Star Alliance founding member running a sizeable hub operation in Newark and having added several new European routes to its roster this year. With this in mind, let’s take a look at where you can fly in Europe from Liberty International Airport, and the airlines and frequencies with which these routes are served.
An Obvious Dominator
According to Cirium, an aviation analytics company, United Airlines accounts for 11,822 of the 19,412 scheduled one-way departures that have been pencilled in across all airlines from 
Newark Liberty International Airport to destinations in Europe in 2026 (60.9%). The impressive scale of its transatlantic network is detailed in the map above, with London Heathrow Airport (LHR) being its top destination (up to seven daily flights each way).
Indeed, such is Heathrow’s dominance among United’s transatlantic capacity from Newark that the next most frequently served European hub from its New Jersey gateway, Paris Charles de Gaulle (CDG), only peaks at two flights a day in the summer. The carrier announced the addition of flights to Bari, Glasgow, Santiago de Compostela, and Split last October, with Patrick Quayle, its SVP of Global Network Planning and Alliances, saying that:
“United has an unmatched international network, and we pride ourselves on connecting our customers to unique, trendsetting destinations no other US airline serves.”
What About United’s Star Alliance Partners?
As previously mentioned, United Airlines was one of the founding members of the 
Star Alliance back in 1997. As such, it figures that several of Newark’s top European airlines will also belong to this group, as their flights to Newark allow seamless onward connectivity on United’s domestic services.
Indeed, this is evidenced by the fact that the top non-US carrier on European routes from Newark is a Star Alliance member, with TAP Air Portugal having scheduled a combined 1,047 one-way departures on its routes from Liberty International Airport to its hubs in Lisbon and Porto. Lufthansa isn’t far behind, with 730 departures split evenly between its hubs in Frankfurt and Munich – this figure represents a daily flight to each of these bases.
|
Star Alliance Carriers (Excluding United Airlines) In Newark |
|
|---|---|
|
Airline |
European Destination(s) |
|
Austrian Airlines |
Vienna |
|
Lufthansa |
Frankfurt and Munich |
|
LOT Polish Airlines |
Kraków, Rzeszów, and Warsaw |
|
SWISS |
Zürich |
|
TAP Air Portugal |
Lisbon and Porto |
|
Turkish Airlines |
Istanbul |
Elsewhere, other members of the Lufthansa Group are also present, with Austrian Airlines and SWISS operating daily flights from Newark to Vienna and Zürich respectively. Turkish Airlines almost matches this frequency, with 345 flights to Istanbul, while LOT Polish Airlines’ 285 flights are spread across three destinations: Kraków, Rzeszów, and Warsaw. Of these three destinations, only Warsaw Chopin Airport is served all year round.
Back On Track: United Celebrates Best Operational Summer At Newark
The news comes despite the New Jersey facility facing significant logistical challenges earlier in the year.
The Best Of The Rest
Away from United and its partners, ex-Star Alliance member SAS (which joined SkyTeam in 2024) has the third-most European flights from Newark, with 991 departures in 2026 to its Nordic hubs in Copenhagen, Oslo, and Stockholm. A more surprising inclusion is Middle Eastern giant Emirates, which flies daily from Newark to Athens. However, rather than being a standalone service, this operates as the first leg of a longer route back to Dubai.
La Compagnie and British Airways are the only other carriers flying more than daily from Newark to Europe, respectively offering 726 flights (split between Milan Malpensa, Nice, and Paris Orly) and 716 flights (all to London Heathrow) in 2026. Elsewhere, Icelandair flies daily to Reykjavík, while lower frequencies can be found on Air France (Paris CDG), Aer Lingus (Dublin), French bee (Paris Orly), and Iberia (seasonally to Madrid Barajas).
