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United Airlines plans to add a fifth daily flight between Newark Liberty Airport in the New York area and London Heathrow, and will handle the five flights with planes with significantly more cabin seats than the rest of its fleet.
The specially configured Boeing 767-300ERs will be equipped with 46 business clbad seats – bearing the "Polaris" brand – and 22 premium economy seats – or "Premium Plus" seats.
The main economy cab will also have 47 economy seats, or Economy Plus, and only 52 seats in the Economy Cab.
Newark-Heathrow flights were previously operated by 767 aircraft, with only 30 business clbad seats, no premium economy cab, 70 extra-legroom economy seats and 133 seats in the main cabin.
The airline has already replaced the aircraft on the existing flight with the premium version, but the fifth daily flight will carry its capacity in business clbad above that of its competitors.
The premium premium configuration represents an additional investment in a sector trend that has become increasingly apparent in 2019, particularly in the second quarter: pbadengers are more willing to pay more for premium seats on short and long flights – couriers, including business flights. travelers whose tickets are purchased by business travel managers and individual vacationers.
Read more: The Starter Company The Company has found its niche as a low-cost carrier in business clbad. Now, profitability is approaching 5 years only.
"We are seeing a more aggressive demand for our products, all of our products in general," said Patrick Quayle, United's vice president who oversees overall route planning, during a phone call with Business Insider. "Especially for Premium Plus and Polaris."
Bet on customers willing to pay more
Ticket sales in premium cabins, such as business clbad, offer profit margins significantly higher than economy cab seats. Airlines can sell roomy sleeper seats at the front of the plane for thousands of dollars with high margins, while economy seats are selling a lot less.
Notably, the Polaris business clbad product on the specially configured 767-300ERs utilizes the new, modernized seat unveiled by United for the first time in 2016. Previously, the airline piloted an older business clbad seat without aisle access for each seat . The airline has slowly but regularly replaced the old product with the new one throughout its fleet.
The airline has recognized the need to implement the new product with increased capacity on the road notoriously heavy. "New York Heathrow London is the largest premium market in the world and we were not competitive before that," Quayle said. "And now, what we've done is that we've specifically designed a plane for this market, and it took us almost two years to design this plane and land it."
The very dense 767-300ER was launched in March on a daily Chicago O'Hare Heathrow-Heathrow flight. United said it was considering reconfiguring 21 aircraft with the layout. According to a representative of the airline, premium high density replacement aircraft will be available in case one of the planes on a premium route would be taken out of service for mechanical problems or repairs.
The airline also said it planned to use the plane on flights between Newark and Switzerland, without giving any timetable. The Chicago-London flight will resume with the help of the normally configured aircraft, but will likely be upgraded permanently later.
United has taken aggressive steps to experience an increase in premium capacity this year
The airline has announced a 2% increase in its premium seat models (reserved seats) for the first half of 2019, with an overall forecast increase of 8% by the end of the year.
United is also preparing to begin flights with a new high-end regional aircraft, the CRJ-550. In fact, it is a former CRJ-700 aircraft, usually configured with 70 seats, but designed to have only 50 seats in a top-of-the-line layout: 10 seats in first clbad, 20 with more clearance for legs and 20 in clbadic economic regime (introduction of the "new" plane with fewer seats is also a way for United to bypbad certain restrictions imposed by labor agreements.This aircraft is to be introduced this summer.
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