United Airlines To Resume Some International Flights In September Amid Pandemic

United Airlines (UAL) said it will resume service on nearly 30 international flights in September after suspending routes because of the coronavirus.

The airline said it will begin servicing Asia, India, Australia, Israel, and Latin America, along with new routes to the Caribbean, Hawaii, and Mexico. The added flights will bring United to 37% of its overall schedule in September as compared to the same time last year. It is also an increase of 4% of its capacity compared to August.

“We continue to be realistic in our approach to building back our international and domestic schedules by closely monitoring customer demand and flying where people want to go,” Patrick Quayle, United's vice president of International Network and Alliances, said in a statement.

“In September, we're adding even more options for leisure travelers or those who want to visit friends and relatives, whether that's within the United States or around the world.”

United will add 40 daily flights on 48 routes to Austin, Texas, Colorado Springs, Colorado, and Santa Barbara, California, as it looks to bring its domestic flight schedule to 40%. Flights to and from the U.S. and Hilo and Kauai, Hawaii, will also resume along with added flights to Honolulu, Kona, and Maui, Hawaii.

Internationally, United is looking to ramp up its flight schedule by 30% compared to September 2019, by resuming 20 routes in Latin America and the Caribbean. Nonstop service will begin from Chicago to Tel Aviv, Israel, which is pending government approval, and eight routes in the Atlantic and the Pacific will also resume. The airline said that flights from Houston to Europe will return, including service to Amsterdam and Frankfurt.

United recently enhanced its face mask policy to include all airports it services, saying that it would ban travelers that violated the policy from flying with the airline as long as the requirement was in place. The company also said that it was extending change fees and award redeposit fees for reservations made through Aug. 31.

Shares of United were trading at $30.83 as of 12:37 p.m. ET, down 91 cents or 2.87%.