United Airlines is making some big changes to its India route network.
It starts with dropping plans to serve Bangalore, a hotly anticipated route that was supposed to originally launch in spring 2021.
The airline has postponed the San Francisco-to-Bangalore route multiple times since it was announced in September 2020, but now the route is getting cut entirely before it even starts, Cirium schedules show.
A United spokesperson confirmed to TPG that the airline will abandon plans to serve Bangalore — a city some people call the Silicon Valley of India.
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Along with dropping Bangalore, United will shift its existing routes to New Delhi.
Last winter season, the airline flew there from Chicago and Newark. Back in 2022, it served New Delhi from San Francisco as well.
Originally, United was planning three routes to New Delhi for this upcoming winter, but that plan changed over the weekend, according to Cirium schedules.
Instead of offering daily service from Chicago and Newark during the winter, United will consolidate to two daily flights from Newark. (The daily San Francisco route is unaffected.)
United Flight 816 departs Newark at 9:40 a.m. and arrives in New Delhi at 10:10 a.m. the next day.
United Flight 82 departs Newark at 10:15 p.m. and arrives in New Delhi at 9:50 p.m. the next day.
In the previous schedule, United’s Chicago and Newark flights both departed in the evening. So, consolidating service to Newark allows the airline to offer two different flight times that will likely appeal to different types of travelers.
