20 January 2018

• New United Airlines service to bring in estimated 27,000 extra US visitors and $47 million in additional visitor spend each year
• Sydney’s longest route at almost 14,000km
• Houston a major hub with important links to locations across the US, Canada and Central and South America

Sydney Airport has welcomed United Airlines’ new Houston service, which will bring tens of thousands of additional US tourists to NSW each year.

The new year-round service will also create exciting new links, with Houston serving as a mega hub.

Sydney Airport CEO Geoff Culbert said the new service was a win for both travellers and the state’s tourism sector.

“Houston presents an exciting opportunity for travellers coming from the US to access Sydney through a direct service,” Mr Culbert said.

“This is great news for travellers as well as businesses across NSW.

“United Airlines’ new service will not only help drive tourism and trade, but create exciting new pathways to the US, Canada and Central and South America.

“It will also make it easier for tourists from the US and beyond to visit Sydney and experience the world’s greatest city.

“The US is our third-largest international visitor market. This route means exciting new connections throughout the US.”

NSW will benefit from an estimated 27,000 extra US visitors and $47 million in additional annual visitor expenditure, providing a boost to the state’s economy.

The United Airlines route will also be Sydney’s longest at 13,829km and will add a fourth mainland gateway option for locals to visit the US.

United Airlines’ Vice President of International Network, Patrick Quayle, said the airline was thrilled to launch the service.

“United is the largest US carrier offering the most seats between Sydney and the United States and we look forward to continuing to serve as Sydney’s airline of choice,” Mr Quayle said.

“Our new service to Houston provides customers direct access to one of the country’s largest business centres and it offers customers the opportunity to conveniently connect to hundreds of cities including Miami, Chicago, Boston, New York, Washington, D.C., Mexico City, Cancun, and more.”

NSW Minister for Tourism and Major Events Adam Marshall said the opportunity this new service created to further grow visitor numbers from the US market was a huge coup for tourism businesses across the state.

“The US is currently worth an incredible $807 million to the NSW visitor economy, making it our second-largest international visitor market,” Mr Marshall said.

“We look forward to working with United Airlines, via our tourism and major events agency Destination NSW, to promote this new service to Sydney which will shine a bright light on our world-class calendar of events, great food and wine and stunning regional destinations to even more US travellers.”

Flight details:

UA100 – Departs Sydney 11.50am daily, arrives Houston at 10.35am the same day UA101 – Departs Houston 8pm daily, arrives Sydney 6.30am two days later