United Airlines plans to resume service on more than 25 international routes in September and add a route between Chicago and Tel Aviv, the airline said Friday.
Chicago-based United’s September schedule has about 37% of the flights it flew the same month last year. That’s about 4% more flights than it plans to operate in August, as recent increases in COVID-19 cases slow passengers’ return to flying.
Several of the routes United is adding back are beach destinations in the Caribbean and Hawaii, as leisure travel is expected to recover more quickly than business travel.
Other international destinations where the carrier plans to restart or add flights from Chicago include Hong Kong, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, San Juan, Puerto Rico and Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. United said the Hong Kong and Tel Aviv flights are subject to government approval.
While some travel restrictions imposed to contain the coronavirus pandemic have been lifted, the European Union extended a ban on travelers from the U.S. earlier this week.
“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 news release.
United also extended a waiver on fees for changing flights to those booked through Aug. 31.