DALLAS – United Airlines (UA) launched a new daily nonstop seasonal service between Milan Malpensa Airport (MXP) and Chicago O'Hare (ORD), with the first flight departing from Milan this past weekend and the service running until the end of September 2022.

With the addition of this new route, UA becomes the only airline to provide a nonstop trip between Milan and Chicago. The service is operated using Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner aircraft featuring 28 United Polaris business class lie-flat seats, 21 United Premium Plus premium economy seats, 36 Economy PlusSM seats, and 158 standard economy seats.

The new service complements United's existing daily nonstop year-round services from Milan Malpensa and Rome to New York/Newark, as well as seasonal services from Rome to Washington D.C., Venice to New York/Newark, Rome to Chicago O'Hare, and Naples to New York/Newark.

Beginning on May 28, 2022, the airline will add a second frequency from Rome to New York/Newark. UA serves more Italian points than any other US airline and will offer eight daily nonstop flights from Italy to the US during the summer season of 2022.

United Expansion

This new route is part of the airline's largest transatlantic expansion in history, which is being launched in anticipation of a robust recovery in European summer travel. From mid-April through early June, UA will commence or resume 30 transatlantic flights. This includes new nonstop flights to five separate leisure locations that no other North American airline offers, including Amman, Jordan, Bergen, Norway, Azores, Portugal, Palma de Mallorca, Spain, and Tenerife in Spain's Canary Islands.

Along with Milan, the airline is introducing new nonstop flights to some of Europe's most popular business and tourism destinations, including London, Zurich, Munich, and Nice.

Since 1997, United has served Italy. Aside from the new seasonal service from Milan to Chicago O'Hare, United operates year-round service from Milan and Rome to New York/Newark, as well as seasonal service from Rome to Chicago and Washington Dulles, which will resume in 2022.

United’s goal is for its transatlantic route network to be more than 25% larger than it was in 2019. In other words, UA wants to serve more transatlantic destinations than every other US carrier combined, and be the largest airline across the Atlantic for the first time in history.

United is the largest airline based at ORD, where it currently offers 482 daily flights to 179 locations in the US and across the world.

Comments from Airline, Airpot Officials

“We are delighted to inaugurate our new service between Milan and our Chicago hub,” said  Thorsten Lettnin, United’s Director Sales Continental Europe, India and West-Africa. “As the only  airline offering a nonstop flight between Milan and Chicago, our new service strengthens our  international route network and provides our customers from Italy with convenient one-stop  connections via our Chicago O’Hare hub to over 100 destinations across the Americas.” 

"Airlines are showing important signs of confidence in the region by not only returning to offer the historic connections at our airports but also investing in new destinations. With its daily flight to Chicago, United Airlines is now the emblem of this. This new destination represents one of the most important new developments of the summer season," said Andrea Tucci, Vice President of Aviation Business Development of SEA.

“This new route operated by United, alongside the daily flight to New York/Newark, opens the door to the United States through the carrier's Chicago O'Hare network and adds quality to the travel offering from our airports, particularly to the Pacific Coast. We are extremely pleased to celebrate the launch of this connection to one of the most attractive locations in the U.S."

Featured image: United Airlines Malpensa-Chicago Inauguration May 2022. Photo: United Airlines