Glasgow Airport exciting news on Emirates Dubai and United Airlines

United Airlines’ new service from Glasgow Airport to its New York hub, Newark Liberty International Airport, has got off to a flyer.

And these flights have not even started yet.

The return of a US carrier to operate direct flights between Glasgow and the US has probably taken longer than most would have hoped, so it is all the more heartening to see United’s seasonal service extended by a month before the flights even get off the ground on May 9.

Kam Jandu, chief executive of Glasgow Airport owner AGS Airports, expressed hopes when I interviewed him late last month that the United Airlines flights between Glasgow and New York/Newark would ultimately become year-round and operated on a wide-body jet. The United flights are launching on a narrow-body Boeing 737 MAX-8 aircraft.

I reported exclusively on January 30 that United’s daily flights between Glasgow Airport and Newark Liberty International Airport would continue until October 24 rather than September 23 as originally planned.

This was days after Mr Jandu highlighted his high hopes for extension of the United service in the interview, which took place in the week of his first anniversary in the top job at AGS Airports.

The US airline had good things to say about Glasgow last week when it issued a press release detailing its decision to extend the season for the flights between Glasgow Airport and New York/Newark.

And it highlighted the fact that this will as things stand be the only direct service between Glasgow and the US operated by a US airline, as well as being the first since it last flew from Glasgow Airport in the autumn of 2019.

United noted that the extension of the seasonal service to October 24, from September 23, equated to a 22%-plus “increase in available seats for summer 2026”.

And it highlighted the strength of demand for the new flights.

United director of sales for the UK and Ireland Karolien De Hertogh said: “We are pleased to see strong interest in our new upcoming service from Glasgow to New York/Newark, and this significant expansion further underlines the importance of Scotland within United’s global route network.”

The US airline meanwhile declared: “United will be the only US airline offering a non-stop service between Glasgow and the United States. The route marks United’s return to Glasgow, which the airline served previously up until October 2019, and will be the first scheduled service by a US airline between Glasgow and the United States since 2019.”

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Mr Jandu said of Glasgow Airport late last month as he talked about winning United back: “We have demand because we have the biggest city in Scotland. If you look at the greater Central Belt area, we have a significant catchment, and that gave us the sad opportunity to promote the fact that... we are one of the few unserved long-haul markets out of the east coast of the US.

“So, pulling all these things together, we were able to get United on board.”

He flagged as a priority in terms of transatlantic ambitions “making New York year-round and on a wider…aircraft”.

Meanwhile, Mr Jandu had when I interviewed him some very interesting news on Emirates’ flights between Glasgow Airport and Dubai.

He revealed high hopes of Emirates returning to a double-daily service to Dubai soon. He declared this is in the airline’s “roadmap”.

When I spoke with Mr Jandu last April, he had revealed Glasgow Airport was in talks about Emirates introducing a second daily flight.

However, what was notable this time round was the degree of extra detail he provided, including on the type of plane he expects to be used for a second daily flight and the potential for cargo transportation.

Mr Jandu highlighted his expectation that a second daily Emirates flight between Glasgow and Dubai would be operated on a Boeing 777, with the existing service remaining on the Airbus A380, the world’s largest passenger aircraft.

And he expressed his confidence that Emirates is “coming back to double-daily” between Glasgow Airport and Dubai.

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He added: “Our hope was [it] could happen from this winter, which, essentially, is November onwards, but they, to be clear, have never guaranteed that that's going to happen. Unfortunately, they have hundreds of airports around the world where they also have positive business cases to add capacity. So, I just don't know where we are in that pecking order.”

Mr Jandu also flagged “next year” as a possibility for when the second daily flight could be introduced.

Asked about the return of an Emirates double-daily service between Glasgow and Dubai, Mr Jandu replied: “That's in their roadmap, in the last conversation we had with them, because, again, I mean, it should never be underestimated: we have demand. They used to have a double-daily here before. So they have a very different mix of proposition into Edinburgh because it's a lot of leisure traffic inbound, definitely, whereas we have got a proven demand-based opportunity from here.

“Moreover, and this is a very interesting part of their request for the second flight, which would probably be a [Boeing] 777, is additional cargo capability because, it was a surprise to me, a 777, even though it is a smaller plane, has more cargo capacity than an A380."

This was a fairly detailed enunciation of the case for Emirates introducing a second daily flight between Glasgow Airport and Dubai.

And there was plenty more detail from Mr Jandu on Emirates and the prospects of a second daily flight on this route.

He said: “And a key driver for them, and the people that we have spoken to, which is part of that double-daily conversation about why they want Glasgow…for example, is to have the ability to get much more fresh fish, in particular, on to the aircraft. It's still done today - they source it from wherever the fishery is, but it's transported down to Manchester because they don't have enough capacity. So we're looking at extending refrigeration capabilities at the handling facility in Glasgow, working with how quickly we can get more, it's not just fish - seafood, on to the aircraft. And, of course, complement that with whisky as well because they're the two biggest export products that they take via Dubai.

“They have a vision of having the ability to take a fresh lobster from Scotland that's still alive to a destination on the same day, through some clever, clever process of doing it, because that is an up-and coming demand-based opportunity for them. And I was surprised how much emphasis they put on that as opposed to – ‘plus we've got all the other passengers that want to go’ - which they do have because, you know, they're not incompatible. They need the passenger plane to perform. But the cargo story is, well, that secondary has become a much bigger story than we anticipated.”

It will be fascinating to see what happens with Emirates, given the airline’s importance to Glasgow Airport and the popularity of its service to Dubai and of course onward destinations, which are too many to list but include the likes of Japan, Taiwan and Vietnam, as well as Australia.

And it will also be interesting to look out for further extensions to the United flights between Glasgow Airport and New York/Newark.

What appears clear for now is that things are looking up for Glasgow Airport. And United’s bullish comments about Glasgow and what look to be very detailed discussions between the airport team and Emirates are highly encouraging.