United Airlines to Offer More Options for Seattle-Area Customers with Daily Service Between Paine Field and its Denver and San Francisco Hubs

Nearly 80 years after operating the first commercial flight from Paine Field, United Airlines (UAL) announced it is returning to the airport and will offer customers six daily flights to its hubs in Denver and San Francisco beginning in the fall of 2018.

“Bringing new service to Paine Field offers customers more ways to conveniently connect to the country’s largest business and leisure destinations,” said Dave Hilfman, United’s senior vice president of Worldwide Sales. “We know our customers value time and convenience when traveling, and North Seattle and Northwest Washington area travelers will now have easy access to our hubs in Denver and San Francisco and to opportunities to connect to business centers around the world with just one stop.”

Originally constructed by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in 1936 to create jobs and economic growth in the region, the Snohomish County Airport quickly grew and served as an alternate-day landing field and in 1939 United Airlines operated the first commercial flight from the airport. Paine Field has since become the center of Boeing’s production facilities producing many United aircraft including the 747, 767, 777, and the 787 airplanes and employing tens of thousands of employees.

“We look forward to welcoming United Airlines to Snohomish County and Paine Field Airport,” said Snohomish County Executive Dave Somers. “We are excited by the opportunities that daily connections to United’s hubs with international service will bring to our community.”

Located just 23 miles north of Seattle, Paine Field is the newest option for the fast growing number of business and leisure travelers from the Northern Seattle, Snohomish and Northern King County areas.

United currently operates 36 flights between Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and its U.S. hubs. North Seattle and Northwest Washington are among the fastest growing areas in the nation and Paine Field will provide an essential and convenient choice for air travel moving forward.

“United and Paine will give Northwest Washington travelers much needed options,” said Brett Smith, CEO of Propeller Airports.  “Offering service at Paine Field continues United’s decades-long economic partnership with Snohomish County, deepening their commitment to creating jobs locally and generating revenue for our communities.”

United in Denver

With more than 58 million passengers traveling through the airport each year, Denver International Airport is the 18th-busiest airport in the world and the sixth-busiest airport in the United States. The airport is the primary economic engine for the state of Colorado, generating more than $26 billion for the region annually.

United in San Francisco

United flies nonstop to more destinations in Asia than any other U.S. carrier from San Francisco International Airport, United’s gateway to the Asia Pacific. The airline provides U.S. travelers with convenient access to some of the most dynamic cities throughout Asia and gives travelers access via San Francisco for onward convenient connections to destinations throughout the United States, Canada and Latin America.

About United

United Airlines and United Express operate approximately 4,500 flights a day to 338 airports across five continents. In 2016, United and United Express operated more than 1.6 million flights carrying more than 143 million customers. United is proud to have the world’s most comprehensive route network, including U.S. mainland hubs in Chicago, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, Newark/New York, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. United operates 748 mainline aircraft and the airline’s United Express carriers operate 475 regional aircraft. The airline is a founding member of Star Alliance, which provides service to more than 190 countries via 28 member airlines. For more information, visit united.com, follow @United on Twitter or connect on Facebook. The common stock of United’s parent, United Continental Holdings, Inc., is traded on the NYSE under the symbol “UAL”.