Heads up for those heading Down Under: Flights to Sydney, Australia are resuming at George Bush Intercontinental Airport for the first time since 2019.
United Airlines, which boasts a major hub in Houston, will resume service to Sydney this month, the airline announced. These new nonstop flights between Houston and Sydney will begin on Friday, October 28 and will operate three times a week — Sunday, Wednesday, and Friday — through December 15. After that date, flights will move to daily service.
A United spokesperson tells CultureMap that the addition is to “maintain our larger commitment to serving Australia through the pandemic and are continuing to expand even more as the country opens up and restrictions have lifted.”
For scheduling purposes: United’s Houston-Sydney flight times run 17 hours and 45 minutes to Sydney, and 15 hours and 40 minutes to Houston. Notably, United is the only IAH airline to offer these Sydney-specific flights.
Frequent travelers will note that the Houston-Sydney flights will be aboard the popular Boeing 787-900 Dreamliner. The jet offers 48 lie-flat, United Polaris business class seats, 21 United Premium Plus seats, and a hefty 188 economy seats, per press materials.
That long flight is a lot easier on United's Polaris lie-down seats.Photo courtesy United Airlines
Travelers making the trek in the airline’s vaunted Premium cabins (including Polaris and United Premium Plus), can enjoy the amenity kits from AWAY. As CultureMap previously reported, the kits include essentials such as earbuds, an eye mask, a dental kit, and cool skin-care products from Houston-based brand partner Sunday Riley.
To tailor the experience to Australia, onboard meals include chicken parmesan and grilled cheese toasties — no word yet on when the airline will serve up vegemite sandwiches.
Currently, United operates flights to Australia via West Coast cities Los Angeles and San Francisco; United first began serving U.S. to Australia travelers in 1986.
