Those familiar with United Airlines history may know the airline has a base on Guam, a United States territory. Continental Micronesia had a base on the island, which became a United base after the merger with Continental Airlines. Though a smaller base, Guam is very important for United’s operations in the Pacific Ocean, allowing the carrier to reach countries like Japan and the Philippines.

United's operations from Guam

According to Cirium, United has 680 flights scheduled to and from Antonio B. Won Pat International Airport Guam (GUM) this month on eleven routes. Ten of the eleven routes are operated by a fleet of Boeing 737-800s, but the airport also receives the Boeing 777-300ERs daily. The 777-300ERs, the largest widebodies in United’s fleet, are used on flights from Daniel K. Inouye International Airport in Honolulu to Guam.

Photo: Markus Mainka | Shutterstock

The busiest route from Guam is to Narita International Airport in Tokyo, with 111 flights from Guam and 110 returning. Just on this route, United offers more than 18,000 seats in each direction. Because of the frequency of flights, this is by far the route with the largest seat offering.

Guam - Narita is almost three times busier than the second-busiest route from Guam, Saipan. Saipan is a smaller island in the middle of the Pacific that was crucial for the Allied powers in WWII. The US takeover of the island meant that Japan was within striking distance of the B-29 bombers. This month, United has 40 flights scheduled in each direction on the route to Tokyo.

Four routes have daily service from Guam, Honolulu, Osaka, Manila, and Nagoya. As mentioned above, the 777-300ER is flying the HNL route, giving it more than double the seat offering of the Osaka, Manila, and Nagoya flights.

To Palau, United has 22 roundtrips, or 44 flights scheduled in August. The seat offering on this route is just over 7,200. The remaining routes are to Chuuk, Yap, and Pohnpei, with 17, nine, and four flights, respectively.

Photo: Lukas Souza | Simple Flying

The eleven routes range from 129 to 3,801 miles, with Honolulu being the longest route served by the Chicago-based carrier. Below is a list of the routes from longest to shortest,

Other airlines operating in Guam

Though United is the primary airline in Guam, it is not the only one. According to schedule data from Cirium, Guam has 1,298 flights this month, which means United operates more than half of the flights. Jeju Air has 210, Korean Air and Jin Air have 124, Philippine Airlines and Tway Air have 62, and Japan Airlines has 36. In total, passengers in Guam can fly to 13 destinations, some served by multiple carriers.