United adds 2027 flights to Sicily, Okinawa and more. Here’s why

United Airlines said Tuesday it’s planning to add a host of new international destinations next year that span Ljubljana, Slovenia, to Okinawa, Japan, continuing its so-far profitable bet that consumers will keep spending big to try new destinations abroad.

United already offers more international service than other U.S. airlines and is selling destinations well beyond major tourist draws like Tokyo and Rome to capitalize on changing traveler tastes and grow profits, even as costs soar.

“They want to get away from the overcrowded, large European cities,” said Patrick Quayle, United’s senior vice president, who heads the carrier’s global network planning and alliances.

Here are the additions:

• San Francisco to Okinawa, Japan, starting March 27, on a Boeing 777-200ER
• Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey to Ljubljana, Slovenia, starting May 12, on a Boeing 767-400ER
• Newark to Olbia, Sardinia, in Italy, starting May 27, on a Boeing 767-300ER
• Newark to Catania, Sicily, in Italy, starting May 28, on a Boeing 767-300ER
• Newark to Ibiza, Spain, starting May 31, on an Airbus A321XLR
• Newark to Valencia, Spain, starting June 2, on an Airbus A321XLR
• Newark to Marseille, France, starting June 4, on an Airbus A321XLR
• Newark to Terceira in the Azores in Portugal, starting June 9, on a Boeing 737 MAX 8

And two new business-travel routes:

• Newark to Luxembourg, starting April 2, on an Airbus A321XLR
• Washington Dulles International Airport to Toulouse, France, starting April 26, on an Airbus A321XLR

Airbus is based in Toulouse, and its U.S. office is in Herndon, Virginia, so that route — naturally, on an Airbus — targets the aircraft manufacturer and other aerospace business travel. Meanwhile, Amazon‘s European headquarters is in Luxembourg, while its second U.S. headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia.

United said it has added 49 new destinations since 2021 with its push and that it is the only U.S. airline to fly nonstop to 32 of those locations.

“All these new international destinations … have become much longer seasons instead of just flying during the summer,” United CEO Scott Kirby told CNBC’s Phil LeBeau on Tuesday. “These go all the way through October. October has become one of our best months of the year.”

Quayle said United is trying to be a “one-stop shop” for customers at all stages of life “whether you’re backpacking in college, you’re going to and from Paris, whether you’re in your 20s and you’re going to a nightclub in Ibiza … a business trip … or a vacation or honeymoon in Sardinia.”

He said United has noticed customers are taking more so-called open-jaw flights where they fly into one city and out of another — think into Rome and out of Bari on Italy’s Adriatic coast without having to backtrack to a major city — so having multiple destinations in countries like Portugal, Italy, Spain and France could grab consumers’ attention.

Quayle added that the carrier isn’t dropping any of its existing routes to make room for the new ones.

United is the second-most profitable U.S. airline after Delta Air Lines, though Delta has fewer international destinations.

Delta’s president, Peter Carter, told CNBC in June that the airline wants to fight United’s dominance, especially for trans-Pacific flights. The airline this summer announced new service to Tokyo-Narita International Airport, as well as Manila in the Philippines, while launching its previously announced Los Angeles-Hong Kong route in June.

Other adds from United include nonstop service from Los Angeles International Airport to foodie paradise Osaka, Japan, which it already serves from its San Francisco hub. The airline is also adding flights from Denver to Paris and will restart service from San Francisco to Tel Aviv, Israel.

It also said earlier this year that it plans to launch flights from San Francisco to Sapporo, Japan, a high-end ski destination, in December.

— CNBC’s Michele Luhn contributed to this report.