When you look at the number of available seats flown annually, United Airlines is only the fourth-largest airline in the US. But it’s potentially aiming to climb up a spot or two, as it recently announced a slew of new international flights. Starting next summer, the airline plans to introduce new direct flights from Newark/New York to Split, Croatia; Bari, Italy; Glasgow, Scotland; and Santiago de Compostela, Spain. All four are new destinations for the airline and set to launch in May 2026, with tickets already on sale.
However, it’s another new flight the airline announced that has travel trend analysts buzzing: a direct route from Newark/New Jersey to Seoul, South Korea (ICN). When it launches on September 4, 2026, it will be the only US airline offering a direct flight between NYC and Seoul, bypassing the need to connect via a West Coast city. United’s only other direct flight to Seoul is from San Francisco, though it offers a code-share direct flight with Korean Air from LAX. Currently, Delta and Hawaiian offer direct flights to ICN from Seattle.
K-pop fans outside Line Friends Square. Photo: yllyso/Shutterstock
The introduction of a new flight to Seoul may be United’s attempt to capitalize on what is clearly becoming a growing travel destination. Seoul’s reputation as hotspot for youth and Gen-Z travel in Asia has become statistically undeniable, with the city recognized as the “world’s favorite” for Gen-Z and millennial travelers every year since 2022 in a survey of more than 800,000 travelers. Numbers from the Korea Tourism Data Lab show a dramatic climb in visitor arrivals since the early 2000s, with 4.75 million international visitors in 2003, 8.8 million by 2010, and 17.5 million in 2019. While it dipped during the COVID-19 pandemic, its 2024 numbers showed it was as popular as ever (16.36 million in 2024). February 2025 saw a 10 percent increase in arrivals over February 2024.
A pop-up in Seoul in 2025 to promote Netflix’ popular Korean language “Squid Game.” Photo: Simon.K.Shin/Shutterstock
Seoul’s reputation as a leader in modern pop culture could be a major factor in its growing interest as a tourism destination. For young travelers especially, it’s hard to ignore the power of hallyu: the Korean wave of influence in everything from music to movies to fashion and beauty. In 2024, 35.6 percent of all travelers to Korea were under age 30. In 2013, only about 26 percent were in the under-30 age group. Officials have said they attribute that growth to Korea’s cultural draws, made popular by the K-beauty industry (a $14.2 billion dollar industry in 2024) and general K-culture, with Netflix’ KPop Demon Hunters becoming the most-watched movie ever from the streaming service. In a recent Expedia survey, Seoul was the top destination Gen-Z travelers hoped to be sent if they had to take a work trip.
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In mid-2025, more than 32 percent of younger travelers reported that Korean pop culture was their main motivation to visit. The city has leaned into that trend by introducing plenty of high-tech and modern draws, from easy-to-use, multi-language transportation apps to interactive public signage. In the last five years, a host of specialty cafes and themed shops that seem purpose-built for Instagram photos have spunng up around the city, from Dae-Oh bookstore (a hotspot for K-pop fans that’s now a trendy coffee shop) to the pop-up 2D Cafe and Pink Pool Cafe.
The Korea Tourism Organization has said it’s aiming for 30 million annual arrivals by 2027. So perhaps the new announcement is United planning to cash in on some of those arrivals, 222 seats at a time.
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