The race to Sicily begins as United’s latest inaugural flight lands in Italy

Editor’s note: The Points Guy was invited on United’s Palermo inaugural as a guest of the airline, but all opinions expressed are entirely those of TPG staff and were not subject to review by the airline or any other external entity.

Ciao, Sicily. United Airlines just touched down on one of the most popular Italian islands.

Flight 735 departed from United’s Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) hub and landed at Palermo Falcone Borsellino Airport (PMO) as the airline’s first-ever nonstop flight to Sicily. The 4,463-mile route, operated by a Boeing 767-400ER, is part of United’s major summertime expansion, which includes eight new cities and 13 new routes.

While Palermo may not be as off-the-beaten-path as Mongolia or Greenland, the flight still turned some heads and drew lots of applause throughout the 8-hour, 10-minute journey.

Here’s what happened and what it means for travelers.

United’s inaugural flight to Sicily

United, their Newark hub and I are no strangers to an inaugural flight. As such, I wasn’t shocked when I got to Gate C121 at EWR to find a podium set up for the inaugural festivities and brown boxes of the airline’s custom inaugural pajamas waiting to be loaded onboard. Even “L’italiano” by Toto Cutugno was playing in the background.

This time around, United seems to have gotten savvier about its celebrations. The podium had a blank display board for different inaugural-specific placards to be placed on it, while the banners surrounding the podium weren’t route-specific anymore. (That saves printing costs each time United sends off one of these special flights.)

Even the inaugural buffet, which typically features more extensive hot foods celebrating the destination, only had packaged snacks and small bottled waters. Perhaps the slightly more muted celebration was due to the fact that while Palermo is certainly exciting, it doesn’t have the same appeal to aviation and travel enthusiasts as Mongolia or Greenland.

Despite this, nothing could rain on United’s party, not even the brief downpour outside.

The fanfare was palpable from the moment I arrived. “Holy cow, I had no idea,” exclaimed one surprised passenger (who ended up sitting across from me), when they found out they had booked on the first United flight to Palermo.

“This is big, and Newark keeps on growing,” said Jon Gooda, United’s vice president of the EWR hub, as he welcomed passengers waiting to board Flight 735 for Sicily. Even the captain, Rosario Raffa, was hand-picked for this flight. Turns out, he grew up in Sicily and even addressed passengers throughout the flight in both English and Italian.

Once onboard the Boeing 767-400ER, registered N76062, I turned left into the Polaris business-class cabin, outfitted with 34 pods in a 1-1-1 configuration. I had selected one of the odd-numbered window seats on the starboard side of the plane, which offer a bit more privacy and personal space than those in the center or in even numbers on the window.

While I typically like being on the starboard side of the plane, I should’ve made an exception for this flight because those seated on the port side of the plane were treated to beautiful views of the Sicilian coast on final approach.

Meanwhile, United’s full selection of signature inaugural momentos was waiting at my seat. This included a postcard, a small poster and a welcome note from Patrick Quayle, United’s senior vice president of network planning and alliances, who was noticeably absent on this flight.

As the mastermind behind these new routes, Quayle usually takes pride in flying on the inaugural service (and even serving the ice cream sundaes in Polaris). He couldn’t make it this time due to the prior obligations.

As an aviation enthusiast, my favorite goodie was one I hadn’t seen before: an inaugural-branded “remove before flight” style keychain that now proudly hangs on of my Away backpack.

During boarding, flight attendants passed out mattress pads and custom-made pajamas for the occasion; I’m definitely saving these ones.

We pushed back a few minutes early and made a beeline for the departure runway. We were only third for takeoff — a rare feat these days with the runway construction at Newark — and were airborne at 4:35 p.m.

Once the fasten seat belt sign was turned off, the flight attendants came through with the (early-bird) dinner service, a function of the mid-afternoon departure from Newark.

While United has long had a bad rap for mediocre (at best) inflight catering, the carrier has been making investments in the experience. This was my first flight experiencing the recently launched new dinnerware collection, which feels far more modern and luxurious than the previous iteration. Plus, it includes a new red pepper flakes shaker, which is a nice touch to spice your food up at altitude.

The mixed nut welcome snack has also recently been refreshed, and it now includes pretzels. Too bad they were served warm, which dried them out.

I selected the salmon for my entree, and found that to be the highlight of the main meal service, despite the somewhat unappetizing presentation with the yellow sauce. The salad and the burrata were just OK and a bit uninspiring. The nice thing is that I washed everything down with my favorite rose, Whispering Angel, which United serves on all Polaris flights.

Dessert service included the signature Tillamook ice cream sundae with all the fixings, a classic staple that always hits the spot.

From there, it was time to catch some shut-eye, which I always find easy in the Polaris pod thanks to all the Saks Fifth Avenue bedding. (It’ll be interesting to see how Delta’s new Missoni bedding compares.)

I woke up about an hour before landing, and it was clear that travelers (and the crew) were excited to arrive in Palermo. I could hear my neighbors chitchatting about their plans on the ground, while others said this would be their first time in Italy.

We touched down at 6:34 a.m. local time on runway 25 and had a short taxi to gate A23. While most passengers bid the crew farewell at the boarding door, I stayed around for a few more minutes to capture the airline’s photo shoot with the crew near the tail of the aircraft.

It’s always fun to see the excitement from the crew after they finish these pictures and get to head into town. As for me, I headed into the terminal for the westbound return flight back to the U.S. (Prior commitments prevented me from spending time in Sicily on this trip.)

Sicily is getting more popular than ever

While United wins the award for being the first U.S. airline to fly to Sicily, it won’t be the last.

Just an hour after the United flight landed, Delta Air Lines touched down in Sicily with a new flight from New York to Catania.

So, how did we get here?

Well, in recent years — and especially post-pandemic — Americans have been flocking to Europe over the summer. And instead of visiting the biggest cities in Europe, like London or Paris, they’re increasingly looking to get to smaller cities that aren’t as crowded or overdone.

In the past, getting to places like Sicily has required a connection in a major European gateway, such as Frankfurt or Amsterdam. While some travelers certainly didn’t mind the connection, U.S. airlines have increasingly been looking to pull out all the stops in a bid to capture more nonstop traffic and spur some more demand. That’s on top of everything that hit TV series “White Lotus” has done to make more travelers marvel at Sicily’s natural beauty, prime beaches and delectable cafes.

Of all the U.S. airlines, United has capitalized on this trend the most with new nonstop routes from the U.S. Northeast to secondary and tertiary European cities like Palma de Mallorca and Malaga in Spain.

Adding all of these new nonstop flights is a point of pride for United and its network planning team, which frequently reminds reporters and the general public about its position as the most international U.S. airline.

But the airline’s service to Sicily might resemble a bit more of a turf war than anything else.

For one, United had originally planned to launch this route to Sicily in 2020, before the pandemic quashed those plans.

Ever since then, the airline has been eager to finally launch flights when demand returned to sufficient levels. “Even the [Palermo] airport was super excited about our route,” David Kinzelman, United’s chief customer officer, told TPG in an interview before the inaugural flight.

2025 finally turned out to be the year with enough demand, or so the network planners believe.

But United won’t be exclusive in its service to Sicily. Delta’s flight to the island, which was announced nearly a month before United’s, connects New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) with Catania on Sicily’s east coast.

For many travelers, Delta’s service might be preferred. After all, Catania is far closer to Taormina, one of Sicily’s most popular towns and the setting for “White Lotus” season two.

Furthermore, Delta will offer daily flights from New York to Sicily through Oct. 24. Meanwhile, United is only going into the market with three weekly flights through Sept. 24.

While it’s possible that United only decided to finally launch flights to Sicily after it saw that Delta planned to do the same, United certainly had the idea first with its 2019 announcement that didn’t originally pan out due to the pandemic.

Either way, there could be enough demand to support two nonstop flights from the New York area to Sicily. United says that 40% of the demand to the Italian island is from the New York metro area alone, and it says that its Newark hub offers convenient one-stop connections to many other domestic cities. (Delta could say the same with its massive hub operation at nearby JFK.)

While the jury is still out on whether these new routes will return for another season, the big winner is you, the traveler. With more nonstop flights, you’ll no longer need to connect in Europe and worry that your checked bag will make it.

Instead, you’re now just that much closer to fresh seafood pasta with a side of Tyrrhenian Sea views.

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