United Airlines will begin nonstop service from Newark Liberty International Airport to Rosalía de Castro Airport in Santiago de Compostela on May 27, 2026, opening the Spanish city’s first direct aerial link with the United States.
The route will run three times weekly on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays, with the eastbound United flight 222 scheduled to leave Newark at 7:15 PM and arrive at 8:15 AM the next day. The return, UA221, is set for Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays, leaving Santiago de Compostela at 10:00 AM and arriving in Newark at 11:50 AM. United is planning 51 departures for the summer seasonal service, which will run through September 20, 2026. The westbound trip is expected to take about eight hours, and United will fly the route with the Boeing 737 MAX 8.
The new service extends United’s transatlantic push from Newark, where the carrier said last October that Santiago de Compostela would join Bari, Split and Glasgow in its summer 2026 network. Patrick Quayle said United now flies to 46 cities across the Atlantic, casting the schedule as part of the airline’s effort to connect U.S. travelers with destinations it sees as distinctive rather than obvious.
For Santiago de Compostela, the route gives the airport something it has never had before: a nonstop link to the U.S. United describes the city and its surroundings as a draw for their rich history, cathedral, medieval architecture and as the endpoint of the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage. It also makes the service United’s longest flight on the 737 MAX 8, a narrow-body aircraft more commonly associated with medium-haul routes.
That contrast is sharper when placed beside the airport’s current traffic mix. Cirium data shows Santiago de Compostela is mainly a short-haul hub, with Vueling scheduling flights in May to Barcelona, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote, London, Malaga, Mallorca, Marrakech, Paris, Seville and Tenerife, while Ryanair also has a strong presence there. United’s decision to place a transatlantic route in that market suggests the airline sees enough demand to test a city better known for regional European flying than for long-haul departures. Whether the new link becomes a summer novelty or the start of something more durable will depend on how the route performs before its scheduled end in September.
