United loves to tease new airline routes, and whenever it does I always get my hopes up for flights that almost never come to be. As a Los Angeles resident, below is a list of the flights that I would love to see from LAX (along with my guess of the airline that would most likely fly the route and the chance of the route being introduced in the next five years).
Los Angeles to Medellín, Colombia
The lack of direct flights from Los Angeles to South America is surprising, with Los Angeles currently only offering 3 direct flights to the continent:
- Los Angeles to Santiago, Chile on LATAM
- Los Angeles to Lima, Peru on LATAM
- Los Angeles to São Paulo, Brazil on LATAM
There used to be a direct flight between Los Angeles to Bogotá, Colombia on Avianca, but the airline dropped this route in early 2024.
I adore Medellín — the city has, in my opinion, the perfect weather, it’s gorgeous, it’s relatively inexpensive, and, as a West Coaster, the time zones are perfect for working remotely. Although I already visit the city a few times each year (flying through Panama on Copa), having a direct flight would make visiting so much easier and it would also make it easier to convince friends to join me.
Airline most likely to fly this route: JetBlue.
Chance of this route being introduced in the next five years: 35%.
Los Angeles to Bangkok, Thailand
I would absolutely love a direct flight between Los Angeles and Thailand.
While I like Bangkok, I love Thailand and having a direct flight to Bangkok would it make it so much easier to take week-long trips to southeast Asia, especially to destinations that you can connect easily to from Bangkok, including Laos, Bhutan, and Krabi.
I was supposed to visit Krabi for Thanksgiving this year, but couldn’t justify spending five nights there when my flight home involved flying from Krabi to Bangkok to Taipei to Los Angeles — if I only had to fly Krabi to Bangkok to Los Angeles, though, I’m pretty sure I would gone through with the trip.
Airline most likely to fly this route: United.
Chance of this route being introduced in the next five years: 20%.
Los Angeles to Buenos Aires, Argentina
It’s shocking to me that there is no direct flight between Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States and Buenos Aires, the second largest city in South America. A direct flight to Buenos Aires would be a huge win for both cities and it would it make so much easier to visit Buenos Aires from the West Coast, along with making it easier to visit other exciting destinations in Argentina like Bariloche and Mendoza.
Airline most likely to fly this route: American.
Chance of this route being introduced in the next five years: 40%.
Los Angeles to Guam
As a former Guam resident, I would love a direct flight between Los Angeles and Guam. Guam has some of the most amazing beaches I’ve ever seen, with crystal clear blue water that is so warm that you don’t even need a wetsuit to scuba dive.
That said, I think if there was ever going to be a direct flight between Guam and the mainland United States, it would — and probably should — be to San Francisco, as there are stronger connections between the Bay Area and Guam.
Airline most likely to fly this route: United.
Chance of this route being introduced in the next five years: <5%
Los Angeles to Cape Town, South Africa
Would airlines even be able to fly between Los Angeles and Cape Town? It seems so. According to Wikipedia, the Airbus A350 XWB Ultra Long Range is capable of flying 9,700 nautical miles and Los Angeles to Cape Town is a mere 8,684 nautical miles.
As much as I would theoretically love a direct flight to Cape Town — one of my favorite cities in the world thanks to its stunning natural beauty, hiking, and people — I’m not a fan of ultra-long-haul flights, and according to airmilescalculator.com, the flight would take just under 19.5 hours.
That said, I would love to at least have the option of flying directly from Los Angeles to Cape Town, particularly as there are currently no direct flights between the West Coast and Africa.
Airline most likely to fly this route: United.
Chance of this route being introduced in the next five years: <1%
What route would you love to see from your home airport?
6 comments
LAX to
1) LaGuardia on Saturdays. It’s allowed.
2) Taipei Songshan. The reverse (TSA-LAX) may not be possible due to the short runway but a technical stop in one of many airports, such as Nagoya, is conceivable.
3) Palau, though the reverse (ROR-LAX) may be difficult.
4) Westchester County, NY
Palau would be amazing, but I think even Guam is a longshot!
The wanting a flight to Capetown while simultaneously not wanting to fly that flight seems a touch contradictory. Pick one I’d say.
LAX has an immense number of flights to lots of places so while I commiserate about some places not having nonstop service you’re really better off than the vast majority of other cities.
Fair point, Christian! I originally had a list of close calls and was going to put Cape Town on it, but as Cape Town was the only flight on the list, I decided to put it on the list of flights that I wish LAX had. And just to clarify, I didn’t say I wouldn’t fly LAX to Cape Town — just that I’m not a fan of ultra-long-haul flights (I still do fly them on occasion and bet I could be convinced to fly LAX to Cape Town!).
Here in STL would love nonstop to JFK(!) and LHR.
That would be great! If I had to guess, I’d say British Airways would fly LHR to STL and Delta would fly JFK to STL.