OREANDA-NEWS. United Airlines, the U.S. airline with the most global route network, today announced the company will introduce service to Santiago, Chile, from its hub at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, beginning Dec. 7, 2014, subject to government approval.

Flight 847 will depart Houston daily at 9:05 p.m. and arrive in Santiago at 9:40 a.m. the next day. Return flight 846 will depart Santiago daily at 10:45 p.m. and arrive in Houston at 5:40 a.m. the following day. (All times are local.)

The flights are timed to provide convenient connections from Houston to 111 airports across the United States and to more than 60 international destinations.

"With our first-ever service between Houston and Santiago, Chile, we are expanding our already substantial presence in Latin America," said Alex Savic, United's managing director of Latin American sales. "These flights will provide our customers fast, easy connections between our Houston hub and destinations throughout the U.S. and around the world."

United will operate its Houston-Santiago service with Boeing 767-300 aircraft with a total of 214 seats – 30 flat-bed seats in United BusinessFirst and 184 seats in United Economy, including 49 extra-legroom United Economy Plus seats. 

United also is boosting its Central America and Caribbean connections, beginning Dec. 20, 2014:
* Houston-Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, with year-round service on Saturdays and service on Sundays during periods of expected higher demand
* Chicago-Belize City, Belize, subject to government approval, with Saturday service scheduled through early May 2015

This winter, United also plans to expand its Houston-Aruba service. The airline currently offers Saturday Houston-Aruba flights that are scheduled to continue through mid-August 2014. On Dec. 20, the company will resume Saturday service that will continue through early May 2015 and begin service on Sundays for periods of expected higher demand.