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United is broadening its strategy of shifting short-haul regional routes from Newark to Washington Dulles.

Flights from Lexington, Ky.; Manchester, N.H.; and Elmira, N.Y., will fly to Dulles rather than Newark. The shifts will take place from February through April.

The moves follow the carrier’s decision in May to route flights to Scranton, Pa.; Chattanooga, Tenn.; and Ithaca, N.Y., from Dulles rather Newark beginning this month.

Because Newark has more air traffic control delays than Washington Dulles, the shift will enhance reliability, said United spokesman Jonathan Guerin. Flying to Dulles, he said, still enables passengers to connect into United’s international network and its domestic network in the Southeast.

When the carrier announced the strategy in May, United vice president of domestic network Ankit Gupta said, “As we set out to build this schedule for our customers, we considered Washington Dulles’ more optimal schedule offering for connecting flights and conducted an in-depth analysis of some of the short-haul flights scheduled from our Newark hub. We determined that by shifting certain regional flights from Newark to Dulles, our customers will have more schedule flexibility and better options for connections on regional routes.”

Source: travelweekly.com