On Thursday, December 11th, 2025, United Airlines made history. A 787-9 Dreamliner departed San Francisco, bound for the Australian city of Adelaide. When it touched down just over 16 hours later, it achieved two firsts, the first-ever direct flight between the United States and Adelaide, and the first-ever service to the South Australian capital by any American carrier. This flight, due to having had a couple friends from Adelaide back when I was in college in the Bay Area and of course, the inimitable @canton and his insightful and duly solicited commentary, was a must-do. At the risk of sounding like Dr. Weird, GENTLEMEN (AND LADIES), BEHOLD!
Server: Solo
Airline: United Airlines
Aircraft: Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner
Origin: San Francisco International Airport, San Francisco, California (SFO)
Destination: Adelaide Airport, Adelaide, Australia (ADL)
Flight Number: UA207
Route: KSFO-YPAD
Seat: 7A (Polaris)
Time En Route: 16 Hours 4 Minutes
Walking to our aircraft at Gate G1 about an hour before boarding, after getting dinner at the nexus of the E and F Piers of Terminal 3. At least in this part of the terminal complex, San Francisco International doesn’t feel like an airport but rather more like a cavernous shopping mall that just happens to have airplanes parked outside.
Starting our taxi out of the Terminal 3 Pier F/International Terminal Pier G alleyway past the nighttime transpacific widebody arrivals and departures. We’re in one of our aircraft’s 48x Polaris lie-flat business class seats, which will be invaluable for getting some rest on what’s now United’s 3rd-longest route. Oddly enough, both the longest and 3rd-longest are now seasonal ultra-long-haul flights to Australia (the longest being IAH-SYD, at almost 7,850 statute miles).
Taking off from Runway 28L by the western maintenance apron. This was a really heavy takeoff, as we used up well over half the runway getting up to speed and took a shallow climb angle out until we reached the 250 knot limit.
So long, San Francisco! We’re heading sharply southwest before shifting to a more westerly course on our way down to Adelaide. Our seat is reclined and we’re ready to relax for a bit.
After a couple of hours in the air, it’s time to get some sleep. We dim our window to the desired degree of opacity, tuck ourselves in under the Saks Fifth Avenue-provided bedding, and drift off into peaceful slumber at our initial cruising altitude of 34,000 feet over the Pacific. Yup, this is gonna be a nice flight.
Waking up for breakfast near Vanuatu. While we were asleep, we climbed up another few flight levels to 380. From what the menu looks like, United Airlines has definitely upped its catering game.
Now at 40,000 feet, we’re over northern New South Wales, about 90 minutes out from our destination. So far, United has been hitting it out of the park with both their hard and soft products on this flight.
In our intial descent over Mildura, Victoria
“UNITED 207 HEAVY, g’day and welcome to Adelaide.”
We’ve officially arrived in Adelaide after just over 16 hours of flying (and 1 minute longer than the real-world first flight)!
One last look at our aircraft at Gate 16R, still dripping slightly after the obligatory water cannon salute from the airport firetrucks. United is really stepping up its long-haul business class product as it continues to expand, with a new destination overseas seemingly announced every few months, and we’re excited to join them again in the future.
