United Airlines has said the addition of a third non-stop trans-Pacific flight illustrates its high expectations for the Australia-US market and demonstrates the benefits the Dreamliner aircraft will bring to its network.

United announced last week that it will launch direct Melbourne-LA services later this year in what will be the first route operated by the 787-9, the larger version of the 787-8 already in service.

The six times weekly service begins on October 26 with the frequency rising to daily in 2015 as the carrier takes delivery of more Dreamliners.

The new direct route will see United’s capacity between Australia and the US rise by almost 6%.

United's managing director for Japan and Pacific sales, Matt Miller, told Travel Today the non-stop service, coupled with the imminent deployment of 777 aircraft from Sydney to LA and San Francisco, demonstrated the commitment and value the carrier places on Australia.

“Investing in this market with product improvements, the newest aircraft in our fleet and going to three flights speaks very well about our commitment and our expectations of how the Australian market will continue to grow and become a great part of our portfolio,” he said.

He acknowledged the seasonal nature and the “up and downs” of the route but said yields have improved over the last couple of years. Being able to deploy the right aircraft that is able to “weather difficult seasons and years” will bring further stability and confidence to the operation, he said.

United will operate the 787s on thinner routes that would be uneconomical to serve non-stop using larger 747 or 777 aircraft. Melbourne to LA falls into that category along with Denver to Narita and Houston to Lagos, Miller said.

Along with the economic benefits of the aircraft – it is 20% more fuel efficient than the 747 – the smaller capacity allows the carrier to continue operating on highly competitive routes while “taking a few seats out of the market”.

United's 787-9 has 252 seats against 269 on the 777 and 374 on the 747.

“We have launched into new markets but more importantly we've added 787s to routes we are already flying in order to gain that economic benefit and to show capacity discipline," Miller said. "It allows us to pull a few seats out of a market but still maintain services, such as LA to Narita which is heavily served and highly competitive."

"The 787-9 has got the right range, capacity and has the best economies of any wide bodied aircraft we are flying today. We need a plane like it to serve a market like Melbourne to LA. It gives us the ability to add a third trans-Pacific flight but not flood the market with seats. We are all about capacity discipline.”

LA was chosen ahead of San Francisco for the direct flights as the majority of passengers from Melbourne travelling via Sydney to the US are heading to LA.

Miller said United also has 37 onwards destinations from LA and operates from its own terminals at Tom Bradley International airport.

Meanwhile, Miller admitted that United was “well aware” that its economy class product had been “at a competitive disadvantage” across the Pacific, a problem he said will be solved next month by the introduction of the 777 between Sydney and LA and San Francisco.

Despite the volatile nature of the Australia-US route, Miller denied that United had ever contemplated withdrawing from the market.

"Over 28 years we have stuck with it, when times were good and bad," he said. "We don't go into markets haphazardly and we don't pull out of markets haphazardly. You can't throw up your arms and say 'wow, this is a really bad year'.

"When SARS hit Hong Kong, we stuck by these markets and weathered a lot of the storm when others didn't. Schedule consistency and commitment, particularly from a corporate client perspective, is key to our success in Australia.

"When economic times turn bad or we have a bad season or someone throws a new flight on the market you can't just walk away from corporate contracts that you've had in the market for many years."

He also downplayed any impact of the weakening Australian dollar, saying the even split of US and Australian passenger offset any currency fluctuations.