United Airlines unveiled plans for a $2.6 billion upgrade of its Houston George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) hub, from which it plans to open a new route to Guyana in South America in 2024.

Flights between IAH and Cheddi Jagan International Airport (GEO) serving Georgetown, Guyana, will be flown 4X-weekly from April 1, 2024. United will operate the IAH-GEO route with a Boeing 737-8 aircraft.

United says its capacity at IAH will be up 10% for the 2023/24 Northern Hemisphere winter season compared to the prior year.

The airline detailed plans for a Terminal B modernization project at IAH, subject to final approval by the Houston City Council, that United says will increase its capacity at the airport by 40% on peak travel days by 2026 compared to 2023.

Expansion will include a three-level, 765,000-ft.² Terminal B North Concourse with 22 new narrowbody gates, according to United. The airline says it will convert 30 existing small regional jet gates on Terminal B’s South Concourse to 18 gates able to accommodate larger, two-class regional jets. All flights will be boarded via jet bridge once the expansion is complete, the airline notes.

The Terminal B upgrade will also include more than 115,000 ft.² of food and retail space.

"The expansion of Terminal B is physical proof of United's ongoing commitment to the economic vitality of the city of Houston,” Mayor Sylvester Turner said in a statement. 

United already bases 14,000 employees at IAH. from which it operates about 400 daily departures. It hired 2,100 new IAH-based employees in 2023 and plans to hire another 1,500 in 2024. In addition, the expansion is expected to create around 4,000 construction jobs, United says.

As part of the Terminal B expansion, the airline will also build the largest lounge in its system.

The leading airline at IAH, United operates to more than 160 destinations from the airport, including 85 exclusive routes.