Celebration time for United

United Airlines last week celebrated the 25th anniversary of service to Heathrow. The carrier's first flight into the airport was a Boeing 747 Jumbo jet service from Washington DC on 4 April 1991. It was followed by flights from New York JFK, San Francisco and Miami the same day.

United has carried more than 42m passengers on more than 233,000 flights to and from Heathrow during its quarter-century of service. Today, it operates up to 17 flights per day from the London hub to Chicago, Houston, New York Newark, San Francisco and Washington.

This week will also see United celebrate its 90th birthday, having launched its first flight between Pasco, Washington, and Boise, Idaho on 6 April.

The airline has introduced a number of US airline industry 'firsts' during its career, including commercial aviation's first flight kitchen in 1936. The first meal served was a choice of fried chicken or scrambled eggs. Today, United says it serves more than 50m meals a year.

United was also the first US carrier to order jetliners and was the launch customer for the Boeing 777 widebody as well as the first US carrier to fly the new Boeing 787 Dreamliner.

The airline also claims to have been the first to fly to all 50 US states, although no airline currently serves them all.  www.united.com

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