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Best of NGS: The Instrument Companies to Watch

The last three years have been anything but static for next-generation sequencing (NGS) companies. Several competitors have launched new sequencing technologies…

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4 mins ago

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The last three years have been anything but static for next-generation sequencing (NGS) companies. Several competitors have launched new sequencing technologies that have taken direct, and often public, aim at the offerings of the longtime NGS leader Illumina—a company that is only a few months removed from an eventful 2023. Besides sustaining changes in its C-suite leadership and business operations, Illumina started reshaping its board.

In 2024, we will learn if sequencing customers are comfortable enough to switch from Illumina to competing companies. Illumina’s rivals include PacBio (which launched the Onso, a benchtop short-read sequencing platform, at a party featuring Maroon 5 in October 2022); Singular Genomics (which rolled out its G4 Sequencing Platform in late 2021); and Element Biosciences (which announced AVITI Sequencing in March 2022).

“[The newer companies] all have some finite chance of going out of business,” said Alex Dickinson, PhD, a former
Illumina senior vice president who is now executive chair of Ryght.AI. “They all have incredible burn rates, and we live in an environment where funding is very scarce.” (This comment, and others, was contributed to a recent GEN roundup of what 2024 holds for NGS and genomics.)

As for Illumina, it continues to double down on the NovaSeq X sequencing system it unveiled in 2022 and commercially launched last year. Illumina says that it received 390 orders for NovaSeq systems in 2023 and shipped 352 to customers, including 79 during the fourth quarter.

“NovaSeq X has been the most successful high-throughput product launch in our history,” Illumina CEO Jacob Thaysen, PhD, declared to analysts February 8 on the company’s Q4 2023 earnings call.

Regardless of how Illumina and its rivals fare this year, NGS has only scratched the surface of its commercial potential, according to a report issued by Research and Markets on March 7. The market research firm projects that the NGS market will more than triple over the next seven years, from $10.63 billion this year to $34.19 billion in 2030—sustaining a compound annual growth rate of 18.16%.

This A-List article presents two lists of sequencing instrument providers. One list includes eight companies that provide NGS instruments. The other includes three companies that provide Sanger instruments. (Since one company, Thermo Fisher Scientific, appears in both lists, the total number of sequencing instrument providers is 10.) Each company is listed by name, followed by a short description of recent company activity, including financial activity from 2023 (either revenue—if it had been disclosed—or total capital raised). Because only some of the instrument providers disclose how much revenue they generate from NGS, they are listed alphabetically, not ranked. (The most recent ranking of NGS companies appeared in 2019.)

Besides companies that provide sequencing instruments, the sequencing industry includes companies that provide workflow solutions. Three workflow giants—Agilent Technologies, QIAGEN, and Roche—appear in their own section of this A-List article. (Again, these companies appear alphabetically because they do not specify what portion of their revenues comes from enabling sequencing.)

PROVIDERS OF NGS INSTRUMENTATION

Element Biosciences

Element Biosciences last month announced a series of partnerships focused on workflows for its AVITI System. With Volta Labs, Element will partner to optimize sequencing throughput by launching Volta’s Callisto Sample Prep System for AVITI. With Twist Bioscience, Element will develop the Twist for Element, Exome 2.0 plus Comprehensive Exome Spike-in Workflow for AVITI, an exome sequencing solution. And with Integrated DNA Technologies, Element has launched a suite of adapters, universal blockers, and library amplification primer mixes designed exclusively for AVITI. Element disclosed preliminary 2023 revenues of $25 million in January at the 42nd Annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference.

Illumina

Through its new CEO, Jacob Thaysen, PhD, the longtime NGS giant has laid out its priorities for 2024, which include boosting its “topline” or revenues by increasing placements of all its instruments—especially the NovaSeq X sequencing system, unveiled in 2022—as well as enhancing its commercial processes and driving more sequencing activity. Thaysen’s appointment in September 2023 capped a turbulent year that saw predecessor Francis deSouza resign after a partially successful proxy campaign by Carl C. Icahn. Illumina finished 2023 with a $1.161 billion net loss, improved from 2022’s $4.404 billion net loss, while revenue slid 2% year-over-year to $4.5 billion.

MGI Tech

MGI Tech—whose U.S. subsidiary is Complete Genomics—announced March 4 that Eurofins Genomics has ordered the DNBSEQ-T20×2 (T20) ultra-high throughput sequencer, along with the genomics data center ZTRON Appliance and numerous MGI lab automation products and systems. Launched in February 2023, the T20 is powered by MGI’s DNBSEQ technology and designed to significantly reduce sequencing costs to below $100 per genome when running 50,000 whole genome sequences per year. The T20 aims to address high-throughput processing needs for various types of sequencing technologies. These include whole genome, whole genome bisulfite, single-tube long fragment read, and single-cell sequencing technologies. The same is true for spatiotemporal omics technologies, such as MGI Tech’s Stereo-seq. China’s sluggish economy has affected MGI, which finished last year with a net loss of RMB 597.1 million (about $83 million), compared with net income of RMB 2.03 billion ($282 million) in 2022.

Oxford Nanopore Technologies

Oxford Nanopore Technologies on March 7 announced the early access launch of the PromethION 2 Integrated (P2i), its all-in-one desktop sequencing device. P2i is designed to facilitate real-time base calling and post run analysis directly within the device, eliminating dependency on external computing resources. In December, Oxford Nanopore promoted improvements in DNA sequencing accuracy powered by machine learning–guided enzyme engineering and improved models. The company reached a record of Q28 (99.8 %) in median simplex single molecule accuracy. Oxford Nanopore finished 2023 with a net loss of £154.5 million ($197.4 million) on revenue of £169.7 million ($216.8 million). However, excluding COVID-19 sequencing and the company’s largest customer, The Emirati Genome Program, “underlying” revenue jumped 39% to £149.7 million ($191.5 million).

PacBio

PacBio launched two new high-throughput library preparation kits and workflows optimized for its Revio sequencing system in February. HiFi Prep Kit 96 and HiFi Plex Prep Kit 96 allow users to automate long-read sequencing workflow steps and streamline preparing, pooling, and loading of samples, which according to PacBio will reduce costs 40% and cut workflow time 60%. HiFi Plex Prep Kit 96 customers can run 1,536 samples in a single Revio run. Delivery of the kits is planned for early in the second quarter. PacBio’s net loss dipped 2% in 2023, to $306.735 million, on revenue that soared 56% year-over-year to $200.521 million.

Singular Genomics

Singular Genomics has unveiled an upgrade to its G4 Sequencing Platform—the G4X Spatial Sequencer, a high-throughput in situ spatial sequencing platform designed for simultaneous direct RNA sequencing, targeted transcriptomics, proteomics, and fluorescent hematoxylin and eosin stain analysis from formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissues. G4X is expected to be available by the end of 2024. Singular also announced upgrades to G4 that include a higher-throughput F4 Flow Cell estimated to produce 600 million–800 million paired reads per flow cell, potentially doubling the G4 sequencer run output to 3.2 billion reads. F4 is expected to be released in the second half of 2024.

Thermo Fisher Scientific

Thermo Fisher Scientific’s NGS technology carries the Ion Torrent name. Last year, Thermo Fisher launched two new NGS-based research tools for preimplantation genetic testing-aneuploidy (PGT-A). (This type of testing is used for in vitro fertilization and intracytoplasmic sperm injection.) The Ion ReproSeq PGT-A Kit and the Ion AmpliSeq Polyploidy Kit are the first research-use reproductive health assays available on the company’s Ion Torrent Genexus Integrated Sequencer, and they are designed to deliver complete workflows from sample to aneuploidy analysis result. Also last year, Thermo Fisher began partnering with Pfizer to expand access to NGS-based cancer testing for patients in 30-plus countries across Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. Thermo Fisher’s sequencing business is within the Genetic Sciences business of its Life Sciences Solutions segment, which generated 23% ($9.977 billion) of the company’s $42.86 billion in 2023 revenue.

Ultima Genomics

Ultima Genomics last month launched the UG 100 system, which has an ultra-high-throughput sequencing architecture that features an open silicon wafer instead of multiple traditional flow cells. This architecture, Ultima says, will reach and even break through the barrier known as the $100 genome. The UG 100 includes full 24/7 run automation, flexibility for smaller and significantly faster runs, high accuracy for germline applications, and an extreme accuracy mode for somatic applications and rare event detection. According to Ultima, the UG 100’s new ppmSeq technology provides industry-leading raw read accuracy for calling single nucleotide variants for rare event detection applications such as detecting low-level circulating tumor DNA. Privately held Ultima emerged from stealth in 2022 after raising approximately $600 million.

PROVIDERS OF SANGER SEQUENCING INSTRUMENTATION

Hitachi High-Tech

Hitachi High-Tech last month joined Sysmex to announce that the companies agreed to partner on developing genetic testing systems based on capillary electrophoresis (CE) sequencers. Sysmex and Hitachi High-Tech aim to develop more efficient genetic testing systems at a lower cost, and to expand and optimize genetic testing for individual diseases. Hitachi High-Tech will pursue approval for CE sequencers as medical devices while Sysmex will seek development and regulatory approval for testing reagents for use with such devices, plus develop analysis software. Hitachi markets the Compact CE Sequencer DS3000, which applies CE technology developed by Hitachi High-Tech over several decades in a compact system designed to facilitate sequencing analysis and fragment analysis.

Promega

Promega markets the Spectrum Compact CE system, a benchtop
instrument designed for Sanger sequencing analysis. Spectrum Compact supports Sanger sequencing applications for verification of NGS base calls. It is designed to confirm successful genome edits in transformed cultures and to screen secondary clones for successful CRISPR-Cas9 edits. Spectrum Compact CE is designed for use with existing sequencing chemistries using fluorescently labeled dideoxynucleotide triphosphates and 4-, 5-, and 6-dye short tandem repeat kits from Promega, and other commercially available kits. Spectrum Compact CE can also be used for DNA fragment analysis for forensic labs.

Thermo Fisher Scientific

In addition to its NGS tools and technology, Thermo Fisher Scientific markets genetic analyzers and workflow tools for Sanger sequencing under the Applied Biosystems brand. Applied Biosystems’ SeqStudio Series systems are designed to analyze nucleic acids using CE with Sanger sequencing or fragment analysis and to enable applications that range from simple, targeted sequencing to identification of SARS variants of concern. The most recent instrument in the series, Applied Biosystems’ SeqStudio Flex Series Genetic Analyzer, was introduced in 2022. Thermo Fisher’s sequencing business is within the Genetic Sciences business of its Life Sciences Solutions segment, which generated 23% ($9.977 billion) of the company’s $42.86 billion in 2023 revenue.

PROVIDERS OF WORKFLOW SOLUTIONS

Agilent Technologies

Speaking with analysts last November, CEO Mike McMullen quantified Agilent’s genomics business at $500 million—part of the Diagnostics and Genomics Group, which generated $1.409 billion last year, up 1% from 2022. Roughly half of the genomics business relates to sample preparation chemistries, such as Agilent’s SureSelect. The other half enables quality assurance and quality control of NGS samples to validate quality prior to sequencing.

QIAGEN

QIAGEN credits growth in its portfolios of universal NGS solutions for use with third-party NGS systems with a 6% boost in sales (to $239 million) of the company’s Genomics/NGS business in 2023.

Roche

Sequencing investment was among “significant areas of spending,” Roche stated in its Finance Report 2023, without furnishing figures. Roche Sequencing Solutions is within Roche’s Diagnostics Division, which last year generated CHF 14.1 billion ($16.1 billion) in revenue, down 20.5% from 2022 due to lower sales of COVID-19-related tests.

 

The post Best of NGS: The Instrument Companies to Watch appeared first on GEN - Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News.

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FTE CEO update – Ryanair, VIE, Alaska, PANYNJ, SAS & MAG collaboration; plus Communities reach 850 members

The following article was published by Future Travel Experience
Founder & CEO Daniel Coleman provides an update on some of the key Future Travel Experience…

Published

4 mins ago

on

April 9, 2024

By

The following article was published by Future Travel Experience

Founder & CEO Daniel Coleman provides an update on some of the key Future Travel Experience projects for the next few months, including our landmark in-person events and rapidly-growing FTE Communities.

Dear friends and colleagues,

I write this note 10,000m up on a packed flight back from Istanbul. It is an incredibly buoyant and exciting time for our sector as demand to travel is still booming, and it feels the industry is really now taking on the big topics like digital transformation, empowering workforce & passengers, and sustainability, which too often in previous years were just being paid lip service to in my view. Our expanded Advisory Board and I believe that this decade will be a defining era for our sector and I am proud that FTE is right at the heart of accelerating progress, driving more collaboration and sharing across the industry. I want to take this opportunity to provide an update on some of our key projects for the next few months.

FTE Aviation & Robotics Summit – bringing roboticists and aviation experts together next month to co-create new solutions; Alaska Airlines keynote announced and 30 airline/airport groups registered from around the world

The Aviation & Robotics Summit is being delivered in partnership with our highly progressive partners at Pittsburgh International Airport on 14-16 May. It rewrites the rules on what you can expect from an industry event – taking place at the renowned Carnegie Mellon University with an opening keynote from Alaska Airlines and contributions from pioneers inside and outside of our sector, plus visits to the most dynamic robotics companies based in PIT, and workshops putting roboticists and aviation experts together. It is a free must-attend event for airline/airport executives embracing the fact that robotics are ready now to help solve many of our most pressing challenges. Participation will enable attendees to truly understand how the rise of autonomy will impact the way our sector evolves hugely into the future, and provide connections to many of the industry’s most progressive organisations seeking to leverage advanced technology. Register / express your interest in attending the FTE Aviation & Robotics Summit >>

FTE EMEA and FTE Ancillary & Retailing agendas launched; Ryanair announced as a Headline Partner; free to attend for airlines and low-cost for airports

This show is where the worlds of digital, commercial and CX collide and we recently launched the first phase of our agendas for the upcoming co-located FTE EMEA and FTE Ancillary & Retailing events, taking place in Dublin on 11-13 June. These feature some fantastic highlights – an opening keynote session including an interview with Anko van der Werff, CEO, SAS, a major focus on AI, and the reveal of a brand-new Think Tank on “Future Differentiation & Business Models” being created exclusively with senior execs from flyadeal, Vantage Airport Group, Beond, Keflavik Airport, CAVU and Fast Future, through to our Innovate Awards competition which will see airlines, airports & suppliers across the EMEA region competing to win, plus multiple social events in one of the most fun and vibrant cities in the world. Register here – one registration provides access to both events.

Ryanair has become a Headline Partner to FTE EMEA/Ancillary & Retailing, joining International Airlines Group (IAG), APEX and Dublin Airport as fellow Headline Partners.

Ryanair will carry 300 million passengers a year by 2034, and I am pleased to report today that they have also become the newest member of the FTE Digital, Innovation & Startup Hub, joining Vienna International Airport, Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, Gulf Air Group, Manchester Airports Group, Isavia and London Luton Airport, which have all joined in recent weeks – the majority of whom have also joined the FTE Baggage Innovation Working Group (BIWG), which now has 112 members around the world.

FTE Communities – almost 850 member organisations collectively now; plus dynamic meetings in Frankfurt, Pittsburgh and Dublin imminent

The speed at which the FTE Communities memberships are scaling and inspiring one another is a great source of pride to me, because I am convinced we will find the right approaches much faster as an industry if we pool our ideas and learnings to move forward as one versus working in silos. Collectively, our Hub, BIWG and World Airport Retailing Working Group (WARWG) have almost 850 individual corporations as members.

The in-person community meetings (like our recent gathering in Tampa in late-February) are extra special as they enable fantastic relationship-building and deeper discussions on topics away from the official proceedings. I look forward to our next meeting in Frankfurt on 15 April kindly hosted by Lufthansa, and those around our landmark Aviation & Robotics event in Pittsburgh on 14 May, and ahead of our Dublin event on 11 June, and to hearing the latest on a number of the POCs taking place within the groups.

As our latest schedule of activities shows, we are offering more high-level content and gatherings across our portfolio than ever before, all designed to support the industry as it lays new foundations to better serve passengers, workforces and planet, while increasing revenues.

The line-up for our in-person events and meetings is below and our websites have a lot of information on plans and how to take part:

FTE Global and FTE APEX Asia Expo plans taking shape; Warner Bros. Discovery, DFW, Air France, JFK Terminal One, EL AL, BER, Qatar Airways, Southwest already set to speak; plus new Showcase Zones and Buyer Programs launched

We recently announced a must-attend keynote session for FTE Global in which David Decker, President of Content Sales, will discuss how Warner Bros. Discovery has adapted and evolved to best serve its consumers and business partners – and succeed in a post-pandemic landscape. I tease a few of the confirmed organisations speaking across these shows above, but we will save the big announcements on FTE Global (co-located with APEX/IFSA Global EXPO) in LA on 28-30 October, and FTE APEX Asia Expo in Singapore on 19-20 November until my next update, but rest assured we have set the bar very high for what we want to achieve with those shows and we have no doubt they will be our biggest, and best, events in the Americas and Asia-Pac yet.

Please do let me know if you would be interested to learn more regarding any of our plans, join any of our FTE Communities, share ideas for content you would like to see us tackle, or to discuss speaking opportunities. We hope to see you soon at one of our upcoming landmark gatherings and wish you all the best with your efforts to advance progress both within your own organisation and our wider industry.

All the best.

Daniel Coleman

Founder & CEO

Future Travel Experience

daniel.coleman@futuretravelexperience.com

Article originally published here:
FTE CEO update – Ryanair, VIE, Alaska, PANYNJ, SAS & MAG collaboration; plus Communities reach 850 members

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FTE CEO update – Ryanair, VIE, Alaska, PANYNJ, SAS & MAG collaboration; plus Communities reach 850 members

The following article was published by Future Travel Experience
Founder & CEO Daniel Coleman provides an update on some of the key Future Travel Experience…

Published

4 mins ago

on

April 9, 2024

By

The following article was published by Future Travel Experience

Founder & CEO Daniel Coleman provides an update on some of the key Future Travel Experience projects for the next few months, including our landmark in-person events and rapidly-growing FTE Communities.

Dear friends and colleagues,

I write this note 10,000m up on a packed flight back from Istanbul. It is an incredibly buoyant and exciting time for our sector as demand to travel is still booming, and it feels the industry is really now taking on the big topics like digital transformation, empowering workforce & passengers, and sustainability, which too often in previous years were just being paid lip service to in my view. Our expanded Advisory Board and I believe that this decade will be a defining era for our sector and I am proud that FTE is right at the heart of accelerating progress, driving more collaboration and sharing across the industry. I want to take this opportunity to provide an update on some of our key projects for the next few months.

FTE Aviation & Robotics Summit – bringing roboticists and aviation experts together next month to co-create new solutions; Alaska Airlines keynote announced and 30 airline/airport groups registered from around the world

The Aviation & Robotics Summit is being delivered in partnership with our highly progressive partners at Pittsburgh International Airport on 14-16 May. It rewrites the rules on what you can expect from an industry event – taking place at the renowned Carnegie Mellon University with an opening keynote from Alaska Airlines and contributions from pioneers inside and outside of our sector, plus visits to the most dynamic robotics companies based in PIT, and workshops putting roboticists and aviation experts together. It is a free must-attend event for airline/airport executives embracing the fact that robotics are ready now to help solve many of our most pressing challenges. Participation will enable attendees to truly understand how the rise of autonomy will impact the way our sector evolves hugely into the future, and provide connections to many of the industry’s most progressive organisations seeking to leverage advanced technology. Register / express your interest in attending the FTE Aviation & Robotics Summit >>

FTE EMEA and FTE Ancillary & Retailing agendas launched; Ryanair announced as a Headline Partner; free to attend for airlines and low-cost for airports

This show is where the worlds of digital, commercial and CX collide and we recently launched the first phase of our agendas for the upcoming co-located FTE EMEA and FTE Ancillary & Retailing events, taking place in Dublin on 11-13 June. These feature some fantastic highlights – an opening keynote session including an interview with Anko van der Werff, CEO, SAS, a major focus on AI, and the reveal of a brand-new Think Tank on “Future Differentiation & Business Models” being created exclusively with senior execs from flyadeal, Vantage Airport Group, Beond, Keflavik Airport, CAVU and Fast Future, through to our Innovate Awards competition which will see airlines, airports & suppliers across the EMEA region competing to win, plus multiple social events in one of the most fun and vibrant cities in the world. Register here – one registration provides access to both events.

Ryanair has become a Headline Partner to FTE EMEA/Ancillary & Retailing, joining International Airlines Group (IAG), APEX and Dublin Airport as fellow Headline Partners.

Ryanair will carry 300 million passengers a year by 2034, and I am pleased to report today that they have also become the newest member of the FTE Digital, Innovation & Startup Hub, joining Vienna International Airport, Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, Gulf Air Group, Manchester Airports Group, Isavia and London Luton Airport, which have all joined in recent weeks – the majority of whom have also joined the FTE Baggage Innovation Working Group (BIWG), which now has 112 members around the world.

FTE Communities – almost 850 member organisations collectively now; plus dynamic meetings in Frankfurt, Pittsburgh and Dublin imminent

The speed at which the FTE Communities memberships are scaling and inspiring one another is a great source of pride to me, because I am convinced we will find the right approaches much faster as an industry if we pool our ideas and learnings to move forward as one versus working in silos. Collectively, our Hub, BIWG and World Airport Retailing Working Group (WARWG) have almost 850 individual corporations as members.

The in-person community meetings (like our recent gathering in Tampa in late-February) are extra special as they enable fantastic relationship-building and deeper discussions on topics away from the official proceedings. I look forward to our next meeting in Frankfurt on 15 April kindly hosted by Lufthansa, and those around our landmark Aviation & Robotics event in Pittsburgh on 14 May, and ahead of our Dublin event on 11 June, and to hearing the latest on a number of the POCs taking place within the groups.

As our latest schedule of activities shows, we are offering more high-level content and gatherings across our portfolio than ever before, all designed to support the industry as it lays new foundations to better serve passengers, workforces and planet, while increasing revenues.

The line-up for our in-person events and meetings is below and our websites have a lot of information on plans and how to take part:

FTE Global and FTE APEX Asia Expo plans taking shape; Warner Bros. Discovery, DFW, Air France, JFK Terminal One, EL AL, BER, Qatar Airways, Southwest already set to speak; plus new Showcase Zones and Buyer Programs launched

We recently announced a must-attend keynote session for FTE Global in which David Decker, President of Content Sales, will discuss how Warner Bros. Discovery has adapted and evolved to best serve its consumers and business partners – and succeed in a post-pandemic landscape. I tease a few of the confirmed organisations speaking across these shows above, but we will save the big announcements on FTE Global (co-located with APEX/IFSA Global EXPO) in LA on 28-30 October, and FTE APEX Asia Expo in Singapore on 19-20 November until my next update, but rest assured we have set the bar very high for what we want to achieve with those shows and we have no doubt they will be our biggest, and best, events in the Americas and Asia-Pac yet.

Please do let me know if you would be interested to learn more regarding any of our plans, join any of our FTE Communities, share ideas for content you would like to see us tackle, or to discuss speaking opportunities. We hope to see you soon at one of our upcoming landmark gatherings and wish you all the best with your efforts to advance progress both within your own organisation and our wider industry.

All the best.

Daniel Coleman

Founder & CEO

Future Travel Experience

daniel.coleman@futuretravelexperience.com

Article originally published here:
FTE CEO update – Ryanair, VIE, Alaska, PANYNJ, SAS & MAG collaboration; plus Communities reach 850 members

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United Airlines delays route passengers had looked forward to

The airline has poured a lot of resources into marketing its new Newark-Faro flight.

Published

1 day ago

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April 8, 2024

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While the most common way for American travelers to get to Portugal had formerly been with a flight to Lisbon (or a transfer in a larger European hub), the country’s exploding popularity has pushed airlines to launch more routes not just to the capital but also to smaller cities that are common destinations for tourists.

For the summer of 2024, Delta Air Lines  (DAL)  resumed a Boston-Lisbon route that was lost to the pandemic while United Airlines  (UAL)  announced a new flight between Newark International Airport (EWR) and Faro in the country’s coastal Algarve region.

Related: This is why you won't be able to get a low-cost flight to Tulum anytime soon

The latter flight, which was initially scheduled to start running on May 24 on a Boeing 757-200  (BA) , is now put off indefinitely as both Boeing and United face investigations over several high-profile incidents such as when smoke filled the cabin on a plane taking off from Los Angeles and a tire falling off at San Francisco International Airport (SFO).

A United Airlines aircraft is seen in flight.

Shutterstock

There is a big reason that a glitzy new route was canceled

While no injuries were caused, the airline is holding off on the route that it would want to launch to great fanfare to focus on both the investigation and rebuilding its PR image.

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“It's unlike United to cancel such a splashy new route with such short notice, especially considering how the carrier made a big marketing push around the new route when it was originally announced in October,” writes Zach Griff of The Points Guy. “Turns out, the reason for United's close-in cancellation is due to the ongoing Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) audit that commenced just a few days ago due to recent safety events involving the airline, as confirmed by a carrier spokesperson.”

The same spokesperson said that it still plans to launch the Newark-Faro flight by the summer of 2025 but did not give any more concrete details about the schedule. It is also delaying a “fifth freedom” route that goes from the U.S. to Tokyo and later on to Cebu in the Philippines.

Both destinations have been seeing growing interest from American tourists and the airline tried to tap into a market that was formerly filled only by smaller local airlines that tourists from far away would catch after flying into a metropolis.

There’s been a wrinkle in United’s plan to tap into hot new tourist destinations

"We have consistently been ahead of the curve in finding hidden gem destinations for our customers to explore and remain committed to providing the most unique slate of travel options for their adventures abroad," United's Senior Vice President of Global Network Planning Patrick Quayle said in a statement at the time.

Now, the airline is delaying such routes that it launched both to market itself as an airline that flies to such popular destinations and to slowly build out demand in order to focus on the investigation and bad publicity that came as a result of the recent safety incidents. 

“This schedule change is a consequence of that,” United said in a statement while adding that those who had already booked flights to Faro or Cebu on their site will receive communication from the airline and a “full refund” of what they paid.

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