United Airlines will begin flying nonstop between Charleston International Airport and San Francisco International Airport starting March 28, 2027, giving Lowcountry travelers their first direct link to the Bay Area and opening a new gateway to destinations across Asia and the Pacific. The seasonal route will run four days a week — Monday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday — from March through November, using Boeing 737-800 or MAX 8 aircraft.
The announcement, first detailed by Charleston International Airport, positions the flight as a major upgrade for travelers who currently have no direct way to reach Northern California from the Lowcountry. According to The Post and Courier, the route will give Charleston-area travelers a direct link to United's San Francisco hub, with onward connections across the West Coast, Asia and the Pacific. United has not yet announced a specific starting fare for the route, the paper reports.
Mark Weithofer, United's managing director of Domestic Network Planning, said the new service builds on the carrier's existing Charleston flights to hubs in Chicago, Newark, Washington Dulles, Denver and Houston, as Charleston City Paper notes. Weithofer said the flight marks a significant expansion for both airports and their passengers, and that it offers Bay Area residents an option to visit Charleston while giving Charleston travelers access to destinations including Australia, Hong Kong and Hawaii. He also called San Francisco the largest airline gateway connecting the United States to Asia Pacific destinations.
A New Front Door to the Pacific
The scale of United's San Francisco hub is part of what makes the route notable. More than 30 international carriers serve SFO, connecting nonstop with more than 75 U.S. cities on 12 domestic airlines, per the same Post and Courier report. That network effectively turns a single Charleston nonstop into a springboard for travelers heading well beyond the West Coast.
United already operates daily flights from Charleston to Chicago O'Hare, Denver, Houston, Newark and Dulles, the outlet notes. The airline told the paper that Charleston travel demand peaks in spring and fall rather than in the traditional summer or winter rush, with April and October standing out as the busiest months — a pattern that lines up with the new route's March-through-November seasonal window.
Charleston's Airport Keeps Setting Records
The new San Francisco flight arrives as Charleston International rides a wave of growth. The airport handled a record 6,341,145 travelers in 2025, a 1% increase over 2024, according to the station's report. CHS now offers more than 90 daily flights, including arrivals and departures, and its nonstop options have more than tripled over the past four years, the outlet adds.
That expansion comes alongside construction: the airport began a $100 million West Gate terminal expansion in July 2025 as part of a 20-year master plan, the same account states. Airport CEO Elliott Summey said he expects growth to be significant in 2027 once two major construction projects wrap up.
Filling a Gap in West Coast Access
Before the United route begins, Charleston's only nonstop flight to California is a seasonal Breeze Airways service to Los Angeles International Airport, the Post and Courier reports. Count on 2 reported that Breeze operates that Los Angeles route twice weekly for the summer season starting May 3, with fares advertised from $129 one-way for tickets purchased by January 15 for travel by September 3. Charleston International Airport CEO Elliott Summey has called the Los Angeles service a key strategic objective for the airport, the station noted.
Beyond that seasonal Los Angeles run, Charleston's only other transcontinental connection is Alaska Airlines' year-round service to Seattle, according to Simple Flying. That outlet also reports that United currently operates 12.8% of all flights out of Charleston International, having served roughly 820,000 passengers between August 2025 and July 2026 — a footprint the new San Francisco route is poised to expand further once it takes off in 2027.
