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TAP Air Portugal will add Chicago O'Hare and Washington Dulles to its network in 2019, moving forward with plans to expand its transatlantic network with next generation aircraft. The carrier will offer 5-times weekly service to both cities from its Lisbon base with a 298-seat A330-900, it says Thursday. "This is only just the beginning," says David Neeleman, a major shareholder in TAP. "Today's expansion to Chicago and Washington DC reflects what an increasingly popular destination Portugal has become." Asked about demand for the new routes, he said that TAP sees strength in both the business and leisure markets. Neeleman cites the growing technology cluster in Washington, and the conferences business in Portugal. <br/>

United Airlines will add service to Frankfurt from its Denver hub next May, making good on plans to expand European links from the Colorado airport. The carrier will offer year-round daily flights between Denver and Frankfurt with a 219-seat Boeing 787-8 from May 2, 2019, it said Thursday. The flight will complement its seasonal Denver-London service that began this year and resumes in March. The airline is in the midst of a growth spurt in Denver. It will grow capacity at the airport 9.7% this year, with the addition of numerous new routes to places like Jacksonville, London Heathrow and Norfolk. The growth is part of United's larger strategy to boost connectivity at its hubs and recapture what it views as its "natural share" of the US domestic market by growing 4-6% annually through 2020. <br/>