Jan 21 (Reuters) - United Airlines expects profit margins from its international business to recover quicker and stronger than those from domestic flying once borders reopen, executives said on Thursday.

That is largely because it expects demand to outstrip supply in a pandemic-hit industry that has forced some airlines out of business and others to retire many of the widebody jets traditionally used for international flying.

And United, which along with other U.S. airlines is actively lobbying the new U.S. government to lift international travel bans, has the capacity to tap into that demand, Chief Commercial Officer Andrew Nocella said on a quarterly conference call.

"I add up all those facts. There are simply fewer wide-body aircraft in the fleets around the world. There's, in particular, fewer of the very large ones with the very large business class cabins," Nocella said.

He said United has been counting the number of Boeing 747s and Airbus A380s that used to fly to the United States and are no longer in global airlines' fleets and also alluded to one competitors' withdrawal from the transatlantic market.

Last week, Norwegian Air, which less than a decade ago challenged long-established rivals by launching transatlantic flights, said it will end those services and seek government help.

Chicago-based United posted a deep quarterly loss on Wednesday due to the pandemic but said it expects its profit margins in 2023 to exceed 2019 level thanks to a cost-cutting drive. (Reporting by Tracy Rucinski in Chicago Additional reporting by Sanjana Shivdas in Bengaluru; Editing by Nick Zieminski)