Delta Airlines is America’s largest carrier by international destinations. They offer the most trans-Atlantic destinations of any carrier in the US. This gives them a strong competitive advantage when it comes to connectivity to European destinations. The airline has even beefed up their network by expanding their partnership with Air France-KLM, Virgin Atlantic and Alitalia. There is much to be said of Alitalia, but the fact that it is included in the Joint Venture means their partners still believe in them.

For the summer of 2018, Delta has expansion plans to their destinations. Delta plans to add two brand new destinations to its network. They also plan on adding new routes to already existing destinations. The airline will be adding most of these routes to Europe.

Delta 757

Delta 757

Expansion-Expansion

Delta will be adding flights from LAX, Detroit, JFK, Atlanta, Indianapolis and Orlando. From LAX, Delta will add flights to Amsterdam and to Paris. These two flights will complement KLM’s and Air France’s respective flights. The expansion at LAX is probably due to the airline’s terminal change earlier this year. The flights will be operated by a 777-200LR. Their schedules will be as follows:

 

LAX – Paris-Charles de Gaulle (CDG)
Flight Number Departs Arrives Frequency
DL156 LAX at noon CDG at 7:55 a.m. (next day) Tue/Thurs/Sat
DL157 CDG  at 3:15 p.m. LAX at 6:25 p.m. Wed/Fri/Sun
LAX – Amsterdam Schiphol (AMS)
Flight Number Departs Arrives Frequency
DL78 LAX at noon AMS at 7:55 a.m. (next day) Mon/Wed/Fri/Sun
DL79 AMS  at 3:35 p.m. LAX at 6:25 p.m. Mon/Tue/Thur/Sat

From JFK, the airline will add flights to Lagos (which had been previously reported here), as well as flights to the Azores. The flight to Lagos will be operated by an A330, and the flight to Ponta Delgada will use a 757. There will also be a capacity increase to London on a A330. For information on the Lagos flight, look at this link. The schedule for Ponta Delgada is as follows:

JFK – Azores (PDL)
Flight Number Departs Arrives Frequency
DL417 JFK at 8:30 p.m. PDL at 7:30 a.m. (next day) excluding Mon/Wed
DL217 PDL  at 9:15 a.m. JFK at 10:30 a.m. excluding Tue/Thurs

 

From Atlanta and Detroit, the airline will add flights to Lisbon and Paris, respectively. The flight to Lisbon will be flown on a 767 on a daily basis. Detroit will have its third rotation to Paris, two on Delta and one on Air France. This flight will be operated by an A330. The schedules are as follow:

 

ATL – Lisbon, Portugal (LIS)
Flight Number Departs Arrives Frequency
DL122 ATL at 7:30 p.m. LIS at 8:45 a.m. (next day) Daily
DL123 LIS  at 10:30 a.m. ATL at 2:45 p.m. Daily

 

DTW – Paris-Charles de Gaulle (CDG)
Flight Number Departs Arrives Frequency
DL96 DTW at 3:50 p.m. CDG at 6:00 a.m. (next day) Daily
DL99 CDG  at 1:10 p.m. DTW at 4:10 p.m. Daily

 

Finally, the airline will be launching flights from Orlando to Amsterdam and Indianapolis to Paris. For the Orlando-AMS flight, you can read further information here. For the flight IND-CDG, feel free to read more information here.

Delta A330-200

Delta A330-200

Cuts

For these flights to be able to take off, Delta will also be canceling some routes. The airline will no longer fly to Moscow and Stockholm from New York-JFK. There are also further cuts, as the airline “suspends” their flights from Newark and Philadelphia to Paris. Finally, the airline’s Philadelphia-London rotation will not come back in 2018. These are major victories for American and United, as they have successfully pushed Delta out of their home turf. I was always confused how Delta would be able to make these routes successful at “enemy” hubs.

Delta 777

Delta 777

Landing Thoughts:

I am glad to see Delta continue to expand its international presence. They become the second airline besides SATA Azores to fly from the Azores to the US. United and American have upgraded their flights to Lisbon, and Delta is matching suit. With these new destinations, Delta continued to strengthen their position as the premier airline to cross the Atlantic. Although I give them a very hard time, Delta is probably the best run airline in the US. I hope to see United and American be run as well as Delta is.

 

What do you think? Are you gonna take advantage of these new routes by Delta? Let us know!

 

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H/T: Delta & USA Today