Bloomberg is reporting that Delta Air Lines is considering establishing a hub in Shanghai. Let’s take a closer look at what was reported. The article quoted Delta CEO Richard Anderson in an employee message.

“When you think about what our strategy is long-term, we need to have a hub in Shanghai like the one we have in Amsterdam…”

Delta has a growing partnership with China Eastern and Shanghai Airlines, and this would allow them to capitalize on that much in the way they have worked with KLM in Amsterdam. But to my question about Tokyo. Yes, Delta has a long-standing hub operation in Tokyo inherited from its merger with NWA. It’s also a hub that has seen a lot of changes while Delta has focused on its U.S. hub in Seattle as a launch point for flights to Asia.

delta+skyteam+logo+lg

There is no question that China is “where the money is” right now, and I’m not the least bit surprised to see Delta’s CEO mention Shanghai as a potential hub. China’s billion plus population is increasingly affluent, and if I were running an airline, I would be working very hard to figure out how I could offer profitable services within the market. This is likely the only blog where you’ll see cruise line and airline in the same space, but Delta’s goals in China are no different than those of Royal Caribbean and Carnival which are sending ships to China to offer vacation options to newly monied vacationers. It’s where the money is.

-MJ, April 7, 2015

Delta and SkyTeam logo image courtesy of Delta Air Lines