Delta Air Lines is building on the success of the largest international expansion in its history with new nonstop service to some of the fastest growing economies in the world. During 2007, Delta will continue to…
Delta Air Lines is building on the success of the largest international expansion in its history with new nonstop service to some of the fastest growing economies in the world. During 2007, Delta will continue to diversify its global network with added service to high-demand destinations across Asia, the Middle East, Europe and Latin America.
Delta’s new and expanded nonstop routes from the world’s largest hub at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport will begin as follows:
- Atlanta-Prague, Czech Republic (effective May 2, 2007)
- Atlanta-Vienna, Austria (effective May 21, 2007)
- Atlanta-Dubai, United Arab Emirates (effective May 31, 2007)
- Atlanta-Seoul-Incheon, South Korea (effective June 4, 2007)
- Atlanta-Sao Paulo, Brazil (expanded to twice daily, effective June 15-Aug. 15, 2007)
Additionally, Delta will build on its position at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport with expanded service to four global cities:
- New York-JFK-London-Gatwick, England (expanded to twice daily, effective April 1, 2007)
- New York-JFK-Pisa/Florence, Italy (effective May 31, 2007)
- New York-JFK-Shannon, Ireland (nonstop service replacing existing one-stop flights via Dublin, effective June 2, 2007)
- New York-JFK-Bucharest, Romania (effective June 5, 2007)
“Delta customers have responded overwhelmingly to the more than 50 new international routes added in the last year and have made the largest international expansion in our history an extraordinary success,” said Delta CEO Gerald Grinstein. “We are pleased to continue to respond to our customers’ growing demand for international travel with another wave of new Delta destinations that will connect continents and cultures more quickly than ever before.”
Athens – Atlanta daily service from May 16th, 2007
Delta’s non-stop service between Athens and Atlanta, which was launched in May this year as part of Delta’s largest ever international expansion, will continue as part of the airline’s 2007 summer schedule in addition to Delta’s year-round non-stop service between Athens and New York / JFK.
From 16 May 2007 until the end of October the flight will be operated by a Boeing 767-300ER aircraft. “Since its launch on 30 May this year, the Athens-Atlanta flight has become a real success with one of the highest load factors in Delta’s network and from Athens International Airport”, Dimitris Karagioules, Delta’s Commercial Director for Greece and Cyprus stated. “Delta is committed to the Greek market, and following the phenomenal demand we have seen from our customers, I am delighted to announce the return of our Athens-Atlanta service.”
Even with a more than 20 percent increase in international capacity, Delta was successful in increasing trans-Atlantic and Latin America passenger unit revenues during the June quarter compared to the prior year and filled 83 percent of its international seats in June, July and August combined.
“In total more than 3 million customers chose to fly Delta this summer on international routes, representing a nearly 30 percent increase over 2005,” said Glen Hauenstein, Delta’s executive vice president – Network and Revenue Management. “The continued support of our customers enables us to confidently continue our international expansion in 2007.”
With its 2007 expansion, Delta will operate service to more trans-Atlantic destinations than any other U.S. carrier and will strengthen its position as the airline serving the most worldwide destinations. In total, Delta will serve 36 trans-Atlantic destinations by summer 2007 and will offer worldwide service to more than 300 cities.
Delta’s upcoming expansion also increases to 16 the number of trans-Atlantic routes where Delta is the only major U.S. carrier to operate nonstop service, resulting in more direct routings to offer time savings to customers.
“We believe that our customers’ most valuable commodity is their time,” Grinstein said. “By serving destinations like Bucharest and Pisa/Florence nonstop, we return to our customers millions of hours each year that they can spend with their families or advancing their business that otherwise would have been spent making international flight connections.”
Delta’s new flights between New York-JFK and Bucharest, for instance, will reduce travel times by more than four hours in each direction when compared to connections on other major airlines via Europe.
International fleet expansion
To fund its ongoing international expansion, Delta will transition seven 767-400 aircraft to its international fleet by next summer bringing to 20 the number of aircraft moved from domestic to international flying since spring 2006. With the addition of these aircraft to Delta’s international fleet, all Delta flights to and from Asia will be operated with the 268-seat Boeing 777-200 aircraft while all long-range service to Europe and South America will feature 767-300 or 767-400 aircraft seating up to 214 and 246 passengers, respectively.
Beyond these fleet changes, Delta will retain the ability to transfer additional 767-400 widebody aircraft from domestic to international service for future expansion and is planning to add 10 long-range Boeing 757-200 aircraft to the fleet as early as 2007 that can be flown on both trans-Atlantic and Hawaiian routes.
“Delta maintains a competitive advantage against our peers in that we have the capability to grow international service with our existing fleet,” Hauenstein said. “Our large fleet of international-capable aircraft allows us to move into new and emerging international markets more quickly than any U.S. carrier and to meet our customers’ demand for both business and leisure travel to new points around the globe.”
Vicky is the co-founder of TravelDailyNews Media Network where she is the Editor-in Chief. She is also responsible for the daily operation and the financial policy. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Tourism Business Administration from the Technical University of Athens and a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Wales. She has many years of both academic and industrial experience within the travel industry. She has written/edited numerous articles in various tourism magazines.
