Delta Air Lines is adding a handful of international routes to its schedule this winter as demand for international travel grows steadily across the industry.
Beginning Dec. 17, the Atlanta-based airline will offer nonstop service from its largest hub in Atlanta to Cape Town, Africa, and from Los Angeles to Tahiti, the largest island in French Polynesia. for the first time. Beginning in May 2023, the airline is also expected to add nonstop service from Atlanta to Tel Aviv, Israel.
With the new routes, the airline offers a total of 10 weekly flights to South Africa as well as 13 weekly flights to Tel Aviv from three US hubs in Atlanta, Boston and New York.
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The airline said earlier this month that it is seeing steady progress in the return of international travel and has already resumed service to several international markets including Copenhagen, Seoul, Prague and Tokyo.
A passenger walks past a Delta Airlines plane at a gate at Logan International Airport in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S., January 3, 2022. (REUTERS/Brian Snyder/File Photo/Reuters)
“International consumer revenues showed significant improvement during the quarter as travel restrictions eased and many countries eliminated testing requirements, including the United States,” Delta Air Lines President Glen Hauenstein , he told analysts during an earnings call.
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In June, revenues in Latin America and the transatlantic regions exceeded 2019 levels, according to Hauenstein. He also noted that “the Pacific will accelerate as Korea and Australia reopen and restrictions ease in Japan.”
So far, about 60% of total bookings in September are for international travel, which “is at record levels much higher than what we had in June,” Hauenstein added.
Travelers fly through Salt Lake City International Airport, Thursday, June 2, 2022, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer/AP Newsroom)
Similarly, Derek Kerr, Chief Financial Officer of American Airlines, also told analysts that the acceleration of business and long-term international demand contributed to the strength that the carrier saw during the period of three months ending in June.
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“There is a lot of pent-up demand for people going internationally, wherever that might be, transpacific, transatlantic and long-haul in South America,” Chief Commercial Officer Vasu Raja told analysts. “And we anticipate that this will continue through the year.”
Meanwhile, United Airlines announced that it has already resumed 24 international routes in the second quarter. The Chicago-based airline also announced a new weekly service between Tokyo and Saipan in early September.
