Delta adds new international routes as travel demand grows

Delta Air Lines is adding a handful of international routes to its schedule this winter as demand for international travel steadily grows across the industry.

Starting 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 slated to add nonstop service from Atlanta to Tel Aviv, Israel.

With the new routes, the airline will offer a total of 10 weekly flights to South Africa as well as 13 weekly flights to Tel Aviv from three U.S. hubs in Atlanta, Boston and New York.

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The airline reported earlier this month that it is seeing steady progress in the return of international travel and has already resumed service to many 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 revenue showed significant improvement during the quarter as travel restrictions eased and many countries removed testing requirements, including the United States,” Delta Air Lines President Glen Hauenstein told analysts during an earnings call.

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In June, revenue in the Latin America and transatlantic regions exceeded 2019 levels, according to Hauenstein. He also noted that “the Pacific is accelerating as Korea and Australia have reopened and restrictions are easing in Japan.”

So far, about 60% of the total bookings in September are for international travel, which “is at record levels much higher than what we experienced in June,” Hauenstein added.

Travelers pass through Salt Lake City International Airport, Thursday, June 2, 2022, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer / AP Newsroom)

Likewise, American Airlines Chief Financial Officer Derek Kerr also told analysts that the acceleration of business and long-haul international demand contributed to the strength the carrier saw during the three-month span ending in June.

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“There’s a lot of pent-up demand for people going internationally, wherever that might be, transpacific, transatlantic, and long-haul South America,” Chief Commercial Officer Vasu Raja told analysts. “And we anticipate that that 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 new weekly service between Tokyo and Saipan beginning in September.