Delta Air Lines announces 14 new international routes from JFK

Sept. 28, 2007

AIRLINE INDUSTRY INFORMATION-©1997-2007 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) has announced that it is introducing a redesigned schedule for summer 2008 that accommodates growing customer demand at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport.

The airline said that it plans to offer increased choice on 14 new international routes, including nine destinations not served by any other US major airline from JFK. In addition Delta also plans to offer customers improved on-time reliability by reducing the number of flights it operates during peak hours.

Delta will offer nine new trans-Atlantic routes with nonstop service between JFK and: Tel Aviv, Israel (effective 10 March); Edinburgh, Scotland (effective 1 May); Dakar, Senegal (effective 2 June); Nairobi, Kenya (via Dakar) (effective 2 June); Cairo, Egypt (effective 4 June); Malaga, Spain (effective 4 June); Amman, Jordan (effective 5 June); and Lagos, Nigeria (effective 9 June).

Subject to approval from the US Department of Transportation (DOT) the airline will also offer flights to Cape Town, South Africa, via Dakar, effective 3 June.

The airline will also offer five new Latin America routes with nonstop service between JFK and Panama City, Panama (effective 13 December); Guatemala City, Guatemala (effective 14 December); Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago (effective 20 December); San Jose, Costa Rica (effective 15 February); and Liberia, Costa Rica (effective 16 February). The airline also said that it will be taking measures to reduce congestion and delays at the airport. These measures include: metering its use of airport resources by reducing average hourly departures by 6% during the most congested hours; decreasing departures during JFK's afternoon 'rush hour' by shifting short-haul trans-Atlantic flights to a third bank of international departures after 19:00; and optimising connecting times to increase transit time for JFK customers to enhance overall baggage performance and schedule reliability.

(Comments on this story may be sent to [email protected])