Delta Air Lines announced today that they would be expanding their service to Europe with two new routes starting next summer. The first is non-stop service between Salt Lake City and London Heathrow as well as new non-stop service between New York (JFK) and Edinburgh, Scotland. Both of these new routes will be starting in May, 2016.
Per Delta, Delta Air Lines and Virgin Atlantic Airways will offer customers two new routes across the pond with the introduction of Delta’s nonstop service from Salt Lake City to London Heathrow and New York-JFK to Edinburgh, Scotland, beginning in May 2016.
The routes add to the value that the Delta-Virgin Atlantic joint venture provides customers through an aligned route network offering more frequencies, competitive fares and harmonized service. The Department of Transportation’s 2013 grant of anti-trust immunity to the Delta-Virgin joint venture makes this new service possible.
“For the second summer in a row, Delta will be launching new routes that give customers more options when flying between the United States and the U.K.,” said Nat Pieper, Delta’s Senior Vice President – Europe, Middle East and Africa. “Delta and Virgin Atlantic are committed to offering an extensive network on the trans-Atlantic, and our new flights from London and Edinburgh will offer more connections to destinations throughout the U.S. and beyond.”
Starting May 1, 2016, Salt Lake City will be Delta’s eighth U.S. destination from Heathrow and the only nonstop service between London and the Mountain West. As the largest airline operating in Salt Lake City, Delta offers connections to more than 50 destinations throughout the Western U.S. and into Canada.
Daily nonstop service between New York-JFK and Edinburgh will begin on May 26, 2016, offering customers in the U.K. up to 60 convenient onward connections from JFK. Delta’s new service from Scotland’s capital city joins Virgin Atlantic’s three times weekly summer seasonal service from Glasgow to Orlando.
Passengers travelling in the Delta One cabin on both the Salt Lake City to Heathrow and New York-JFK to Edinburgh flights will enjoy full flat-bed seats and a range of personalized dining options. Additionally, all passengers will have access to on-demand in-flight entertainment and Wi-Fi connectivity throughout the aircraft.
Bottom Line
I’m excited to see both of the new routes being added and don’t really think either is a big surprise. Delta has a hub in Salt Lake City and a large presence in London, so it was only a matter of time before this route was added.
The new New York to Edinburgh route isn’t a huge surprise to me, as United offers service between Newark and Edinburgh, and with the United/Delta slot-swap recently at JFK, meant more new routes from New York, so this will be a welcome addition to their network.
What are your thoughts on these new routes? Feel free to comment below!
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Excellent news on the EDI route! Well done DL!
Excellent news for Edinburgh!
Do you know what type of plane will be on JFK-EDI route?
Do you know what the flight numbers, times and aircraft will be?
I added the flight numbers and time info that I have to the post. Thanks for questions.
I wonder what the planes will be. Sometimes the seasonal routes to Europe from New York J.F.K. (think Sweden) are on crappy old planes — the worst in Delta’s fleet, not unlike flights to/from Hawaii and flights within Asia/Pacific.
I might consider flying Detroit to Salt Lake City and Salt Lake City to London, if only because I suspect (1) my global upgrade certificate will clear and (2) the longer flight will provide greater value. The East Coast flights to London sometimes can be under 7 hours, which provides little time to get a good night’s sleep and actually enjoy the business-class experience and food.
The 8 p.m.-ish departure from New York J.F.K. concerns me, though. I think it will be heavily delayed because that’s a pretty busy time for late flights to Europe.