Several weeks ago, Delta asked SkyMiles members and employees to vote on which island destination in Europe the airline should add flights to for the summer of 2026. The results are in, and the airline has now announced which flights it will be adding. Unsurprisingly, the airline isn’t adding just one route…
Delta adding two new European island routes from New York
Delta has announced that it plans to add two new summer seasonal long haul routes from New York Kennedy (JFK) as of the summer 2026 season, to Malta (MLA) and Sardinia (OLB). The new flights are already on sale.
As of May 20, 2026, Delta will launch 4x weekly flights from New York to Sardinia. The 4,187-mile flight will operate with the following schedule:
DL216 New York to Olbia departing 6:25PM arriving 9:00AM (+1 day)
DL217 Olbia to New York departing 11:00AM arriving 2:35PM
The eastbound flight is blocked at 8hr35min, and will operate on Sundays, Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, while the westbound flight is blocked at 9hr35min, and will operate on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays.
As of June 7, 2026, Delta will launch 3x weekly flights from New York to Malta. The 4,599-mile flight will operate with the following schedule:
DL148 New York to Malta departing 5:00PM arriving 8:20AM (+1 day)
DL149 Malta to New York departing 10:20AM arriving 2:50PM
The eastbound flight is blocked at 9hr20min, and will operate on Sundays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, while the westbound flight is blocked at 10hr30min, and will operate on Mondays, Thursdays, and Saturdays.
Both routes will be operated by Delta’s vintage and well utilized Boeing 767-300ERs, featuring 216 seats, including 26 business class seats, 18 premium economy seats, and 172 economy class seats.
My take on Delta’s two new European destinations
These are no doubt two very cool new routes, especially since these are destinations not currently served by any US airlines. It’s always nice to see more nonstop long haul destinations served from the United States, so that’s awesome for consumers (at least those paying cash… it’s not like there’s fun to be had with SkyMiles). For those curious, the third destination that was voted on but that wasn’t selected was Ibiza (IBZ).
Ironically, Ibiza actually sees the most passenger traffic from the United States, while Malta sees the second most, and Sardinia sees the least. That being said, we’re talking about three to four frequencies per week and a fairly short summer schedule, so I’m sure the flights will perform fine.
Sardinia is a super high-end destination, so I have to imagine there are enough rich New Yorkers to fill the forward cabin on that flight and make it profitable. Malta is a bit more questionable, in my opinion. I have to imagine that subsidies from the destination airports and regions are a major factor here, and that Delta had an incentive to start these flights, beyond just pure demand.
As I said when the voting took place, I figured that the airline wouldn’t add just one of these routes, and would instead add multiple destinations, and that in fact happened. I don’t mean to call into question voting results here, but am I the only one who is a bit surprised by these results?
It’s interesting that the destination that’s actually visited by the most Americans didn’t get voted for, while votes were otherwise split between customers and employees? Nothing against Malta, it’s a lovely place, but Delta employees really chose that over Ibiza and Sardinia? It’s not what I would’ve expected…
Bottom line
Delta has announced plans to launch two new routes to Europe, as the airline will fly from New York to both Malta and Sardinia. The flights will operate for a fairly short summer season in 2026, with 3-4x weekly frequencies.
These are both destinations that aren’t currently served by any US airline, so that’s super fun. I’m curious to see if United adds flights to either of these destinations, and/or if these Delta flights return for a second season.
What do you make of these two new Delta routes to Europe?
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