Every summer, we see the global US carriers announce new routes to Europe, given the amount of seasonal leisure demand that exists. A few days ago, Delta announced two new transatlantic flights for 2026, from one of its growing long haul hubs. I want to provide an update, as the schedules for these flights have…
Continue reading: Delta Launching Boston To Madrid & Nice Flights In Summer 2026
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Nothing of value here: unless the award saver (or lowest possible dynamic) prices are posted publicly (which they are not).
And if the dynamic saver prices are not competitive with (or even within 150% of) Iberia's 40.5k Avios J, then it might as well not exist in my world. Just like the half empty Delta planes to Taipei.
If the J prices end up matching Iberia Avios pricing, I will eat my shoe.
Boston gets NEOs and we're stuck with 76's to Nice out of ATL from the Southeast?
glad you picked it up, Ben.
DL clearly sees Europe travel as continuing next year at the same fast pace.
DL is building a very impressive operation in BOS. I suspect part of this is to help justify gaining access to domestic gates on Terminal B. DL is, by far, using its gates at BOS far better than any other airline.
It is also notable that DL is heavily using the 330-900 for BOS to Europe.
and DL has built (is building) quite a transatlantic "wall" along the east coast from BOS to JFK to ATL.
DL is probably not through w/ all of their route announcements. Now it is time to see what UA does and how much more, if any AA, announces.
764s, actually.
but keep in mind that a big chunk of DL's largest competitor across the Atlantic is flying 757s to Ireland and all the way to continental Europe.
The 763 seems palatial compared to a 757 with 2X2 seating in business class and only 1/3 of seats w/ an aisle in coach.
we should have a pool as to whether UA's 757s or DL's 763s are taken off the Atlantic first.
Another destination DL executives have teased recently is Birmingham UK, they have also become the official sponsor of Birmingham City FC.
To be fair, United uses the 757 either of routes that meet actual demand (SNN and EDI) as opposed to a widebody or provide double dailies until the backlogged widebodies arrive (DUBIAD against another narrowbody carrier, Aer Lingus). Their network planners are admirable with innovation and profit while being nimble with delivery delays. I love Delta’s BOS network and ability to retain a great hub carrier and a great collection of foreign carriers. Kudos to Delta. (Nice frequency is perfect, BCN may be ambitious… but also strategic)
Considering the economic weakness predicted for next year, these additions might lead to severe overcapacity.
Overcapacity would be a good thing for travelers, if it leads to reduces cash/award prices. Fingers crossed!
Perfect for the huge American tourism draw to the West Midlands & the affluent local market coming to the US
Smart of delta to be investing where they can win (BOS) instead of trying to chase down Alaska in SEA
I love seeing DL's aggressive European expansion out of BOS, but worry that they have insufficient connecting opportunities to fill all those gleaming widebodies.
Reference the D1 lounge (in Terminal E), do all DL's international departures depart out of E? I'm thinking many European departures are also leaving out of A.
As an aside, new Terminal A seemed right-sized when first rebuilt (substantially) for DL, and then they diminished their operation there. Nice to see a robust DL operation at Logan. Agree that they are creating an east coast "wall".
Why make up facts? Delta has averaged over 87% loads on the TPE route in all of 2025 from Jan to July.
They are not "half empty" like you claim.
I find it fascinating that DL are opening a route to a major hub of their alliance which can increase the options for their customers wanting to fly to/from numerous destinations in Spain, Europe, and even N. Africa and make no reference whatsoever to those opportunities.
It's one thing to prioritise the JV and the synergies therein, but DL and UX aren't [yet] frienemies that somehow ended up in the same alliance like LH and TK did- they have been codesharing for about 15 years and even made an application to the US authorities last year asking for Air Europa Express to be allowed to sell flights under a DL code even to/from destinations outside of the EU.
It's not neglect. They know they can't do longhaul Europe out of LAX.
Delta can't even do LHR, the #1 international destination for LAX, which is flown by every other carrier, UA, AA, BA, and VS. LAX is the only Delta hub that they don't fly LHR or AMS, and they also don't do CDG daily year-round.
Delta launching more Europe flights from LAX, would be asking to lose money, they had 40% load factors the last time they tried LHR
It's not neglect. They know they can't do longhaul Europe out of LAX.
Delta can't even do LHR, the #1 international destination for LAX, which is flown by every other carrier, UA, AA, BA, and VS. LAX is the only Delta hub that they don't fly LHR or AMS, and they also don't do CDG daily year-round.
Delta launching more Europe flights from LAX, would be asking to lose money, they had 40% load factors the last time they tried LHR
UX is not a part of the DL JV and so route planning is not done jointly. DL and UX might cooperate more than now but DL and UX have never been particularly close.
Everything in southern Europe is doing very well for US airlines.
BOS is a very strong gateway where DL wants to continue to continue to grow.
it's simple geography and partnerships.
The vast majority of DL's TATL network is on the east coast with a moderate amount from DTW, MSP, SLC and SEA and the least from LAX.
and all 3 of DL's TATL JV partners serve LAX.
with HKG, DL will serve 7 cities across the Pacific from LAX, with SEA at 4, DTW at 3 and MSP and ATL at 2 and SLC at 1.
let's keep in mind that UA doesn't serve 2 cities in Asia from any hub outside of California.
Delta has JV partners at plenty of their other hubs, but that hasn't prevented them from operating these routes.
Delta is uniquely weak to Europe at LAX in a way other airlines aren't.
DL flies 767s to destinations where UA uses 757s so it isn't about the market not being large enough, esp. if UA has 2X daily 757s on some routes.
and twice as many seats on the 757 still is a lower quality product than even DL's 767-300ER no matter how you slice it. Considering how many DL 767 destinations are also served by UA 757s proves my point that DL does use the 767 where it competitively makes sense to do so.
and CO used the 757s extensively to Europe from the time they were acquired. Yes, UA thought it would have much larger numbers of new 787s by now but UA has also pushed back its Airbus order multiple times -and it has been proven that Airbus is delivering widebodies to DL on-time.
as noted elsewhere, BCN and FCO are seeing huge amounts of demand including for Med cruises. the fact that DL now (or by next summer) serves NCE from 3 hubs, BCN from 4 etc says alot about the depth of DL's network.
I wouldn't fly anything on DL from anywhere, especially from a scum-filled city like Bahstun and especially on a disgusting Airpus. Besides, I already can fly AA from ORD directly on a superior Boeing and not have to touch the Least Coast.
No, they won't have been planning the route together, but surely it must make sense for DL to tell the world that the new route may help people wanting to fly to Oviedo, Ibiza, Tunis, or even Orly without needing to make awkward connections involving backtracking at AMS/CDG
So the greedy planners at DL sees that UA flies their worst plane so they match UA with the worst plane too.
How customer friendly DL is.
you mean those new 787s that keep having demons raise their ugly heads?
no one will miss you.
Your meds await you
Delta has chosen not to get into a pi78ng match w/ UA over LAX-Europe.
You do recall that UA added a 2nd LAX-LHR and then pulled it soon after DL pulled its own LAX-LHR
And UA does not have a JV partner in the UK so it has to fly to LHR; it doesn't fly to any JV partner hubs in continental Europe from LAX because, wait, wait, JV partners.
your logic, as usual, fails.
Meanwhile, what matters is LAX across the Pacific.
DL added LAX-BNE, UA dropped it. DL added LAX-AKL, UA dropped it - and don't give me the "but their JV partner flies it"
DL is scheduling LAX-MEL into the summer of 2026.
and DL is adding LAX-HKG and they will almost certainly fly LAX-ICN and SIN in a few years.
Get back w/ us about how strong DL and UA are in LAX and where they are strong and weak in a few years.
United.
The new Pan Am
Delta.
The new TWA
American.
Hourly service to Pittsburgh.
And most of the time late.
According to you, UA flies LAX-LHR because they don't have a JV partner, so they need to.
But then AA also flies LAX-LHR, so your reasoning falls apart. Delta is the only one who can't make it work.
I can hardly wait until I finally reach 1,000,000 Sky Pesos in my account so I can fly BOS-MAD in Coach...
no, your logic falls apart when you say that UA doesn't fly to LH Group hubs because they have a JV partner to do it from LAX but DL is a failure because it lets VS fly LAX-LHR.
which is why markets like LAX-HKG will be fun to watch because neither has a JV partner on the other end. 🙂
it's called competition. DL doesn't want to put UA out of business; just win the competition with them.
and, yeah, a good chunk of DL's 763 flights compete against UA 757s internationally and/or UA's domestic 777s domestically as well as AA's 321Ts that at least some people say are in pretty bad shape in the cabin.
I will go out on a limb that DL will get rid of its 763s before UA pulls its 757s and 777-200s out of service.
and if UA does pull its older aircraft including its 767s, UA will not be growing near as much some people think they will with all of those huge orders. let's see - older uncompetitive old Polaris product or slower growth. which will it be?
sometimes it's just fun to watch Tim Dunn lose his mind on this kind of article.
Timmy,
get a life. Your current one is a laughing stock.
Congrats to Delta on new routes. Madrid has their own POS tourism, but Delta is just tragically sad tragically sad trying to connect passengers on Air Europa vs Iberia.
Nice is super fun. Who knew Boston people cared so much about their tans?! (not traffic data)
my mind is fully intact.
YOU are the one that can't stand to sit on the sideline and let someone else "talk"
UA flies daily year-round to LH group hubs from all of its hubs. Delta is the one that can't do that from LAX.
lordy...
two minute response? I haven't been on all day but you're here on constant refresh.
Is your "wife" real? or just part of your imagination? It's 920p in Atlanta, Timmy? Shouldn't you be satisfying her by now?
I'm starting to think she does not exist...
nor does your "friend"
If she does, jesus... give her some love on a friday night. You're giving Me more love than her on a friday night
Once Alaska gets its full 787 fleet deployed, it will quickly eclipse Delta in Seattle.
You responded back to back in 4 minutes, get off your high horse. You hardly seem stable yourself.
oh hey Tim. Using other usernames again? lol
Boring Friday night for you, as usual? It gets sad how tragic you are.
it is Max that is having conversations with himself.
Anyone that thinks that Tim Dunn and Eskimo are the same person needs mental help.
None of which changes that DL continues to build BOS into the one of the best hubs outside of NYC in the NE.
Unlike IAD, BOS has a real domestic and local domestic market. Unlike PHL, BOS is not divided between a bunch of nearby airports.
Unlike both, DL uses widebodies to fly to Europe.
It is most notable that DL is using so many 339s from BOS given that the 339 has the best TATL product on any US airline aside from the few A350s that DL operates to Europe.
It's great to see the continued international expansion from Boston--it's a terrific airport to depart from.
It's frequently grim to arrive in though. Baggage delivery too often takes ages, and the local CBP culture seems unusually adversarial towards ordinary travelers. Other ports of entry get the same job done more smoothly--and on its good days Boston does too, so it's clearly possible.
None of this is in Delta's direct control, but still: If Delta wants to build Boston into a major international operation, can they use their influence to make the return a little less unpleasant?
so LAX is not a UA hub because it does not have UA metal from LAX to FRA, MUC or ZRH and UA doesn't fly to VIE?
and did or did not UA drop LAX-AKL and BNE when DL started them?
I love these conversations because it exposes the "rules for thee but not for me" mentality
Look, I love United but Airbus is the better product, and both Boston and Chicago are just okay compared to United's coastal hub cities of New York, DC, San Francisco, and LA. Really looking forward to the day I can fly a United a350--the a321s are incredible!
Tim, your "wife" is your inflatable date with a picture of Ed Bastian taped to the head.
"UA flies daily year-round to LH group hubs from all of its hubs."
No it doesn't. United flies to a single European destination from LAX, and it's not even a partner hub. Heathrow.
None of the USA carriers fly to multiple European gateways from LAX, and Delta was the last one to even try. In fact, Delta was the last, second-to-last, and third-to-last attempt by a US carrier to fly to multiple Euro hubs from LAX.
It just doesn't work.
It’s a joint venture with Air France klm and Virgin. From LAX they operate around 8-9 daily flights. It doesn’t matter that it’s not a DL aircraft.
Nice and Madrid are pretty warm in the summer. I find it odd that so many travel to these destinations when the weather is miserable
that's a lot of ground time in MAD. perhaps they are going to retime one of the other MAD flights.
This will be one of the later US carrier flights from continental Europe.
Daylight hours in summer are much longer than winter. Also, water temperature in Nice is pretty cold even in May, at least for me.
It's called summer vacation. Families only get so much time to travel with the kids.
I find it odd so many people struggle to understand this concept.
I do take meds and I'm not ashamed to admit it. On meds or off, I just think you're a complete prick. And that's the topic, not only of this thread, but of every one you participate in.