In recent years, summer demand for travel between the United States and Europe has been through the roof, so we’ve seen US airlines add as much capacity there as possible. Every year, we see airlines tweak their European route network a bit, based on both capacity and demand, and announce new services.
We’re now seeing US airlines announce their plans for next summer. American recently announced its route additions for the summer of 2025, and today Delta has announced the routes it’ll be adding next summer. There are some cool additions here, so let’s go over the details (as I previously wrote about, Delta is dropping its New York to Munich route next summer)…
In this post:
Delta adding seven new Europe routes, one new destination
Delta has announced plans to add seven new seasonal routes to Europe next summer, which will contribute to the airline having its largest transatlantic schedule ever.
Six of the routes are to destinations already served from other hubs, while one route is to an all-new destination. Specifically, we can expect the following seasonal flights to launch as of May 2025:
- New York (JFK) to Catania, Italy (CTA) — this will be daily service with a Boeing 767-300ER, and it’s a new destination, as Delta is the first US airline to fly there
- Atlanta (ATL) to Brussels, Belgium (BRU) — this will be 3x weekly service with a Boeing 767-300ER, and it complements Delta’s seasonal service out of New York
- Atlanta (ATL) to Naples, Italy (NAP) — this will be 3x weekly service with an Airbus A330-200, and it complements Delta’s seasonal service out of New York
- Boston (BOS) to Barcelona, Spain (BCN) — this will be 3x weekly service with a Boeing 767-300ER, and it complements Delta’s year-round service from Atlanta and New York
- Boston (BOS) to Milan, Italy (MXP) — this will be 4x weekly service with a Boeing 767-300ER, and it complements Delta’s year-round service from Atlanta and New York
- Detroit (DTW) to Dublin, Ireland (DUB) — this will be 4x weekly service with an Airbus A330-200, and it complements Delta’s year-round service from Atlanta and New York, and seasonal service from Minneapolis
- Minneapolis (MPS) to Rome, Italy (FCO) — this will be 4x weekly service with an Airbus A330-300, and it complements Delta’s year-round service from Atlanta and New York, and seasonal service from Detroit
As you can see, Delta is heavily focused on Italy here, with four of the seven new routes being to the country. I don’t think that’s too surprising, given how hot it has been with American tourists.
These are some cool route additions. The Catania service is especially fun. Historically Delta has followed United when it comes to adding destinations in Europe, but in this case, Delta is leading the way.
The one thing I notice is that with the exception of the Catania service, all the other routes are less than daily. I just find that to be interesting, because often US airlines scale their transatlantic networks so that daily service works in most markets.
Delta boosting five existing European routes
In addition to adding seven new routes, Delta will also be increasing frequencies in the summer of 2025, in five existing markets. Specifically, Delta will offer the following increased flights:
- Atlanta (ATL) to Athens, Greece (ATH) will be increased to 11x weekly service
- Atlanta (ATL) to Barcelona, Spain (BCN) will be increased to 10x weekly service
- Atlanta (ATL) to Rome, Italy (FCO) will be increased to 17x weekly service
- Atlanta (ATL) to Zurich, Switzerland (ZRH) will be increased to daily service
- Detroit (DTW) to Munich, Germany (MUC) will be increased to daily service
I don’t think there are any surprises here. In particular, the focus on Atlanta makes sense, given just how much connectivity Delta has through its largest hub.
Bottom line
Delta has announced its plans across the Atlantic for next summer. The airline will launch seven new routes, with six routes being to existing destinations, and one route being to a new destination (Catania). On top of that, the airline will increase service in five existing markets, primarily out of its Atlanta hub.
The “big three” US carriers have pretty mature Europe route networks at this point, and without a huge number of new planes being delivered, there’s only so much they can grow. Delta’s route additions are definitely more interesting than American’s. Now I’m curious to see what United comes up with (though United is in a bad position with new aircraft deliveries).
What do you make of Delta’s route additions for the summer of 2025?
Who on earth (other than Tim Dunn for free on an ex-employee coach ticket) would fly that airline to Europe or anywhere else in the world when you have so many other choices that offer a much better experience and value?
sounds like someone squeezing sour grapes
You can easily tell by traffic statistics in public financial reports how many revenue passengers fly each of the big 3 - and it is millions of passengers per year.
Half or more of the capacity between the US and Europe is carried by US airlines. Delta has long been the largest airline between the US and Europe; only if you include UA's 757 narrowbody flights does UA become...
sounds like someone squeezing sour grapes
You can easily tell by traffic statistics in public financial reports how many revenue passengers fly each of the big 3 - and it is millions of passengers per year.
Half or more of the capacity between the US and Europe is carried by US airlines. Delta has long been the largest airline between the US and Europe; only if you include UA's 757 narrowbody flights does UA become larger.
So, what exactly what was your point when it is clear that DL does carry a significant portion of the passengers flying between the US and Europe and according to data which each of the airlines filed with the DOT, made more money - by far - flying the Atlantic than any other US airline.
Clearly your jilted view of the world is not representative of how millions of Americans and Europeans spend their money
FYI - you have Minneapolis listed as MPS instead of MSP
Worth noting that this announcement is also the first official Delta press release on having a Delta One lounge in Seattle.
Their original Delta One lounge announcement did not include it in the list: https://news.delta.com/look-ahead-delta-debut-premium-lounges-and-more-2024
I'm not sure if the locals in Barcelona, Milan and Rome will be as excited to see plane loads of premium serviced Americans invading next summer. Those places already see fierce not-so-premium protests against mass tourism and I think things may get a tad out of hand if nothing changes - or even worsens.
The Sicily flight is a nice curiosity though. I'm sure someone had an epiphany and just convinced everyone else with...
I'm not sure if the locals in Barcelona, Milan and Rome will be as excited to see plane loads of premium serviced Americans invading next summer. Those places already see fierce not-so-premium protests against mass tourism and I think things may get a tad out of hand if nothing changes - or even worsens.
The Sicily flight is a nice curiosity though. I'm sure someone had an epiphany and just convinced everyone else with premium arguments to add it as a destination. Either that, or they just hung a premium map of Southern Europe on a premium whiteboard in the premium office and threw a premium dart at it and just decided to go where it landed.
You know, I just ranted about this to a fellow American who also travels all the time internationally.
I have never seen these horrific American tourists everyone decries.
Maybe it was a thing in the 70s and 80s. But I've been going abroad every year since 1992 and me and my friends have always been respectful, open-minded and well-behaved in other countries. And I've never seen rowdy Americans like you'll see domestically in...
You know, I just ranted about this to a fellow American who also travels all the time internationally.
I have never seen these horrific American tourists everyone decries.
Maybe it was a thing in the 70s and 80s. But I've been going abroad every year since 1992 and me and my friends have always been respectful, open-minded and well-behaved in other countries. And I've never seen rowdy Americans like you'll see domestically in Nashville, on Bourbon St, or in the East Village on a Friday night.
But I've seen some of the most psychotic, anti-social behavior in my entire life from Aussie and English men all over the world. As well as bizarre, obsessive, intrusive selfie-taking from young Asian women. Or DYKWIA tantrums from South Asian men. In hotels, at tourist sites, on public transport. In cities on multiple continents.
Gotta stick up for Americans. We might be the dumbest country on Earth but we travel well.
I think it also has a tie with the economy of people are that are loud, not well behaved people. You’ll see those nasty Americans in America because it’s cheap to go to Nashville but can’t really afford a whole week in Europe (some don’t really care to go outside of the US). On the other hand, you’ll see nasty English people in Europe because it’s basically a cheap domestic destination for them.
Completely...
I think it also has a tie with the economy of people are that are loud, not well behaved people. You’ll see those nasty Americans in America because it’s cheap to go to Nashville but can’t really afford a whole week in Europe (some don’t really care to go outside of the US). On the other hand, you’ll see nasty English people in Europe because it’s basically a cheap domestic destination for them.
Completely agree though, I love going to Europe every year at least once and haven’t ever really encountered situations where Americans are making a mess or a fuss.
You must not see many Americans when you travel...
Someone will be so physically overwhelmed with ecstasy by this 'premium' announcement that they'll need to change their underwear several times today..
“As you can see, Delta is heavily focused on Italy here, with four of the seven new routes being to the country. I don’t think that’s too surprising, given how hot it has been with American tourists.”
Yes, quite literally so with some of the hottest temperatures, wild fires and droughts…
Oh wow. I recently flew from CTA to London and that airport is a HOT MESS. The lounge (which is the only lounge) was tiny, seated 30 and even that was too many. Interested to see how this goes. One upside is they have some really good food outlets in the main part of the terminal, but once you go through passport control there is one tiny outlet and nowhere near enough space for the pax.
The question is, how many of these routes will last beyond their initial season like we just saw with JFK-MUC...
Too bad DL can't take advantage of SK being part of ST for now. ARN could be a good potential route from some of DL's hubs in the US.
Literally just joined ST a couple of weeks ago, maybe some things are in the works
"Literally just joined ST a couple of weeks ago, maybe some things are in the works"
And yet, they announced all these flights to non-ST hubs, and some hubs which won't be ST anymore in a few years.
you do realize there have been a list of new SK routes and changed equipment which have just announced?
Until DL and SK have antitrust authority and are part of the AF/KL/VS JV, the benefits will be connecting traffic onto each others network on a codeshare basis.
as aircraft are finalized, it will be interesting if DL upgrades its flights to CPH and ARN - there is a possibility that ATI can be received by...
you do realize there have been a list of new SK routes and changed equipment which have just announced?
Until DL and SK have antitrust authority and are part of the AF/KL/VS JV, the benefits will be connecting traffic onto each others network on a codeshare basis.
as aircraft are finalized, it will be interesting if DL upgrades its flights to CPH and ARN - there is a possibility that ATI can be received by the summer.
and SK itself has made it clear that CPH is where they will focus the majority of their longhaul flying. Part of the reason for SK's underperformance is that they didn't have the network size at CPH because they tried to be too many things to too many people - in this case too many government owners.
"the benefits will be connecting traffic onto each others network on a codeshare basis"
None of which has anything to do with my comment about more flights to ARN. But keep yapping you useless word salads if it makes you feel better.
I'm sure AF/KL will get SK in the TATL JV and then some new routes from CPH will be announced. I'm not sure about ARN though, as CPH will be the main long haul hub for SK and, due to the current geopolitical tensions, ARN got a bit lost in a tiny corner of Europe. No long haul for OSL, of course, as that's been a running joke at SK for decades.
With Delta announcing Catania, I wonder whether UA will want to serve the other side of the island and add EWR-PMO, which was announced before covid but never flown.
I wish Delta would do something more substantial from Boston. Their Boston network is piss poor.
feel free to list the number of transatlantic destinations by US airline hub and see where BOS fits into this ranking.
Let us know how many other US carrier hubs have 10 more or transatlantic routes.
and, despite all of the ragging on the 767, DL only flies 767s on 8 hour or longer flights across the Atlantic or to Ireland and east - in considerable contrast to UA which is still using 757s...
feel free to list the number of transatlantic destinations by US airline hub and see where BOS fits into this ranking.
Let us know how many other US carrier hubs have 10 more or transatlantic routes.
and, despite all of the ragging on the 767, DL only flies 767s on 8 hour or longer flights across the Atlantic or to Ireland and east - in considerable contrast to UA which is still using 757s which don't even have direct aisle access in business class.
and even if AA and UA manage to get the XLR going across the Atlantic in 2026, ask any passenger in coach or even premium economy - the majority of passengers if they would rather be in a narrowbody or widebody and I can assure you hands down that the majority of passengers would prefer a widebody - even the 767.
The 767-300 opens new routes esp. heavily leisure routes for DL.
Given how much Americans are willing to pay to go to Europe, DL has a solid growth schedule for the Atlantic for 2025 and solidifies its position as the largest US airline to Europe
Cool new routes by Delta but this might be one of the few times ever when the Level A330 on BCN-BOS is the better product vs the competition. DL 763 screams a big "no thank you"
From what I’ve heard, economy is hell on LEVEL planes. Very little space for your legs and have heard this from short people, only complaints about their service so don’t think it might be better at all. Can’t say much about their first class offerings though (if they have any).
feel free to list the number of routes that UA uses the 757 to fly to Europe then and then let us know what version of "no" those aircraft elicit.
Even this year, DL flew more seat miles across the Atlantic on its widebodies than United did. The UA 757s pushed UA over the top in total size - but at considerably less comfort for everyone on those planes.
Let us know where the crew rest facilities are on the 757 or will be even on the XLR for AA or UA.
As a fa, tell me where the crew facilities are on the 76
Hard to get excited when it's all 763s.
No SEA or LAX additions as well. Is Delta's on the West Coast really that weak? Even UA can offer multiple Europe destinations from SFO and they aren't just JV hubs.
But in the end, the 767s do the job, because of their durability and their ability to be a best fit for a lot of these transatlantic cities outside of the big ones (London, Paris, Amsterdam, Rome, etc.). Not to mention their superior comfort, especially in Economy, with the better legroom and seat pitch.
Jay gets it.
and the TPAC additions are coming.
DL has 5 hubs in the Eastern US that have 5 or more transatlantic destinations each on their own metal. They don't need to fly to their west coast hubs from Europe esp. since most of their JV partners supplement DL's own service.
Out of the 6 new routes and 1 new destination announced, only JFK-CTA is going daily. Out of the 5 frequency additions, all are 3-4x weekly increase with none being a daily addition. This is in spite the induction of new widebodies and in line with what Delta previously announced that corporate managed travel for the airline is still lagging 2019 levels.
What’s surprising is that the recent SAS takeover by AF/KLM has convinced...
Out of the 6 new routes and 1 new destination announced, only JFK-CTA is going daily. Out of the 5 frequency additions, all are 3-4x weekly increase with none being a daily addition. This is in spite the induction of new widebodies and in line with what Delta previously announced that corporate managed travel for the airline is still lagging 2019 levels.
What’s surprising is that the recent SAS takeover by AF/KLM has convinced Delta to fly 0 additional routes to any JV hubs in this announcement despite the airline insisting that margins are twice as high than non JV hub flying. 5 of the 12 additions are targeting Italy which seems more of reactive growth to the ITA merger rather than accretive growth. Delta lags other legacies in southern Europe and a huge part of that is the lack of a southern European partner which LH Group and IAG have but AF-KLM has lost. So 8 of the 12 additions being in southern Europe is an obvious measure to stay relevant in a growing market where it’s struggling to maintain footing.
2024 is a disappointing year for Delta, and these conservative route announcements probably mean more of the same for 2025.
SK is not part of the JV. Until it is, and that requires an application to the DOT and a deliberation, Copenhagen and Stockholm are markets where Delta and SK cannot engage in most/ any of the typical JV activities, such as revenue sharing, schedule coordination, etc.
One could argue DL not adding flights is a strategic move to avoid attracting regulatory scrutiny for their JV application. On the flip side, SKs recent additions were CPH-SEA/ATL and OSL-JFK. Guess a semi weekly addition to CPH, ARN, or OSL on a 763 is too much plane for DL.
@lucky don’t mean to nitpick but DL also flies to Rome and Dublin from Boston you forgot to mention it under the Dublin and Rome section in your article.
I get that it is by far DL's largest hub and a lot of traffic does get routed through there, but I can't help thinking that for everyone not in the southeast, routing through ATL to Europe just adds time, compared to DTW or MSP for which anywhere west or directly south doesn't involve much backtracking or JFK/BOS for which that is true for nearly all of the US.
BINGO. American carriers please listen up. As someone from lax, I will never go through one of your shitty hubs to fly an inferior aircraft with a layover. Start adding nonstops from the west to Athens, bcn, etc and maybe I’ll consider flying you. I’m not stoping over in Atlanta or jfk
Pretty impressive list considering that this is only part of DL's 2025 growth.
As I have said for months, DL has the widebody aircraft coming that will allow it to grow more than AA or UA. 14 new A330-900s and A350s coming this year (most of which are in the 2nd half so not available for growth in the summer) plus 11 more next year - some of which will be available by the...
Pretty impressive list considering that this is only part of DL's 2025 growth.
As I have said for months, DL has the widebody aircraft coming that will allow it to grow more than AA or UA. 14 new A330-900s and A350s coming this year (most of which are in the 2nd half so not available for growth in the summer) plus 11 more next year - some of which will be available by the summer.
DL is doubling down on growing its hubs and spreading the top destinations across as many of them as possible. DL simply has more hubs that can support extensive transatlantic service than any US airline.
DL has long been the largest carrier from the US to Southern Europe and this list of new flights ensures that will not change. Southern Europe has benefitted enormously by the amount of tourism from the US while some parts of Europe such as Germany have been in recession or are just barely above flatline.
MSP is doing well with yet another destination while the clear focus on new destinations for BOS shows that it is becoming an even bigger part of DL's network.
ATL is not only the largest transatlantic hub in the US outside of the NE but also the most global with more service to more of the world than any other hub.
Doing less than daily service allows DL to focus on the best days of the week for travel and to grow the market later.
The most notable takeaway with the increases in service from ATL to BCN, FCO and ATH is that those routes have had the high capacity ex-Latam A350s and those aircraft are very likely headed in for mods in the next few weeks. They were the biggest aircraft on DL's fleet in terms of seats so adding further capacity increases the number of business class and Premium Select seats while keeping economy seats fairly constant.
2025 will be yet another industry-leading year for DL.
9 paragraphs on Delta!!! wow, tim. slow friday?
Though you conveniently left out the wide body retirements next year offsetting some of the new wide bodies. But still net growth
Enjoy your special day. I hope it makes you less of a curmudgeon than usual
Delta is not retiring anywhere close to 24 767s in the next 2 years, Max.
You can't accept that DL has enormously more growth capacity than AA, UA or B6 so you harp on the 767s which you then acknowledge are being retired
Do you wake up in the night sore from how bad you twist logic?
Yes not just for DL but AA annd UA too, Americans are flocking to Europe like crazy, there’s a reason US airlines are expanding service to Europe and European airlines are expanding service to the US. Also the type of Americans that are taking holidays to Europe is becoming more diverse…..I’m seeing more upwardly mobile African/Black Americans and college kids. The Greek islands are becoming huge magnets for groups of African American female groups taking...
Yes not just for DL but AA annd UA too, Americans are flocking to Europe like crazy, there’s a reason US airlines are expanding service to Europe and European airlines are expanding service to the US. Also the type of Americans that are taking holidays to Europe is becoming more diverse…..I’m seeing more upwardly mobile African/Black Americans and college kids. The Greek islands are becoming huge magnets for groups of African American female groups taking ‘girls trips’ and cities with lots of history e.g Athens, Istanbul, Budapest are popular with college kids and resort destinations are becoming increasingly popular with Asian American families. The US-Europe has always been a huge and dynamic market but the changes it’s going through in recent times and especially since Covid has become an interesting and fun one to watch.
This is fantastic news! Now I can fly the world's premier carrier when I go visit all those Roman bathhouses.
ATL-BRU and BRU-ATL used to be a daily service for Delta together with JFK-BRU until the ATL service was suspended a couple of years ago. Glad to see it back; let's hope it will increase back to daily soon. Never understood why it was gone anyway.
It was suspended due to the pandemic, but yes surprised it took so long to come back. Atlanta-Brussels was one of Deltas longest serving and best performing transatlantic routes, lots of high-yielding traffic up front (lots of manufacturing and trade ties between Belgium and the state of Georgia and south-eastern US as a whole), in fact the old SN (sabena) was the first foreign airline to serve ATL back in the late 70’s and flew...
It was suspended due to the pandemic, but yes surprised it took so long to come back. Atlanta-Brussels was one of Deltas longest serving and best performing transatlantic routes, lots of high-yielding traffic up front (lots of manufacturing and trade ties between Belgium and the state of Georgia and south-eastern US as a whole), in fact the old SN (sabena) was the first foreign airline to serve ATL back in the late 70’s and flew it until just before they went under in 2001. Not sure when Delta started serving the route but I’m sure it was sometime in the 90’s so ATL-BRU was 2x daily when SN was serving the route, also when Delta started refurbing the 767’s with the current product ATL along with JFK-BRU was one of the first routes to receive it so obviously before the pandemic a high yield route and destination for them. So let’s see if the traffic the route served before the pandemic is still there as if it is I wouldn’t be surprised to see it expand beyond 3x week and get better equipment (764 with their ‘DL one lite suite’).
When I travel between Brussels & the US I usually take the train to CDG (just over an hour from central Brussels) instead of flying from BRU. With the massive service DL & AF offer at CDG, they don’t need so many flights at BRU to serve the market.
So essentially Delta just swaped New York with Detroit in Munich, without increasing or decreasing service from MUC.
What planes are going to be used in this routes A350's and A330's ?
DL bulking up Italy even more, as ITA will be exiting SkyTeam (not that they are strong partners, but the ties are there).
CTA is great add. Will be especially useful for those who want to start somewhere else in Italy, fly to CTA for a few days of sun/beach, and then fly home directly.
100%. not a destination super on the radar but sounds nice