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…
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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?
There's a Conrad and three Curios on Sardinia. I'm interested.
Better manage your expectations. There are two Curio that are about 1 hour from Olbia and it nothing special and not easy to find with points. The other Hilton properties are far away. The Conrad is fantastic and I stayed there a few times but like 5 hours drive from Olbia on the other side of the island.
Malta is HOT with traveller's no surprise there maybe two years ago it started to get very fashionable.
Wife and I retired and moved from States to Malta six years ago. For us, a great move. Maltese are great people and we fit right in. For us, our expense per month dropped between 40 and 50%.
...Tourism is another story. The government and hotel assoc. Go out of their way to attract the cheapest tourists they can. Ryanair is top dog. Overall, the tourists are young, big on partying and low spending.
Wife and I retired and moved from States to Malta six years ago. For us, a great move. Maltese are great people and we fit right in. For us, our expense per month dropped between 40 and 50%.
Tourism is another story. The government and hotel assoc. Go out of their way to attract the cheapest tourists they can. Ryanair is top dog. Overall, the tourists are young, big on partying and low spending.
My suggestion for those with an eye on history, not non-stop partying, Malta is a treasure. The country and ruins go back 5,000 years. Recent discoveries point out that it actually goes back 7,000 years. You won't find better place for exploring history than Malta. Local Maltese wine is excellent. Because of limited production, very little exported.
Some restaurants are world class. Six are Michelin starred. 20-30% cheaper than continental starred ones. Cuisine tends towards southern European.
One downer is that beaches(white sand) are few. Many 4 and 5 star hotels.
Forget about renting a car( they drive on left side). Traffic jams day and nite. Hire an E-cab, uber, or bolt. Not expensive.
Tipping is minimal, usually for excellent service (10%).
Airport is absolutely jammed in the summer. Only one airport lounge: LA Vallette. Entry is normally for all airlines biz class customers. It's OK. And great views of the runway.
Every village has a Festa. Most are in the summer. Although religious in origin, they are big on partying. And the main attraction are the fireworks. They try to outdo each other. In our village of Naxxar, they have various fireworks for Seven nites. The main one lasts for two hours. Nothing comes close in the States.
If you have asthma, bring your medication. So much construction here that dust and air pollution can be hard on you. Should calamity befall you here, and you need hospitalization, Mater Dei is an excellent hospital. Their specialists are trained at the best hospitals in Europe and the States.
One last item, Malta's constitution stipulates two national languages: Malti and English( the kings English). Virtually everyone can speak English. Try a few words in Malti and the locals won't give you the evil eye
Unless there’s a strong cruise component, I don’t see this lasting beyond a single season. Malta is charming, but it’s small, has fairly average beaches, and doesn’t offer much that isn’t already found elsewhere along the Mediterranean coast. You can drive the whole country in a few hours, at this is all small one lane roads!
That said, perhaps it’s aimed at the Americans who relocated for the Golden Visa and still want an easy...
Unless there’s a strong cruise component, I don’t see this lasting beyond a single season. Malta is charming, but it’s small, has fairly average beaches, and doesn’t offer much that isn’t already found elsewhere along the Mediterranean coast. You can drive the whole country in a few hours, at this is all small one lane roads!
That said, perhaps it’s aimed at the Americans who relocated for the Golden Visa and still want an easy way back to visit their kids during the summer. :)
‘Vintage’
This is why BRU got axed, which is exactly what I said in the previous article about it.
JFK is all about min-maxing. A route can be doing fine, but with the limited slots at JFK, any route that can do better will get replaced. DL's JFK-BRU was actually outperforming SN's by load factors (no idea about yields).
These flights are likely to print money in the summer as Europe often does.
I did vote for Malta in their polls, but not planning any European trip next year.
Sardinia is absolutely stunning but you definitely have to have a very high budget to spend time there in the summer (at least around Olbia/Porto Cervo). Good luck finding hotels with points (there are some but almost zero availability in the peak season) so be prepared to pay €2k+ per night for a hotel room and overpriced meals at restaurants.
I was there in August. Rented a nice condo with friends in between Olbia and Porto Cervo for a reasonable rate and had amazing meals in many towns (stayed away from Porto Cervo) and enjoyed the beaches. It's wonderful and there are tons of options. the hotels are very expensive but it's easy to stay away from them.
I visited Sardinia many times traveling all over the island and been to Porto Cervo twice. Renting a house with more people maybe 30-45 minutes from Porto Cervo is the way to go as you can reduce the cost per person when compared to hotels. As you said, you can have the best meals of your life in Sardinia but you have to get out of Olbia and Porto Cervo which many Americans won't do...
I visited Sardinia many times traveling all over the island and been to Porto Cervo twice. Renting a house with more people maybe 30-45 minutes from Porto Cervo is the way to go as you can reduce the cost per person when compared to hotels. As you said, you can have the best meals of your life in Sardinia but you have to get out of Olbia and Porto Cervo which many Americans won't do it. You have to rent a car to get out but that area is very tricky to drive. It is very windy, roads are very narrow and super curvy and you will have to drive at very low speeds. Again, it is definitely not a place to get a pick up from the airport and spend time at a resort.
I think the reason they choose Malta over Sardinia or Ibiza (the employees at least) is because of super cheap confirmed and ZED options for them to get to Ibiza from other destinations easily like Barcelona. Employees many times vote where they would rather non-rev to that they can't get too easily right now.
And wouldn't that be a similar reason for non-employee/revenue pax as well, accessibility & desirability ?
( just asking for a friend... ) .. lol
Ibiza attracts a crowd that can be difficult when working in the airport. Some people trying to start the party early. I’m sure employee were not excited to have that kind of headache
Well now we why Brussels service is terminated!! Gotta to get a slot and plane from somewhere.
With European summer demand flattening, is this all the increase in service from delta we should expect for next year, given they have already announced a very sizable expansion from Boston?
Looks like Delta will be maintaining other service levels from JFK.
And Atlanta to Athens will go from 11 to 13 times per week, a modest boost .
Hmm… First, let’s not try to twist facts. They are not dropping BRU just because they want to fly MLA and OLB. BRU was simply not performing well, hence it’s getting chopped. There are numerous other routes served multiple times daily including domestic that could’ve ben reduced to squeeze 1 daily worth of flights.
ATL to ATH was already flying 13 times per week this year. So nothing new there.